As expected (2/6), the Philadelphia fan who was injured while attempting to catch a foul ball will not be allowed to pursue his lawsuit against the city and the Phillies. A state appellate court has upheld the grant of summary judgment and thus the case will be dismissed. The court first ruled that "[o]ne who attends a baseball game as a spectator can properly be charged with anticipating as inherent to baseball the risk of being struck by a foulball while sitting in the stands during the course of a game." Next, the court held that the team and city cannot be liable on a theory that the screen put up directly behind home plate provided insufficient protection.
- By placing the protective screen behind home plate, [the city and team] did not assume a duty to use reasonable care with respect to the design of the barrier beyond seeing that it did not deviate from the established customs used in baseball stadiums. To conclude otherwise would lead to absurd results in that it would require an amusement facility to have screens encircling the entire field, or, alternatively, would allow an amusement facility to avoid liability by leaving stands unprotected, but expose the facility to liability when it erects protective barriers.
Hat Tip: Overlawyered
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