Unusual circumstances complicate fan’s lawsuit against MLB
A woman who was struck by a foul ball last season at PNC Park in Pittsburgh is suing Major League Baseball, the Pirates, and the Sports & Exhibition Authority for injuries she sustained.
According to Matthew Santoni of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, that fan, Wendy Camlin, and her attorney, filed a civil lawsuit on Friday in which they seek in excess of $35,000 from each of the three defendants.
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The incident in question occurred on April 20, 2015 when the Pirates were playing host to the Chicago Cubs, and the circumstances surrounding it are unique in comparison to other fan injuries suffered at baseball games.
In this instance, Camlin was walking to her first row seat when a foul ball off the bat of Starlin Castro went straight back into the protective netting. Though the baseball did not go through the netting, the force pushed the netting back far enough that the ball struck her head.
You can view the injury here at your own discretion. Just be warned that the footage may be uncomfortable to watch.
The game was delayed 23 minutes while Camlin received medical attention. She was placed on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospitalwhere authorities say she was treated and released the next day.
Here are details of the lawsuit courtesy of Santoni’s report, including the injuries Camlin has attributed to the incident.
The lawsuit says Camlin suffered a concussion, traumatic brain injury, migraines, neck pain, tinnitus, anxiety and other symptoms as a result of the foul ball, which she said hit her in the back of the head because she was facing away from the play and following an usher’s instructions as she took her seat in Section 16, Row A.
The “lightweight, flexible” netting behind home plate, the suit said, was either improperly installed or inadequate to prevent the ball from traveling far enough into the aisle to hit Camlin as she shimmied past other fans in the front row.
In addition, the ushers should not have directed her to her seat during play when she was at risk, the lawsuit said.
Because of the location and the unusual circumstances involved, this will be an interesting case to follow. Camlin was in a protected area, but that protection failed due to a series of unfortunate and unexpected factors all coming together at one time. It was a perfect storm if you will, which in this case led to a terrible result.
The results are what they are though. Those can’t be changed, and whatever pain, physical or otherwise, that has been suffered can’t be reversed or overlooked. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did happen, and we know the impact it’s had.
What could complicate things for Camlin and her camp though is a ruling that was made back in 2013. In that ruling, the Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld what’s known as the “baseball rule” in the state, which limits sports leagues’ liability for injuries to their fans if they have taken reasonable precautions to screen the most dangerous areas.
It can be easily argued that reasonable precautions were taken because the screen was in place, and the seating area behind it was protected. It could also be argued that Camlin, even if following the instructions of an usher, understood the risk she took by turning her back to the field during play and walking close to the netting. Even if she didn’t quite realize how vulnerable she was at the time of the incident. she made the decision to put herself in that position.
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As Santoni notes, the fine print on the back of Pirates tickets includes warnings that the holder assumes the danger of being “injured by thrown or broken bats, thrown or batted balls and objects thrown into the stands for entertainment purposes,” and agrees that the league and team are not responsible for such injuries.
There are also warnings all over ballparks telling fans to watch the field for flying objects. If not a line drive straight back, it could have been a popfly over the netting she wasn’t ready for.
That fine print and those warnings serve as protection for teams and the league, and that could make this a difficult case to win. But again, this is a different situation than we’re used to seeing simply because of the role the netting played.
As we’ve recently reported, MLB strongly urged teams to extend netting this offseason as a way to better protect fans sitting near home plate. Several have obliged, but this instance in Pittsburgh should also make the league aware that sturdier netting could be just as important. It’s unfortunate incidents have to happen sometimes to draw attention to those details, but hopefully the lessons that are learned and the measures that are taken will cut down on those incidents and potential injuries significantly.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
