The plaintiffs asserted claims against Sterling Doubleday Enterprises, L.P., Sterling Mets, L.P., New York Metropolitan Baseball, Inc. and Queens Ballpark Company, L.L.C. for common law negligence and Res Ipsa Loquitur.
During the 9th inning of a New York Mets vs. Florida Marlins game, the infant plaintiff (who was 12-years-old at the time of the accident) was struck by a foul ball that entered the right field stands.
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were negligent in maintaining and operating the Citi Field Baseball Stadium by permitting the occurrence to happen and not taking suitable and reasonable precautions.
The defendants served a pre-answer motion to dismiss, contending that the infant plaintiff clearly appreciated the obvious and inherent risk of injury associated with attending a baseball gamed. The defendants annexed a YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YYbY0SQF3U) that depicted the accident- and the infant plaintiff holding a baseball glove, ready to catch an errant baseball in support of this point. The defendants demonstrated that the requisite protected area behind home plate was available to the plaintiffs, but that they did not avail themselves of the protected area.
Justice Duane A. Hart, sitting in Supreme Court, Queens County, found that the defendants established that the negligence action should be dismissed because the infant plaintiff assumed the risk of injury from an errant baseball. There is no duty of care owed to spectators who occupy seats in the unprotected areas, according to the court.
Shlomo Eliezer Shalomoff and Valarie Shalomoff v Sterling Doubleday Enterprises, et. al.; S.Ct., Queens County; Index No. 1120/13; 12/10/13
Carla Varriale, Jarett Warner and Jordan Schur represented Sterling Doubleday Enterprises.
