David Bianchi, Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain

A Miami attorney who has been on an anti-hazing crusade for decades is suing Cornell University and others over the alleged hazing death of a fraternity pledge who died after falling into a gorge.

Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain's David Bianchi filed a 41-page negligence suit Tuesday on behalf of the freshman's parents against the university, the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and members of its Cornell chapter and said the death is still shrouded in official secrecy.

The complaint contends their negligence led to the death of Antonio Tsialas, 18, and the defendants from the university and its police department to Phi Kappa Psi have refused to give his parents any meaningful information about their son's death and the investigation after his body was discovered Oct. 26.

The complaint filed in Tompkins County, New York, Supreme Court, quotes past statements by Cornell University president Martha Pollack about a yearslong problem with fraternity misconduct and hazing at the school and claims insufficient actions were taken to stamp out a well-known, persistent problem.

The lawsuit contends the fraternity chapter lured Tsialas to its illegal "dirty rush" freshman-hazing party Oct. 24, a day after the chapter appeared before a university disciplinary body because of alleged misconduct involving a different unauthorized event.

The story of Tsialas' demise, as laid out in the complaint and by Bianchi in a phone interview Wednesday, is that it occurred during parents' weekend. Bianchi and parents John Tsialas and Flavia Tomasello of Coral Gables say she arrived at Cornell on Oct. 24 and had a pleasant Thai dinner with her son.

Antonio Tsialas. Courtesy photo

Then Antonio Tsialas headed off to the fraternity's unauthorized "Christmas in October" rush party, allegedly attended by about 35 hand-picked freshman. It was the last time Tomasello saw him alive. The next day she searched desperately for her son and contacted campus police, and by that evening John Tsialas arrived at Cornell as planned for parents' weekend, the suit alleges.

Cornell University's police department on Wednesday referred all questions about the student's death and the lawsuit to the university media relations department.

Cornell University spokesman John Carberry, issued a statement saying the school "cannot comment on pending litigation" and "Cornell University police continue to actively investigate Antonio Tsialas's death."

Carberry's statement also asked anyone with information related to the death to contact Cornell at 607-255-1111. The university did not answer questions about the alleged withholding of information from Antonio Tsialas' parents, the circumstances of their son's death or Cornell's Greek system.

Phi Kappa Psi executive director Ronald Ransom II said in a brief email that "while we have been made aware of the lawsuit through media contact such as yours, we have not been served." He added, "Generally, we don't speak to pending litigation."

A news release from Bianchi, who has litigated fraternity hazing cases for 25 years and developed a national reputation for his work, said, "To date, no one has come forward with information about why [Tsialas] left the fraternity house or whether he left alone or with others. His body was found two days later at the bottom of a gorge. His wallet and keys were with him but his phone was missing. Its last known location was the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house."

In the phone interview Wednesday, Bianchi said he has "never before" experienced a comparable lack of information and stonewalling about the circumstances surrounding a hazing death. The university, the national fraternity and several of its Cornell chapter officers named in the lawsuit have not stepped forward or have cut off questioning, he said.

For example, he said, "After I had a couple of conversations with the Cornell police chief in November, I was contacted by a Cornell University [in-house] lawyer who said I was no longer permitted to speak with him."

"The Cornell lawyer said if I have any questions for the police chief I should submit these in writing," added Bianchi. He said he quickly followed up with 23 written questions in November, and none has been answered.

The lack of information for the parents has made their pain and grief "immeasurably" worse, he said.