Queens College Hazing Lawyer

Students at colleges across Queens, and the parents who send them there, often reach this decision after something has already gone wrong: a pledge hospitalized after a night of forced drinking, a team member injured during a “tradition,” a group chat full of messages nobody wanted to send. Mark David Shirian P.C. is a New York litigation firm that handles personal injury and civil claims across New York City, Long Island, Westchester, and the wider region, and it represents students hurt by hazing in clubs, fraternities, sororities, and teams. If you are looking for a Queens college hazing lawyer, the first question is rarely whether what happened was wrong. It is who can be held legally responsible, and how fast the clock is running.

Queens is home to both City University of New York campuses and private universities, and whether a school is public or private changes the legal picture. A public institution brings special rules about where a claim can be filed and how soon notice must be given. Hazing also sits in two legal worlds at once: New York criminalizes it, but a criminal charge against a student is separate from a civil lawsuit that seeks compensation for medical bills, lost time, and lasting harm. Most injured students and families are after the second thing, and the deadlines for it are short.

Colleges and Universities in Queens

The borough’s largest private university is St. John’s University, whose Queens campus in Jamaica has Big East athletics, fraternities and sororities, and a large residential and commuter population. Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in East Elmhurst adds a smaller private campus with its own clubs and teams. Claims involving a private college, along with claims against individual students, Greek organizations, clubs, and property owners, are generally brought in the Supreme Court, Queens County, which sits in Jamaica and in Long Island City.

Queens also has several CUNY campuses: Queens College in Flushing, York College in Jamaica, Queensborough Community College in Bayside, LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, and the CUNY School of Law, also in Long Island City. Damages claims against CUNY belong in the Court of Claims and require a notice of claim on a short deadline, so an injury tied to a CUNY campus needs attention right away. Many Queens students commute or live in off-campus apartments, and initiations often happen in private homes, rented halls, and bars far from any campus office.

What Separates Hazing From Assault, Negligence, and “Just Tradition”

People confuse hazing with ordinary assault or with a bad accident at a party. New York’s Penal Law treats hazing as its own offense, found in the article that covers assault and related crimes. The core idea is conduct, including physical contact with a person or requiring physical activity of that person, that happens in the course of initiating them into or keeping them in an organization and that creates a substantial risk of physical injury. When an injury actually results, the offense is hazing in the first degree, a class A misdemeanor. When the conduct creates the risk but no one is hurt, it is hazing in the second degree, which is a violation. A 2018 amendment added the express reference to physical contact and required physical activity, closing a gap that organizations had exploited.

Notice what the criminal definition does not require: a victim who objected. The federal Stop Campus Hazing Act, which colleges now operate under, defines hazing to include acts connected to initiation, affiliation, or continued membership in a student organization regardless of whether the person was willing to take part. That matters because the first defense in nearly every hazing case is “they agreed to it.” Consent to join a group is not consent to be hurt, and the law does not treat it that way. In a civil case, a student’s participation may be raised by the defense as a fault argument, but it does not erase the claim.

The criminal charge also tells you little about civil exposure. A civil claim does not need a conviction, and it can reach parties a prosecutor never would: the organization, its national body, the people who organized the event, a venue that served alcohol, or the institution itself if it knew about prior incidents and did nothing.

Why Choose Mark David Shirian P.C. for a Queens Hazing Case

Mark David Shirian P.C. serves clients throughout Queens and the rest of New York City, Nassau and Westchester Counties, Long Island, and the greater New York region. The firm is led by Mark D. Shirian, Founding Member, who heads its litigation practice and concentrates in personal injury, employment discrimination and harassment, sports and entertainment law, and civil and commercial litigation. He has obtained multiple seven-figure settlements and has taken on Fortune 500 companies, school systems, and government entities, which is the kind of opposition a hazing case against a college and a national organization tends to involve. He was named to The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, displays the NAOPIA Top 10 Attorney Award, and is a member of the American Association for Justice, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, the Sports Lawyers Association, and the Jewish Lawyers Guild. He is admitted in New York and in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Shawn D. Shirian, Senior Associate, has more than seven years of litigation experience, including jury trials and dispositive motions, and focuses on general liability, sexual harassment, and employment discrimination. Many hazing cases involve sexualized or degrading conduct, and that background is directly relevant.

