Eight members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. are facing lawsuits now that a woman that hoped to join their sorority filed a lawsuit against them.
20-year-old Courtney Howard is suing the sorority sisters along with San Jose State University who she says did not protect from retaliation from the girls after she reported their abusive behavior.
According to Howard’s court papers, members of the sorority told her that “snitches get stitches” and warned her not to drop the line because she’d have to be “jumped out” as though she were in a gang.
In one instance Howard claims that she and two other pledges were blindfolded and sprayed with a hose. Another time she says they were hit with wooden spoons, slammed into walls and punched in the stomach.
Howard says she suffered from welts, bruises, and a knee injury and witnessed a pledge be knocked unconscious before being taken into the shower to awaken.
She is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
The San Jose State chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho has been suspended and four of the girls have already been convicted of misdemeanor hazing in criminal court, sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years probation.
