Federal jury awards parents of metro LSU student $6.1M in son’s hazing death

ATLANTA — A federal jury has awarded $6.1 million to the parents of a college student who died due to hazing at LSU.

Roswell native Max Gruver died of alcohol poisoning at a frat house at Louisiana State University in 2017.

Gruver’s parents filed suit against the university about 14 months after their son’s death.

“The verdict sends a message about how serious juries take hazing. And rightfully so,” the Gruvers said in a statement released by their attorney Jonathon Fazzola to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Our son’s death was senseless and preventable, and the jury’s award reflects how much damage his loss has caused our family. Although the verdict does not — and cannot ever — repair that loss, it is another important step in our mission to end hazing.”

The lawsuit claimed that the university policed sorority hazing more strictly than fraternities. The university claimed sovereign immunity.

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“We are grateful that the jury understood that Max and his pledge brothers had no real choice and were not at fault for the hell they had to endure,” the statement said. “And, significantly, through its verdict, the jury put to rest the notion that merely being a bystander to hazing absolves a fraternity member of responsibility. If you see something, step up, make a difference, call 911, and save a life.”

Matthew Naquin, of Texas, was convicted in July 2019 of negligent homicide in Gruver’s death. He was later sentenced to five years in prison, but a judge suspended all but 2½ years of the term.

The family has formed The Max Gruver Foundation, which is a nonprofit dedicated to ending hazing on college campuses.

His parents said a journal entry found shortly after his death inspired the foundation.

RELATED NEWS:

Proposal to make hazing a felony introduced in Georgia state Senate It's been five years since Max Gruver died at Louisiana State University after being subjected to a night of heavy drinking at a frat house.

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