The firm’s results include a $1,500,000 Child Victims Act settlement, a $1,000,000 wrongful death settlement, a $500,000 settlement for an injured child in a daycare case, and a $1,500,000 settlement involving a Transit Authority bus accident. Those outcomes reflect work against institutions that do not pay quickly. Clients consistently describe the same things in reviews: attention to detail, honest and direct communication, quick responses, and patient answers to questions. Every case is handled by one of the firm’s attorneys rather than a case manager, evaluations are free and confidential, and personal injury cases are taken on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless there is a recovery.

Who Can Be Held Responsible When Hazing Injures a Student

• The Individual Members and Officers: Students who planned, ran, or pressured others into the activity can be sued personally for the injuries they caused, whether the conduct was a forced drinking game, physical beatings, exhaustion drills, or confinement.
• The Local Chapter or Club: A fraternity, sorority, team, or student club that organized the event can be named as a defendant, and its insurance often becomes the practical source of recovery.
• The National Organization: Many Greek organizations are chapters of national bodies that set rules, collect dues, and have a documented history of hazing incidents. Prior notice of similar conduct is central to a negligence claim against them.
• The College or University: A school may face liability if it knew or should have known about hazing by a recognized organization and failed to act. Claims against public institutions such as CUNY carry special notice and venue rules, discussed below.
• Venues and Alcohol Providers: Bars, rented halls, and off-campus houses where initiations happen can bear responsibility, particularly where alcohol was served to someone who should not have received it.
• Landlords and Property Owners: Off-campus houses used for rituals sometimes belong to owners who ignored obvious dangerous activity on their premises.
• Athletic Programs and Coaches: Teams are a common setting for initiation rituals. A coach or staff member who knew and looked away, or who participated, can create liability separate from the students involved.

Moving Quickly After a Hazing Injury: Deadlines, Evidence, and Where Claims Are Filed

If a public institution is involved, the deadline is much shorter than the general injury deadline. Where a notice of claim is required, it must be served within ninety days after the claim arises, in writing, sworn, and stating the claimant’s name and address, the nature of the claim, the time, place, and manner in which it arose, and the items of damage. In a wrongful death case, the ninety days run from the appointment of a representative of the estate. A court can sometimes allow late service, but never past the limitations period for the action itself, which for most municipal tort claims is one year and ninety days. Damages claims against CUNY campuses, including Queens College, York College, Queensborough, and LaGuardia, belong in the Court of Claims, which is the exclusive forum for that relief and has no jurisdiction over individual defendants. A single hazing incident at a CUNY school can therefore require parallel proceedings: one against the college, and another in the Supreme Court, Queens County, against the individuals, the chapter, and any national organization. Claims involving a private school such as St. John’s are generally brought in the Supreme Court along with the other defendants. Federal claims arising in Queens are heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and appeals from Queens County go to the Appellate Division, Second Department.

For claims against private parties, the usual time limits apply. Negligence-based injury claims generally carry a three-year limitations period, but intentional torts such as assault are subject to a one-year period, and hazing often involves intentional conduct. An action is started by filing a summons and complaint with the court clerk; a demand letter or a notice to an insurer does not stop the clock. If the injured student was under 18, CPLR 208 gives three years from the eighteenth birthday, though that tolling does not always carry over to municipal notice requirements and is capped at ten years from accrual in most injury cases. Do not rely on any of these extensions without checking them against your facts.

On the practical side, get medical care first and tell the provider exactly what happened, including alcohol or forced activity, so the record is accurate. Preserve evidence before it disappears: group chats, pledge schedules, photographs, videos, social media posts, and the names of everyone who was present. Hazing evidence is often deleted within hours once participants realize what has happened. Write down your own account while it is fresh. Be cautious about statements to the organization, its insurer, or campus investigators before speaking with a lawyer, and know that a college conduct proceeding, whether under CUNY’s public order rules, the Henderson Rules, or a private university’s student code, is a separate track that does not replace a civil claim. The federal law also requires colleges to publish a hazing transparency report listing organizations found responsible, with violations and sanctions, which can be useful in showing an organization’s history. A criminal complaint, if one is made, goes to the police; it will not recover medical costs or compensate for harm.

How Fault and Damages Work in a New York Hazing Claim

The defense in nearly every hazing lawsuit tries to shift blame onto the injured student: you chose to join, you chose to drink, you could have left. New York follows a pure comparative fault rule for injuries like these. A student’s own conduct does not bar recovery; it reduces the award in proportion to the share of fault assigned to the student. The 2026 amendment that created a 50 percent bar applies only to motor vehicle injury cases, not hazing. That means a student who took part in the activity can still recover, and the real fight is over how a jury views the pressure, power imbalance, and coercion built into initiation. Pledges are typically told that refusing means losing friendships, housing, or standing, which weakens the voluntariness argument considerably.

