SMU Student Suing Sorority After Video Leaks: Attorney

A senior at Southern Methodist University has filed a “Jane Doe” lawsuit against one of the sororities on campus.

A senior at Southern Methodist University has filed a "Jane Doe" lawsuit against one of the sororities on campus.

The student's attorney, Rogge Dunn, says they are suing the national Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority after she and other members were secretly recorded on video in their underwear while inside their Dallas sorority house.

"This was their home. You have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your own home that you're not being recorded," Dunn said.

The student is asking the court to require the sorority to put the video in the hands of a neutral third party and disclose who has seen it since it was secretly recorded earlier this year.

According to Dunn, it was taken while senior members of the sorority performed a ritual, where they dance either topless or in lingerie for new pledges. 

Before the ceremony on January 13, all the sisters were required to turn over any cell phones or recording devices.

However, Dunn said a security camera was installed in the same room and recorded the event without their knowledge or permission.

"They were not aware of any camera in the chapter room," Dunn said. "Obviously, if they thought it was going to be recorded, there would be no reason to collect all the phones."

Following the ceremony, an investigator from the sorority's national office came out to the house.

According to Dunn, the video was then shown to other members of the home as part of the investigation and copies of the tape were made by the national organization.  

If senior sisters did not cooperate, Dunn said they were told the sorority would release the tape to SMU's administration.

"They came in and they threatened," Dunn contends. "I think it's totally unreasonable to take a video tape in violation of the Texas law and say, 'If you don't do what we want you to do, we are going to use this illegal video as a threat and release it.'"

Dunn is seeking at least $1 million in damages.

NBC 5 reached out to Kappa Kappa Gamma offices for comment on this story, but did not receive a response.

The student who filed the lawsuit and 17 other SMU Kappa Kappa Gamma senior members were dismissed from the sorority earlier this month based on their participation in the ritual. 

Contact Us