Over-35 Men’s Slow-Pitch softball player Michael Licitra is suing an opposing player, John Knowles, and the Village of Garden City for $2 million over a broken left leg suffered in a collision at home plate in September 2001. Knowles claims he legally slid head-first; Licitra claims it was a collision that violated league softball rules, though that doesn’t explain why it’s the city’s fault. (Jonathan Mummolo, “Injured softballer crying foul”, Newsday, Jul. 15) (via Romenesko). State Supreme Court Justice Bruce D. Alpert held that the doctrine of assumption of risk “did not relieve the defendant from the obligation of using reasonable care to guard against a risk which might reasonably be anticipated,” which begs the question what Garden City should’ve done differently other than ban softball.
Which, according to Alex Tabarrok, is what is happening to the British school tradition of playing conkers, which occasionally results in bruises from inadvertent (but apparently inevitable) contact. Liability concerns are causing schools to ban the game–along with rugby, soccer, and even recess. The New York Times has an article about the larger issue of the growing problem of American-style lawsuits in Britain. Medical negligence claim costs have risen more than a hundredfold after inflation in the last thirty years. (Sarah Lyall, “Britain’s Stiff Upper Lip Is Being Twisted Into a Snarl”, Jul. 13).
Related posts
In assumption of risk; Europe; sports; United Kingdom
Injured Softballer Crying Foul
A former catcher in the Garden City Over-35 Men’s Slow-Pitch softball league, [Michael] Licitra is suing both the Village of Garden City and John Knowles, an opposing player, for $2 million in damages. The civil trial began Wednesday in…
Injured Softballer Crying Foul
A former catcher in the Garden City Over-35 Men’s Slow-Pitch softball league, [Michael] Licitra is suing both the Village of Garden City and John Knowles, an opposing player, for $2 million in damages. The civil trial began Wednesday in…
Whys don’t we have games with cool names
Marginal Revolution: Alas, the Law Conkers All Alas, the Law Conkers All As a child, I lived in England for a year. There I learned to play the ancient and venerable game of conkers. Via Ted Frank at Overlawyered.com…
Whys don’t we have games with cool names
Marginal Revolution: Alas, the Law Conkers All Alas, the Law Conkers All As a child, I lived in England for a year. There I learned to play the ancient and venerable game of conkers. Via Ted Frank at Overlawyered.com…