A judge, citing an agreement reached by both sides, ordered an end to a lawsuit claiming that a University of Arkansas, Fayetteville fraternity chapter should be held responsible for sexually explicit photos taken and distributed without consent.
A woman identified in court documents as "Jane Doe" filed the lawsuit in 2018 against the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity chapter.
At a 2017 party, a "Picture Pledge" reached his cellphone over a locked bathroom stall in the Lambda Chi Alpha house to take pictures of sexual activity involving "Doe" and an unnamed fraternity associate member, the lawsuit stated. At the time of the party, "Doe" was a UA first-year student, according to court documents.
The "Picture Pledge," identified in court documents as Garrett Wolfe, at one point faced a misdemeanor criminal charge of video voyeurism in a separate criminal case. Instead of facing trial, Wolfe entered into a one-year "diversion period" that required 100 hours of community service.
But the lawsuit sought to pin responsibility on the fraternity chapter as a group, with the chapter denying responsibility for Wolfe's actions and denying that Wolfe had been given the title "Picture Pledge."
According to excerpts from a deposition included in court documents, Wolff had stated that before posting the pictures he spoke with the fraternity's risk management chairman.
"He encouraged me to post them," Wolfe said, according to a deposition excerpt included in a court document filed on behalf of "Doe."
At one point Wolfe was included as a defendant in the case, but a motion filed on behalf of "Doe" in 2018 asked that he be dismissed from the case.
The fraternity chapter, in its court filings, had stated that it "denies it acted in concert with associate member Garrett Wolff and any member who distributed such photographs."
The local fraternity chapter, according to court documents, admitted that the photos were shared by Wolff to an email network used by fraternity members, and that a fraternity member, "without knowledge or permission of the Chapter," downloaded the images to a cellphone and forwarded them to a student who wasn't a fraternity member.
The lawsuit initially included the national fraternal organization of Lambda Chi Alpha.
But Washington County Circuit Judge Doug Martin in 2020 dismissed the national organization from the lawsuit, leaving as defendants the local chapter, known as Gamma Chi Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha, and the "house corporation," Lambda Chi Alpha Corporation of Fayetteville.
A trial had been scheduled for May.
Martin, in his order filed Monday, stated the "parties have stipulated and agreed that the Complaint, as amended, in this action and any claims that were or could have been asserted should be dismissed with prejudice to their refiling, with each party to bear its own costs and attorneys' fees."
"The matter has been settled," George Rozell, the Rogers-based attorney representing "Doe," said in an email. He declined further comment.
Johnathan Horton, a Little Rock-based attorney representing the fraternity chapter, declined to comment. Rodney Cook, an Oklahoma City, Okla.-based attorney for the fraternity chapter, did not respond to emails and a phone call requesting comment.