Spring
is here bringing with it the thoughts of another baseball season. It can also bring with it thoughts of death
and severe injuries. While there have been only two fans so far killed at
professional league ballparks, at least 49 fans have died at amateur games and
countless others have been severely injured in the stands by foul balls.
Strangely enough, if you are injured or killed in the stands by a foul ball,
you generally have no legal remedy.
Almost all
states, including New York and New Jersey follow what is called the limited
liability rule. This is set forth in the
1981 New York Court of Appeals case of Akins
v. Glens Falls City School District.
In that case, plaintiff attended a high school baseball game. The field
was equipped with a 24-foot tall and 50-foot wide backstop behind home plate
but only a three-foot high fence along the baselines. She decided to watch the game standing behind
the three-foot fence and was struck in the eye by a sharply hit foul ball,
causing her serious and permanent injury.
The plaintiff sued the school district.
