News

This Sorority Is Suing A Sister For A Crazy Reason

by Eliza Castile

May 6, 2015

If I learned anything from my friends who were in sororities in college, it's that "skinny arm" really is the best pose for sleeveless dresses, and the bonds of sorority-sisterhood are not to be taken lightly. Unfortunately, one woman is learning that the hard way: Phi Sigma Sigma is suing a former sister for revealing their secret handshake. Who knew that your friend group's favorite way to entertain yourselves during recess in fifth grade could end up costing someone thousands of actual dollars? The kerfuffle began, as these things usually do, with an ill-advised post on the internet. A former Phi Sigma Sigma member, who is known as Jane Doe in the suit, posted the sorority's confidential handshake, knock, initiation rituals, oath, and "secret name," on the webcomic Penny Arcade's message boards, Cosmopolitan reports. "Stepscloser," as the sister called herself online, claimed that the secrets were so sensitive that some of them had never been written down before, and judging from Phi Sigma Sigma's totally proportionate and not at all overblown reaction, that might actually be true. First, the sorority's lawyers contacted all of the websites that had reposted the secrets. All but one, the original Penny Arcade post, agreed to take them down, but the damage was already done: their ancient secrets were out in the open for the world to see.

<img alt="pretty animated GIF " src="http://media.giphy.com/media/rvTYYIEUqacLu/giphy.gif" class="article-body-image" title="Image: http://media.giphy.com/media/rvTYYIEUqacLu/giphy.gif"/>The sorority also filed a lawsuit against its former member, claiming that she breached her contract with Phi Sigma Sigma. According to Cosmopolitan, it's still very preliminary — no monetary amount has been named yet, and the poster has yet to be served with the suit. However, if the sorority does end up going through with it, the suit will end up going to trial next May. There's a lesson to be learned here, folks: don't mess with sorority sisters.

Images: Phi Sigma Sigma at Muhlenberg/Facebook; Giphy, zombiefishgirl/Tumblr