Washington Personal Injury

Jul 3, 2026

Fraternity Hazing Wrongful Death Attorneys: When 19-Year-Old WSU Freshman Sam Martinez Died of Alcohol Poisoning After a Hazing Ritual in Pullman, Whitman County, Washington — Attorney911 Brings Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice, We Pursue the Alpha Tau Omega National Fraternity and Washington State University That Knew of Nearly 70 Prior Misconduct Violations at the Chapter House and Failed to Protect Students, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How the Claims Machine Values and Denies Hazing Death Cases, We Move to Preserve the University Disciplinary Records, Fraternity Group Communications and Toxicology Reports Before They Disappear — the Statute of Limitations Is Running, Washington’s Wrongful-Death Act and the State’s Pure Comparative-Fault Rule That Allows Recovery Even When the Defense Tries to Blame the Victim for Voluntary Consumption, the Firm Has Recovered Millions in Wrongful-Death Cases, the Federal Stop Campus Hazing Act and Clery Act Transparency Framework — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

The 70 Warnings Nobody Acted On — Pullman, Whitman County, Washington Fraternity Hazing Wrongful Death Lawyers You are reading this at the worst moment of your life, or someone else’s. Your son is gone, or your daughter is in the ICU, or you are a parent who just learned that the institution you trusted with your child knew about the danger and said nothing. You may have just read that the United States Senate passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act unanimously — a law the family of a 19-year-old Washington State University freshman helped push through Congress after their son died from acute alcohol poisoning at a fraternity hazing event in Pullman in November 2019. That law is a victory for the future. It does not touch what happened to your family. What happened to your family is the past — and the only tool the law gives you for the past is a lawsuit. We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. We take Washington wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases, working with local counsel where required. Ralph Manginello, our managing partner, has spent 27-plus years in courtrooms, including federal court, and is lead counsel in an active…

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Jul 2, 2026

Hazing & Underage-Drinking Injuries at WSU Sigma Chi in Pullman, Washington: Attorney911 Pursues the National Fraternity, Chapter Officers and House Corporation Under Washington’s Sam’s Law, We Preserve GroupMe Chats and Social Media Footage Before They Auto-Destruct, Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice (Avvo-Rated Excellent) and the Firm’s Active $10M+ Hazing Litigation, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How National Fraternities Value and Deny These Claims, Washington Bars Consent as a Defense to Coercive Pledging, the Firm Has Recovered $50M+ for Injury Victims — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

Pullman Fraternity Hazing: WSU Sigma Chi Sanctioned — Your Student’s Rights Under Washington’s Sam’s Law You just read that Sigma Chi lost its recognition at Washington State University for a year. Maybe your son or daughter was a pledge this past fall. Maybe they came home different — quieter, jumpy, ashamed of something they won’t talk about. Maybe you drove them to Pullman Regional Hospital at 3 a.m. for alcohol poisoning and were told it was “just college.” Maybe you are the student, reading this on your phone in a dorm room on College Hill, and you are starting to understand that what they did to you was not a tradition. It was a crime. We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. We are trial attorneys who take catastrophic-injury and wrongful-death cases, and right now we are actively litigating a hazing lawsuit — the kind of case that puts a fraternity and the institution behind it on trial. We know what hazing does to a person, because we have sat across the table from the families it broke. And we know what Washington law says about it, because the Washington legislature wrote it down in a statute named…

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Jul 2, 2026

WSU Sigma Chi Hazing & Underage-Drinking Injury Attorneys: Attorney911 Brings Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice to Pullman, Washington — Lead Counsel in the Active $10M+ Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi Hazing Lawsuit, We Pursue Sigma Chi, Its National Fraternity and the Chapter House Corporation Behind Coercive Pledging and Hard Alcohol Served to Minors Without ID Checks, Washington’s Sam’s Law Expanded Hazing to Include Psychological Harm and Made Consent No Defense, We Secure the University Investigative File and Fraternity GroupMe and Discord Logs Before Witnesses Graduate and Leave Town, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider, the Firm Has Recovered $50M+ for Injury Victims — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

The Reality of Hazing at Washington State University If you are reading this page, you already know what happened. A student joined a fraternity at Washington State University looking for brotherhood and belonging. What that student got instead was something the university itself called hazing — a system of control where a new member was required to carry an object at all times under a threat the university described as a “fear of repercussions.” At the same time, the fraternity hosted a party where hard alcohol flowed freely to minors with no ID checks and no wristbands — the most basic safeguards any responsible host would use, simply absent. You may be that student. You may be a parent who found out and is now sitting at a kitchen table at 2 a.m., angry and frightened and unsure what to do. You may be a friend who watched someone change after pledging. Whoever you are, you need to hear three things before anything else. First: what you experienced — the fear, the coercion, the feeling that you had no choice but to comply — is a recognized psychological response to intimidation, not a personal weakness. The university’s own investigation named…

