Frat Boy's Bottle-Rocket Launches Lawsuit Print
Wednesday, February 22 2012

An Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brother at Marshall University in Huntington (WV) is suing his fraternity and a fellow fraternity brother after an attempted bottle-rocket launch from a drunken frat boy's anus backfired.

According to the lawsuit, Louis Helmburg, III was injured when the bottle rocket blew up in defendant Travis Hughes' rectum, causing Helmburg to jump back and fall off the fraternity house's deck, about four feet below.  Helmburg "became lodged between the deck and an air-conditioning unit," the suit says.

Helmburg is suing Hughes and the Alpha Tau Omega house for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and time lost playing on Marshall's baseball team.  Helmburg's lawsuit is based in part on the legal theory of strict liability, which holds a party liable for any consequence of an inherently dangerous activity, as well as negligence, claiming the fraternity failed to supervise the party, which led "to stupid and dangerous activities, such as shooting bottle rockets out of one's own anus."

It is unclear how seriously Helmburg and Hughes were hurt in the bottle-rocket blast.

Source:  blogs.findlaw.com