LOS ANGELES – While the coronavirus has put many court actions on hold, an earlier ruling from a state appeals panel determined a girl struck by a foul ball at a baseball stadium has a legal path to be compensated for her injuries.
On Aug. 17, 2014, a minor identified as J. Summer was in the stands at Blair Field on the campus of California State University-Long Beach during the U.S. Baseball Federation’s national team trials. A foul ball hit her in the face, damaging her optic nerve. Her family sued the city of Long Beach, the school and the U.S. Baseball Federation.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ross Klein sustained U.S. Baseball’s demurrer, finding Summer’s claims barred because baseball spectators assume the risk of the type of injury she suffered. Klein also determined Summer’s proposed additional pleadings wouldn’t change the outcome.
Summer appealed to the California 2nd Appellate District, Division Seven. Presiding Justice Dennis Perluss wrote the panel’s opinion, issued Feb. 18; Justices John Segal and Gail Ruderman Feuer concurred.
According to Perluss, the primary assumption of risk doctrine doesn’t grant total absolution from an obligation to protect customers. When an entity that operates something like a baseball stadium can take preventive measures – in this case extending safety netting to protect additional seats in foul territory – that entity is required to do so, provided the safety measures don’t alter the nature of the activity on display.
Perluss said Klein and U.S. Baseball “fundamentally misperceive the nature” of the duty owed to fans.
“To be sure, foul balls are part of baseball,” Perluss wrote. “But as the entity responsible for operating Blair Field on that date, U.S. Baseball had a duty not only to use due care not to increase the risks to spectators inherent in the game but also to take reasonable measures that would increase safety and minimize those risks without altering the nature of the game.”
Although earlier courts ruled netting extending from foul pole to foul pole would alter the nature of baseball, the panel said, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has made several public statements about extending netting at MLB and minor league stadiums before the 2020 season, Perluss wrote. As such, Summer should be allowed to amend her complaint to allege U.S. Baseball could have done more to protect spectators.
“Whether the evidence will support those allegations, which will require an evaluation of the extent of the stadium’s existing netting, the proximity of unprotected seats to the playing field and the history of previous injuries in the seating area at issue, is not now before us,” Perluss wrote.
The panel reversed Klein’s orders awarding costs to U.S. Baseball, and ordered Klein to vacate his initial ruling and grant Summer the right to amend her complaint.
Representing Summer are Steven B. Stevens, Thomas M. Dempsey and Daniel E. Selarz.
US Baseball is represented by Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester, Sevan Gobel and Ladell Hulet Muhlestein.