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Jul 2, 2026

Washington Wrongful Death & Fraternity Hazing Attorneys — Attorney911 & Ralph Manginello Bring 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice to the Sam Martinez Incident, Lead Counsel in the Active $10M+ Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi Hazing Lawsuit, We Pursue Institutions Like Washington State University and National Chapters for Breach of the Special Relationship Duty, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How the Claims Machine Values and Denies These Cases, We Secure Disciplinary Logs and Communication Threads Before the Evidence Clock Runs, Millions Recovered in Wrongful-Death Cases — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

The Phone Call from Pullman: When a Washington University Must Answer for a Life Lost The phone call no parent should ever receive often comes in the middle of the night from a 509 area code. It starts with a notification from a hospital or a coroner and ends with the realization that the son you sent to Pullman to build a future is never coming home. In the wake of the 2019 death of 19-year-old freshman Sam Martinez at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, a legal battle has reached the Washington Supreme Court that will decide if a university is just a landlord or if it carries a “special relationship” that makes it responsible for the safety of its students. We represent families in their darkest hours, and we know that while no amount of money can replace a child, the legal system is the only tool we have to force institutional change. If your family is facing the aftermath of a fraternity tragedy, you are fighting a battle of law as much as a battle of facts. The university will argue that because the incident happened at an off-campus, private residence involving adult students, they are exempt from…

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Jul 2, 2026

Mead High School Football Sexual Assault & Racial Hazing Lawsuit — Attorney911 holds Spokane County, Washington school districts liable for failed mandatory reporting and institutional discrimination, we pursue liability when coaches ignore “sacrifice” massage gun assaults and foreseeable harm, Ralph Manginello’s 27+ years of federal-court trial practice and active $10M+ hazing litigation experience, Lupe Peña the former insurance-defense insider who knows the risk-management playbook, preserving cell phone evidence and staff correspondence before the overwrite, millions recovered in catastrophic injury cases — Free 24/7 consultation, No fee unless we win, 1-888-ATTY-911, Hablamos Español

The Mead High School Hazing Verdict: When “Foreseeable Harm” Becomes a $17 Million Reality We know the gut-wrenching feeling of trusting an institution with your child only to have that trust shattered. In Spokane County, a unanimous jury just sent a message that every school district in Washington must hear: silence in the face of brutality is not a defense; it is a confession. The $17 million verdict against the Mead School District is not just a number. It is a line in the sand for child safety. The facts of this case involve what court documents call “the sacrifice”—a violent ritual where football players were pinned down and sexually assaulted with a pulsating massage gun. This wasn’t a one-time lapse in judgment. It was a systemic culture of impunity that flourished at summer camps held at Eastern Washington University in 2022 and 2023. Our trial team examines these cases not as “unfortunate accidents,” but as institutional failures where adult supervisors watched, waited, and walked away while children were being destroyed. If your child was harmed in an environment where they should have been safe, you are likely feeling isolated and overwhelmed. We work until the truth is exposed. We…

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Jul 2, 2026

Mead School District Hazing & Sexual Assault Liability: Attorney911 Holds Institutions Accountable for Massage Gun Assaults in Cheney, Spokane County, Washington, Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice & Lead Counsel in the Active $10M+ Bermudez Hazing Case, We Litigate Title IX Violations & Mandatory Reporting Failures, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How Insurers Value & Deny Claims, Millions Recovered for Victims of Institutional Negligence & Viral Trauma — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

When the School District Is Liable for Sexual Assault and Hazing There is no deeper betrayal than a school district that watches a child suffer and chooses its own reputation over that child’s safety. For families in Cheney, Spokane County, Washington, and the surrounding Mead community, the recent court ruling against the school district confirms what many already feared: the adults in the room failed. When a high school football program transforms from a place of growth into a setting for repetitive sexual assault, the trust parents place in the institution is shattered. A Spokane County Superior Court judge has recently found the Mead School District liable as a matter of law for severe hazing and sexual assaults that occurred at football camps in 2022 and 2023. This is a massive development. It means the district’s negligence is no longer a question to be debated—it is a fact. The only question left for a jury is how much the district must pay for the lifelong damage done to these students. If your child was a victim of these events or similar institutional failures, you are likely dealing with a mixture of rage, grief, and confusion. We have seen this before.…

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Jul 2, 2026

Mead School District Hazing & Sexual Assault Attorneys — Attorney911 Holds the District Liable for Massage Gun Battery and Racial Harassment at Mead, Spokane County, Washington Football Camps, Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Federal-Court Trial Practice and Lead Counsel in the Active $10M+ Bermudez Institutional-Liability Litigation, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How Claims Reserves are Set, We Litigate Title IX Violations and the Breach of Washington’s Mandatory Reporting Duty, We Secure Video Footage and Internal Investigation Records Before They are Scrubbed, the Firm Has Recovered Millions in Serious-Injury Cases — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

