Appellate judges this week reversed an earlier dismissal and instead ruled that Washington State University could be held legally responsible for not helping protect a student who died during a hazing event in 2019.

In a first for Washington state, an appeals court ruled a university bears some responsibility for a student's 2019 hazing death. Washington State University freshman Sam Martinez died of acute alcohol poisoning after a 2019 fraternity event.

Washington State University has been found liable for the death of student Sam Martinez, an appeals court decision ruled Tuesday.

A result of Sam’s family’s advocacy, the Washington Legislature passed a law that increased the penalty for hazing in 2023 and in 2022 another that requires hazing education at universities and for them to disclose investigations of hazing on their campus, similar to the federal version passed Wednesday.