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Former Phi Sigma Sigma Spills Ritual Secrets, Now Facing Legal Action

Former Phi Sigma Sigma Breaks Cardinal Rule Of Sorority And Gets Sued

There are a whole lot of rules, regulations, and policies in sorority life, and they differ from organization to organization. But if there’s one thing we all know, no matter which letters we wear, it’s that our organization’s ritual is sacred. It’s the one thing that ties us to all of the other members of our sorority, no matter which chapter they belong to. We’ll talk publicly about almost anything else, but even if we are shit-faced drunk, we still won’t spill the secrets of what happened at our initiation to outsiders. But a former member of Phi Sigma Sigma did, and now she could pay a pretty steep price.

A lawsuit was filed late last month in King County Superior Court in Seattle alleging that a former member of Phi Sigma Sigma revealed the sorority’s secret handshake, name, knock, robe colors, and other details in a November 2011 post on a Washington-based website. The lawsuit does not name the woman who made the post or the website it was found on. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, however, found that a post fitting the description was made to the Penny Arcade website during the same time period listed in the suit. Phi Sigma Sigma attorney, Karin Jones, spoke up about the ordeal.

The defendant knew that the information that she was posting had not been publicly disclosed and would damage. The defendant admitted in her posting that the confidential information she disclosed is never written down or recorded and that that the organization and its members consider the information ‘sacred.’

The suit seeks a court order preventing the former member from revealing confidential information about the sorority as well as monetary reparations for damage that has been done to Phi Sigma Sigma from the post.

It’s unclear from the reports if the Jane Doe is a “former” member in the sense that she resigned or in the sense that she is simply an alumna (which we all know means she is still a member – membership is for life, dammit!). Either way, it’s obvious that she doesn’t understand that some things are sacred. And come May 2016, when the case is scheduled to go to trial, she may have to pay for it.

[via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

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Jenna Crowley

Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, and documenting her love of all things cheese related. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at [email protected].

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