Mead, Spokane County, Washington School Hazing Lawsuit: A Judge Has Ruled the District Liable for Sexual Assault We know the gut-punch that comes with discovering your child was betrayed by the very institution sworn to protect them. In Mead, Spokane County, Washington, that betrayal has moved from an allegation to a legal fact. A Spokane County Superior Court judge has issued a partial summary judgment ruling that the Mead School District is liable for a horrifying pattern of hazing and sexual assault against student-athletes. The court found that district staff breached their non-delegable duty to keep students safe, failed to follow mandatory reporting laws, and engaged in gender-based discrimination. When a judge rules on liability before a trial even begins, the core question shifts. It is no longer a question of if the district is responsible, but how much they must pay for the lifelong trauma inflicted on these children. If your child was a victim of the “massage gun” assaults or the racial intimidation at Mead High School, you are no longer fighting to prove the district failed. The court has already validated that. We are here to help you work through the next phase of this fight: securing…

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Jul 2, 2026

Mead High School Hazing & Sexual Assault Lawsuit in Cheney, Spokane County, Washington: Attorney911 Represents Victims of the Racially Motivated Massage-Gun Attack, Mead School District Liable for Mandated Reporting Failures and Institutional Cover-Ups, Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Trial Practice & Lead Counsel in the Active $10M+ Bermudez Hazing Litigation, We Move to Secure Assault Videos and Internal Communications Before They Are Scrubbed, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider, Millions Recovered for Catastrophic Trauma — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

Mead High School Hazing Lawsuit: When Institutional Betrayal Stole the “Light” from a Young Athlete in Cheney You are in a moment of absolute crisis because the people your child was supposed to trust—his coaches, his school, his community—didn’t just fail to protect him; they allegedly watched the “light” go out of his eyes and chose to protect their own reputations instead. When a student-athlete in Cheney, Spokane County, Washington is pinned down by teammates, subjected to a racially motivated sexual assault with a massage gun, and then has his trauma filmed and shared like a trophy, the damage is not just physical. It is a total collapse of faith in the world. In this specific case, a Spokane County Superior Court judge has already made the most critical decision: the Mead School District is liable. The question now is no longer if they are at fault, but how much they must pay for the stolen childhood and the “robotic” state left in the wake of this violence. At Attorney911, we know that when a school district is found liable for this level of institutional betrayal, the value of the case can reach between $20 million and $50 million because…

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Jul 2, 2026

WSU & Alpha Tau Omega Hazing Wrongful Death Attorneys — Attorney911 Holds Institutions Accountable for the Lethal Alcohol Poisoning of Sam Martinez in Pullman, Whitman County, Washington — We Litigate the Landmark Special Relationship Duty of Care and the Washington Wrongful Death Act, Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Trial Practice & Lead Counsel in the Active $10M+ Bermudez Hazing Lawsuit, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider Who Knows How the Claims Machine Values and Denies Institutional Liability Cases, We Secure Disciplinary Records and BAC Evidence Before the Overwrite, the Firm Has Recovered Millions in Fatal Negligence Cases — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

Holding Universities Accountable for Fraternity Hazing in Pullman, Whitman County, Washington When a child leaves for college in Pullman, Whitman County, Washington, parents expect that Washington State University (WSU) will provide more than just an education—they expect a safe environment. For years, universities across the country have hidden behind the argument that what happens inside a fraternity house is beyond their control. A landmark ruling by the Washington Court of Appeals, Division 1, has just shattered that shield. The 2019 death of 19-year-old Sam Martinez, a freshman who died of acute alcohol poisoning during an Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) “Big Brother” party, has become the catalyst for a fundamental shift in Washington law. After years of litigation, the court determined that the university is not an innocent bystander. Because WSU maintains a “special relationship” with its recognized Greek organizations, it has an affirmative duty to protect students from the foreseeable harms of hazing and alcohol misuse. If you are facing a similar tragedy, you are likely hearing from university administrators and insurance adjusters who want to frame this as a “private choice” or a “tragic accident.” Our Washington trial team sees it differently. This was a failure of oversight, a…

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Jul 2, 2026

Sam Martinez WSU Hazing Death & Washington University Liability — Attorney911 Represents Families in Wrongful Death Litigation, Ralph Manginello’s 27+ Years of Trial Practice & Lead Counsel in Active $10M+ Hazing Lawsuit, We Pursue the Special Relationship Duty and Institutional Failure to Warn of Fatal Alcohol Rituals, Millions Recovered for Catastrophic Loss, Lupe Peña the Former Insurance-Defense Insider — Free 24/7 Consultation, No Fee Unless We Win, Hablamos Español, 1-888-ATTY-911

Washington Hazing Death Lawsuits: Holding Universities and Fraternities Accountable The moment a parent receives the call that their child is never coming home from college, the world stops. In the aftermath of a tragedy like the 2019 death of Sam Martinez at Washington State University, the grief is often followed by a secondary trauma: an institutional machine that immediately begins grinding to protect itself. We represent families in crisis, and we know that the fight for accountability in a wrongful death case involving hazing is not just about a single night of bad decisions. It is about a systemic failure by multi-billion-dollar institutions that recruit students into a “Greek life” system they know is dangerous, and then try to wash their hands of the consequences. The Washington State Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments that will define the future of student safety in this state. The core of the case is the “Special Relationship” doctrine. The university argues that because the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity house was technically off-campus, the school had no duty to protect a 19-year-old freshman from being forced to drink a “family bottle” of vodka. We disagree. When a university exercises control over these organizations,…

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