The parents of a University of Texas student who lost his life in a traffic crash in September 2018, have filed a negligence lawsuit against the Texas Cowboys men’s student organization. The bereaved parents, Michael and Sylvia Cumberland, sued the student body, on Wednesday, May 20, alleging the wrongful death of their son due to negligence in Austin, Texas.

Michael and Sylvia believe their son’s death resulted from a night out hazing with the group, according to court documents. The college undergrad, Nicky Cumberland, died in a hospital in Houston a month after the said accident.

Court documents show Cumberland, then a 21-year-old third-year student at the university joined the Texas Cowboys in the fall of 2018. On the day of the accident, the young man attended an off-campus Cowboy’s retreat and was on his way back when the vehicle crashed. The car’s operator reportedly fell asleep behind the wheels, causing the accident. He ended up ejected from the wrecked vehicle, sustaining injuries which eventually killed him barely a month later.

The plaintiffs allege that the retreat required new initiates to partake in forced binge drinking, wrestling, digging holes, lighting fires, forced drinking, forced marches, and severe physical abuse. This comes after the recruits must have collected items for a picnic and brought them to a remote ranch where the event would commence, as per court papers.

The negligence lawsuit accuses the group of subjecting the initiates to sleep deprivation, a violation of the University of Texas policy. The Cumberlands stated in the suit that the Texas Cowboys were a far cry from the upstanding and respectable public persona they displayed. The group instead had a culture of dangerous hazing and reckless behavior.

The deceased’s parents allege wrongful death, saying the organization’s negligence, and the actions of former members are responsible for Nicky’s demise. They are suing the group, and immediate past members, for damages worth over $1 million.

Disclaimer: The Accident News article you just read includes information obtained from numerous sources. These sources include, but are not limited to, websites and press releases from law enforcement, the county coroner, fire departments, and other news outlets. While we strive to provide readers with the most accurate information, sometimes the information received is not entirely accurate. For complete details, please refer to an official police report.

The articles published contain sensitive subject matter that may be hard to read by some. We understand that losing a loved one is hard and devastating. Accident News’s decision to share the stories is to help others who may be facing the same situations by providing appropriate resources to the general public.

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