A Confidential Settlement for the Family of Collin Wiant
Won by Cooper Elliott.
Cooper Elliott's Rex Elliott represented the parents of Ohio University freshman Collin Wiant, who died after months of Sigma Pi hazing, reaching a confidential settlement with the fraternity in a case that helped drive Ohio's 'Collin's Law.'
What happened
Collin Wiant was an 18-year-old freshman from Dublin, Ohio, who pledged the Epsilon chapter of Sigma Pi at Ohio University in September 2018. Early on November 12, 2018, he was found unresponsive at a house on Mill Street in Athens used by chapter members. A toxicology report concluded he died of asphyxiation after inhaling nitrous oxide from a canister.
In the weeks before his death, the family's lawsuit said, Collin endured a sustained pattern of abuse. He was beaten with a belt, pelted with eggs, ordered to drink a gallon of alcohol in 60 minutes, deprived of sleep, and given cocaine, Adderall, and Xanax. About three hours before he died, he told a friend, "I know I'm going to get hazed." After he collapsed, members of the fraternity waited several minutes before calling for help.
His parents, Kathleen and Wade Wiant, retained Cooper Elliott and attorney Rex Elliott. In February 2019 they sued the Epsilon chapter, Sigma Pi's national organization, and the individuals involved, alleging the fraternity built and then concealed a culture of forced drug and alcohol use. Rex Elliott described the conduct to reporters as "just some horrific acts," and said members "were concerned about their own survival" rather than about Collin.
The criminal courts moved in parallel. Nine Sigma Pi members later pleaded guilty to charges that included involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, drug trafficking, and hazing. Ohio University expelled the chapter in the spring of 2019.
In December 2021 the family settled the civil case against the fraternity, and the lawsuit was dismissed. The terms were confidential, so no dollar figure was made public. By then the family's advocacy had already reached the statehouse. In July 2021 the governor signed "Collin's Law," which made hazing that forces drug or alcohol use and causes serious harm a third-degree felony carrying prison time.
The Wiants also pressed a separate claim against Ohio University itself, arguing it had ignored years of complaints about the chapter and failed to intervene. That claim did not succeed. In August 2024 the Ohio Court of Claims granted the university summary judgment, ruling it could not be held liable for Collin's death. Rex Elliott called the decision "a setback in the battle against hazing on college campuses" and said the family would appeal.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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