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Class-Action for Baseball Fans

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On the eve of baseball’s All-Star Game, a proposed class-action lawsuit was filed yesterday against Major League Baseball claiming it does too little to protect fans from fast-moving foul balls and splintered bats.
The lead plaintiff, Gail Payne, is an Oakland A’s fan who feels vulnerable because her are not protected by netting. A fan beside her was injured by a foul ball, her lawyer said. The class that would have to be certified by a judge in the case “would be any season-ticket holder who sits in an unprotected area along the first- and third-base lines.”

The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Northern California, recites a number of factors which have increased the risk of physical harm to fans in unprotected areas: pitchers who throw harder; bats that splinter more easily; distractions like video monitors and Wi-Fi that leave fans less time to react to a foul ball; and a league-wide initiative to accelerate the pace of play.

“Spectators have no protective equipment,” the lawsuit said. “They are not as familiar with the game as professional players. Some in exposed sections are sitting closer to the action than the batter is to the pitcher.” The lawsuit added that “attention is often no defense to serious injury,” given the speed of foul balls or shattered bats.

The lawsuit cites a 2014 study by Bloomberg News that said 1,750 spectators were injured annually at M.L.B. games. In particular, the suit cited what it said was a need to add netting far down the first- and third-base lines. The lawsuit alleges that baseball’s conduct in not extending netting is “particularly egregious” because it installed netting in front of dugouts and required first- and third-base coaches to wear helmets.

At Fenway Park last month, the broken bat of A’s infielder Brett Lawrie struck a fan, Tonya Carpenter, in the head as she was in her seat along the third-base line. With injuries described initially as life-threatening, she bled profusely, and her screams could be heard. When she was transferred from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility, her surgeon said her “recovery so far has been excellent.”

Last week, a woman in a seat behind the Milwaukee Brewers’ dugout at Miller Park was hit by a line drive and taken out on a stretcher for treatment. On Friday night, again at Fenway Park, a woman sitting in the lower stands on the third-base side was hospitalized after being struck by a foul ball.

The post Class-Action for Baseball Fans appeared first on Colorado Law Blog.


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