Andrew Charles Johnson, a student at the University of Kansas, claims in a lawsuit that his fraternity brothers at Sigma Phi Epsilon slammed his head into a concrete wall after he had been drinking causing him to lose his sense of smell, the Lawrence Journal-World reports.
Johnson, 20, is suing the Sigma Phi Epsilon KU fraternity chapter because even though he was underage, the Associated Press reports, he was provided unlimited amounts of alcohol and encouraged to drink at an off-site fraternity party that led to the head injury.
Johnson claims that on March 11, 2011, after returning home intoxicated from a party called "Heaven and Hell" and going to sleep, he was awoken by two fraternity members, also defendants in the lawsuit as Rashid Franklin “Scooter” Mebarek and "John Doe #1," according to the Journal-World. Johnson claims he was placed in a headlock and his head was slammed into a concrete wall by one of the frat brothers.
Johnson's suit also names the fraternity’s alumni board and the fraternity’s national corporate organization, the Journal-World says.
Matt Smith, communications manager for the national Sigma Phi Epsilon organization, told The Huffington Post he could not comment on pending litigation. Johnson and members of the KU chapter did not respond to a request for comment.
Other chapters of Sigma Phi Epsilon have also been in the news in recent weeks for alleged misconduct.
A male student at Southern Methodist University claimed in February he was assaulted and held against his will at the campus' Sigma Phi Epsilon house. Four students later turned themselves in to SMU police, the Daily Campus reported.
The Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter at the University of Southern California was kicked off campus for a minimum of five years earlier this month for alleged sexual misconduct and violations of school policy, according to KABC.
CORRECTION: This article previously cited the Lawrence Journal-Herald, rather than the newspaper's correct name, the Lawrence Journal-World.