Photo: chicagomag.com
Ever since Matthew Sunshine died from alcohol poisoning in June 2008, his parents have been threatening to file a wrongful-death suit against NU, hoping to spur changes to university rules. By the time Evanston Police arrested former NU student Alexander Krzyston for supplying Sunshine with booze, Jeffrey Sunshine—Matthew’s dad—had retained Chicago über-lawyer Robert Clifford and began his own investigation into the night his son died. Clifford, a personal injury litigator, frequents best-attorney lists such as the National Law Journal‘s “10 Best Litigators,” and the one above (you can read about quite a few more on his 37-page résumé). Two months ago, he announced the family’s intent to sue or settle. Clifford and Sunshine’s parents want these revisions to NU rules:
1. Disciplinary lenience for students who call ambulances for intoxicated friends
2. A 24-hour student medical hotline
3. A program to teach students how to help intoxicated friends
Such policy reversals, Sunshine’s parents feel, could have saved their son’s life if they’d been in place two years ago. But negotiations have reached a stalemate: NU appears opposed to any further policy diktats, and the Sunshines say more needs to be done to avoid litigation. But NU’s overtures and Jeffrey’s public comments resemble a cordial dialogue and, seemingly, a desire to avoid court. (Here’s a primer on how wrongful-death suits work.)
Without consulting the Sunshines, NU recently revamped its student handbook, alluding to drinking games and possible amnesty for 911-callers. In the most recent edition of NU’s rules, administrators acknowledge that “fear of possible disciplinary actions may deter certain requests for emergency assistance…[and that] The University will consider the positive impact of taking responsible action in an emergency situation when determining the appropriate response for alleged policy violations.”
While that’s too vague to be an outright policy change, the Sunshines are satisfied by the new language. But no progress has been made on the two other principal demands.
First there’s the late-night health service, which would serve as a middle ground between calling the hospital and letting a friend ride it out. NU administrators have rejected that idea altogether, according to Jeffrey.
Sunshine says NU wants to adopt an alcohol-education and training program for students based on the Gordie Foundation, named for a college student who also died of alcohol intoxication. But the Sunshines want NU to annex the program they created in their son’s memory at Stony Brook University, called Red Watch Band. The key difference being that RWB teaches students CPR, which NU feels would delay or eliminate 911 phone calls.
That may sound like a nettlesome detail, but the disagreement between NU and the Sunshines ultimately hinges on two things, the first being what prevents student deaths from alcohol. That they continue to differ on how best to accomplish that goal underscores how far off an out-of-court settlement remains—and thus, how likely a lawsuit remains.
The second crux, simply put, is money, which the Sunshines have said they will use to open a foundation in Matthew’s name. Clifford told The Daily in July that he’s looking for a settlement that includes an “economic component” along with the policy rewrites. But as of now, neither side has been willing to discuss the status of such negotiations publicly.
Regardless, Jeffrey has taken the campaign against underage binge drinking on as a crusade since his son’s death. He declined to state what it would ultimately take to keep NU out of court, but if negotiations ended today, the suit would still be on, he says. That, and his lawyer’s website lists a long history of collecting multimillion-dollar judgments in cases just like this one.
“He’s dead, he can’t speak,” Sunshine says. “What you leave behind when you’re dead is what you’ve done. He didn’t get a chance to do anything.”
