By Tanner Simkins
To many, tailgating is synonymous with football and big parties. Whether it is at an NCAA bowl game or a local NFL matchup, tailgating is cemented as an American tradition. In fact, over 50 million Americans annually participate in this social pre-game behavior. Naturally, tailgating has become highly commercialized. There is nearly $12 billion spent on tailgating activities annually. Some are so enthralled with the social block party experience that up to 35 percent of tailgaters never even enter the stadium for the game. Along with such high activity come increased safety threats, as alcohol and passionate rivalries often create tense situations. Inevitably torts and criminal incidents occur at tailgates, which can leave various parties liable. Recent court rulings demonstrate that liability in tailgating frequently falls on facility owners, organizations, and social hosts.
Entire fraternity membership individually named in suit
Atypically individuals in voluntary organizations can also be held liable. In 2011, a fatal accident occurred at a tailgate outside the annual Harvard Yale football game. A truck driven by Yale student, Brendan Ross, swerved out of control in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity tailgate area tragically killing Nancy Brown and injuring student Sarah Short and Harvard employee Elizabeth Dernbach.
Initially, Short and Barry filed suits against the national Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. But primarily due to a lack of legal and insurance ties to the local chapter, focus shifted towards the local chapter itself. Now, a new lawsuit filed in Connecticut Superior Court names each of the Yale Sigma Phi Epsilon student members. In all, it targets 86 fraternity members at the time of the crash, regardless of whether or not they were present at the tailgate.
“[The national fraternity and its insurance], to try to save money, are trying to distance themselves from the case,” Short’s lead attorney Joel Saxon told Yale Daily News. “The only remedy that our client has is to sue the local fraternity.” In Grenier v Commissioner of Transportation,Connecticut Supreme Court set the precedent that local fraternity chapters have no general duty to protect its adult student members.
Despite disavowing itself, Saxon predicts the national organization will likely take some of the burden. Regardless, the attorneys remain confident they will be awarded the damages they seek unrelated to what party ultimately takes responsibility. A criminal case is also pending against Ross.
Parking lot security
Fans are considered business invitees and therefore courts rely on tests of reasonability to determine if property owners created a safe environment. This, of course, includes parking lots and similar areas. Naturally, these tailgating/parking areas come into question during ingress and egress. Infamously in 2011, San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow was severely beaten by rival fans while in the parking lot at Los Angeles’ Dodgers stadium. The assailants have since been criminally sentenced.
Now, the Dodgers are facing negligent security, liability, and negligent hiring claims in a civil lawsuit set to go to trial in May. Stow’s attorney, Tom Girardi, told KNX 1070 “the most important element of this case is the huge amount of expense that is required to take care of [Stow].” Stow is permanently disabled as a result of the attack. It is estimated that Stow will require medical care for the remainder of his life; experts state this will exceed $30 million.
Team management is under intense scrutiny for not satisfactorily protecting fans. In addition to team entities, Stow has brought suit against then-Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. Stow’s attorneys claim both ownership and management had inadequate security, insufficient parking lot lighting, and misguided leadership overall. Team officials said in a release that “because of the pending civil action, the Dodgers decline to comment further on the matter.”
Takeaway
Tailgating is engrained in the sport consumer’s total experience, so efforts have to be taken to reduce danger and further litigation. Given the fallout of the discussed cases, sport event managers need to understand social hosts and premises liability in order to best mitigate risk. This way teams, facilities, and other salient parties can fulfill their responsibility to provide a reasonably safe environment for business invitees.
Sources
http://www.nationwide.com/tailgating-history-statistics.jsp — tailgating facts/stats
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Cost-of-Caring-for-Bryan-Stow-Estimated-at-35-Million-246472661.html — Bryan Stow, medical expenses, and quotes
http://www.sirc.ca/newsletters/june08/documents/S-1063792.pdf — top level concepts
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2014/01/14/86-sig-ep-members-sued-over-2011-tailgate/ — Yale details, quotes