Damages in a serious hazing case can include emergency and long-term medical care, treatment for traumatic brain injury or organ damage from alcohol poisoning, psychological treatment, lost academic time, and pain and suffering. Where a student dies, a wrongful death claim belongs to the estate, and the ninety-day notice period for public defendants runs from the appointment of an estate representative, so that appointment should not be delayed. Cases often turn on proof of what leaders and national organizations already knew, and on whether the college ignored earlier warnings.

Questions Students and Families Ask About Hazing in Queens

Is hazing actually illegal in New York?

Yes. Hazing in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor when conduct creates a substantial risk of physical injury and an injury results. Hazing in the second degree is a violation when the risk is created without an injury. Both are in the Penal Law’s article on assault and related offenses.

Does it matter that I agreed to take part?

Less than most people think. The federal definition of hazing applies regardless of a person’s willingness, and in a civil case the defense may argue fault, but New York reduces rather than bars recovery under pure comparative fault.

Can I sue the college itself?

Possibly, if the college knew or should have known about the hazing and failed to act. A claim against a private university is brought in the Supreme Court like other injury cases. Because CUNY is a State-related entity, damages claims against a CUNY campus belong in the Court of Claims, and a notice of claim is generally required within ninety days.

What if more than ninety days have passed?

A court may allow late service of a notice of claim, but it cannot extend beyond the limitations period for the action, which is one year and ninety days for most municipal tort claims. Move as soon as you can, because late relief is discretionary.

How long do I have to sue the fraternity or the individuals?

Negligence claims generally have three years, but intentional torts like assault have one year, so the shorter period may control part of your case. Filing a summons and complaint is what stops the clock.

Do I need a criminal conviction to bring a civil claim?

No. A civil case is independent. Police may decline to charge, or charges may be reduced, and the civil claim can still proceed on a lower standard of proof.

My child was under 18 when it happened. Does that change the deadline?

Under CPLR 208, a person injured under 18 has three years from turning 18, which makes the effective deadline age 21, capped at ten years from accrual in most injury cases. That tolling does not always apply to municipal notice deadlines, which run separately.

Will the national organization really be responsible for what a local chapter did?

Not automatically. Liability usually depends on whether the national body knew of earlier hazing, had power to control the chapter, and failed to use it. Discovery into prior incidents is often the heart of these claims.

Can a campus conduct hearing replace a lawsuit?

No. A disciplinary proceeding can sanction students and organizations, but it does not award damages and does not satisfy any filing deadline for a civil claim.

Is it worth pursuing if I was only moderately hurt?

Often it is worth at least an evaluation. Injuries from hazing, particularly head trauma and psychological harm, can worsen over time, and deadlines pass quietly. The firm offers free, confidential case evaluations, and personal injury matters are handled on contingency.

Should I delete my social media posts or group chats?

No. Deleting content can be treated as destroying evidence. Preserve everything, take screenshots, and let your lawyer decide what to request from others and what to demand be preserved.

Serving Hazing Victims From Queens Across the New York Region

Mark David Shirian P.C. represents students and families throughout Queens County, from Flushing, Kew Gardens Hills, Fresh Meadows, and Jamaica Estates to Jamaica, Forest Hills, Astoria, Long Island City, Bayside, East Elmhurst, and the neighborhoods around them. The firm represents clients in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and across Long Island, including Nassau County communities such as Hempstead, Garden City, Mineola, and Great Neck. It also serves Westchester County, including Yonkers, White Plains, Mount Vernon, and New Rochelle, and accepts matters from Suffolk County, Rockland County, and other parts of the greater New York region. Hazing cases often involve students who live far from campus and organizations whose events happen anywhere, so the firm takes cases based on where the injury and the defendants are, not only where a student’s family lives.

Talk With a Queens College Hazing Attorney Before the Deadlines Close

If you or your child was hurt in an initiation, the most useful thing you can do now is have a Queens college hazing attorney review the facts while the evidence is intact and before any notice deadline passes. Call Mark David Shirian P.C. for a free, confidential evaluation. An attorney at the firm will listen, explain which claims and defendants apply, and tell you plainly what the next steps should be.