AOII sorority unlawfully charges UW students, must pay $250,000 in refunds

By Renee Diaz The Daily

On Jan. 6, Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that the Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) sorority must refund and waive housing fees that were unlawfully charged to members of the UW chapter for the 2020-2021 school year.

In 2021, Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Alpha Omicron Pi for unlawfully charging rent and housing fees to UW students when they were unable to access their chapter house during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sorority violated a statewide emergency moratorium issued by the governor that prohibited landlords from charging housing-related fees when residents were unable to pay rent.

Despite being thrown into school online and being sent back home, roughly 68 AOII members were charged unexpectedly for housing. Each member paid nearly $6,250 each, with some also paying hundreds of dollars in late fees.

“I had to work extra when I had to move out,” recent UW graduate and former AOII member Jasleen Virk said. “I worked full time at a grocery store … A lot of girls worked at U Village, Sephora, and other department stores, they … could barely afford rent and the additional fees.”

AOII’s national headquarters in Tennessee expected the UW house to be filled to capacity. Members were concerned that with being exposed to so many people they would be putting themselves and others at high risk of contracting COVID-19.

“If we were to proceed with living in the house, it would be a huge public health risk,” AOII member Caroline Sandbo said. “It is so easy for colds to spread. When someone would get the flu, it would just sweep through the house. It is a super fun place to have sleepovers, but not good for pandemic circumstances.”

In fall 2020, AOII headquarters pressured UW members to sign a house addendum that included the housing contract from 2019. This included paying the normal housing rate — nearly $1,000 per month for each member.

“We would have meetings to talk about options, some of our officers would have meetings with women who worked at headquarters to negotiate house dues,” Sandbo said. “They would come back and tell us our demands were not possible.”

The UW chapter eventually decided to terminate the charter from the University of Washington, in the hope that housing fees would be removed.

“Alpha Omicron Pi’s actions were clear violations of the protections put in place to protect Washingtonians from the spread of COVID-19,” Ferguson announced in a press release. “Thanks to the student who spoke up and brought this to our attention, the sorority must cancel or refund these unlawful fees.”

AOII must pay a total of $253,600 to the attorney general’s office (AGO). This settlement will be used to pay back the affected UW members. The agreement amounts to a total of $500,000, which includes the payments to the AGO and waived fees.

“Their emails said we were sisters, but they were exploiting us,” Jessica Garcila, previous member of AOII sorority. “We were being gaslit by people who were supposed to be our sisters, our guardians, and we are still waiting on our money.”