Lawsuit Filed Against Umpire
 

I have been a long time reader of this forum and am now soliticing some advice. Two of our Umpires are being sued by a player from an Adult League Team for an incident that occured in May 2009.

The player caught his foot in the fence while chasing a foul ball and broke his leg pretty bad. The player is claiming that he stepped in a hole and is suing the Umpires, the Umpire Association, the Park, the County and the Baseball League.

There were 2 games played that day and officitated by 4 different Umpires. The Umpires inspected the field and never noticed any holes.

Our association has been delaing with this lawsuit for months and the 2 Umpires were just added to the lawsuit. One of the Umpires no longer performs Umpiring duties and has not carried liability insurance since 2010.

Just wondering if anybody has been through something like this and looking for any advice I can pass on to the Umpires. Thanks in advance.

What a rat. Looking for a cheese handout.

Best of luck to all the defendants. Shouldn't be much of a case.

This sounds like the lawsuits that happen on a regular basis in my "real" job. I'm a full time firefighter/paramedic. People sue in the medical field ALL the time. They list EVERYONE who came in contact with the patient on the day, the ambulance/fire crews and police officers who may have been at the scene, the department itself, the nurses, doctors, doctors association, hospital, maybe even the lawn mowing service! It's usually for some stupid something. The case is drug through the initial pre-trail bs for months and months, and then the case is dropped or settled just before trail is set to begin.

I wouldn't worry much about this, other than it is a BIG hassle.

I also used to work loss prevention, and was subpoenaed for a case where I had VIDEO evidence of the theft, as well as her PURSE she left with all her ID! I had to do a deposition before the trial, but this eventually was settled pre-court. People can just be stupid in this world!

This may be true, but...

Without knowing the actual (that is, non-secondhand facts,) there is a possibility that this case has some merit, depending (mostly) on the activities of the landowner.

If you're serious, I'd suggest an attorney would be a better source of assistance than an umpire forum.

What level of baseball was this contest? The league may have indemnifiers in place. If they employ the umpires directly, rather than as independent contractors, the league may be culpable. Are your umpires required to inspect field conditions prior to contest start? Were any unsafe conditions reported to them or the site manager prior? Those two answers will carry weight in any settlement. Does your rule book carry a provision that mandates field inspection before all games? Mine doesn't. If this was a game played after several others and no one reported unsafe playing conditions, it looks like your guys will jump through some hoops but wind up being dropped from the case ultimately. It's easy to sue, but much harder to collect damages due to negligence. This topic has come up from time to time here and I cannot recall an umpire being found guilty of negligence for actions like yours are accused of doing.

Absolutely. A good attorney will be able to nip this in the bud for the umpires. If they have liability insurance, they should start with a call to the insurer, who is responsible for defending them against such suits.

The case may have merit against the field owners themselves. What ruleset were you using ... some organizations pay for lawsuit insurance for just this kind of nonsense. Also - check the league bylaws. Both of the places I work have players sign waivers early on that specifically excludes umpires, field crew, managers, and players from liability.

Check with your lawyer. The waivers usually cover "normal stuff" that would happen in the course of the action. The waiver may not hold water if negligence is proven.

Also ask her if insurance policies cover events that happened while they were in force even if you no longer have the policy. It seems to me that insurers could avoid a lot of costs if they just cancelled your policy after the accident but before the suits get fioled.

If you / they are a NASO members, you are covered by insurance. You should call them right away if your a member.

You might also want to check your state association's insurance plan as well. They may have a similar plan that would cover these situations even if the game is not at the HS level. And that policy might be through the NF as well. Either way there should be some help that those groups can give for these situations.

Peace

I still have not heard of a baseball umpire being held accountable by a court for negligence. If there is such a case, it will make interesting winter fodder.

Best advice already given: call a actual, in-your-area lawyer NOW [actually, better your Assn. had called one "months" ago]. The Umpire(s) may not, in fact, be without liability insurance: check Homeowners and Umbrella policies, if they exist; and as others have noted, ABUA & NASO, and several of the larger umbrella Leagues provide some insurance to umpires.

Lawsuit Filed Against Umpire
 

Thanks to all of you for the respopnses. The association and umpires have legal repesentation in place (that was the first thing we did). The main reason for my post was to see if anyone else had dealt with a situation like this before and could add some insight.

This was and Adult Baseball Game played strictly under OBR. According to rule 3.10 (a): the manager of the home team shall be the sole judge in deciding to start the game due to unfit playing decisions.

Not sure that this rule has any merit in court. Hopefully we will get this resolved. Thanks again for the repsonses.

I would say this isn't the strongest leg to stand on. As soon as the lineup cards are exchanged, the umpires have the duty to determine if the field is *still* fit for play.

I'm not sure it merits argument here, but I think it's still a good point for the umpires. The plaintiffs would have to show that (a) something changed between the start of the game and the time of the injury to make the field unplayable, and (b) the umpires should have been aware of this change. Failure to prove either point to the standard of evidence could excuse the umpires from liability.

Can players and coaches be expected to understand what "playable" means to the extent an umpire should?

We kicked this topic around over the weekend. I help coach my son's football team and one of the other coaches remarked, "Do umpires check the entire field every inning?" I laughed but then thougt how dead on he was. We are never required to maintain field safety. Never.

I won't speak to other organizations, but in Little League once the plate umpire has both lineups, the UIC for the game, or game coordinator if there are no adult umpires, is in charge of whether the field is playable, or not. The managers have the okay up until that point.

Since that's not a rules question, or a question for which umpires have special training, I think that the answer is probably yes.

Usually to be found liable for something, you have to be negligent in your normal duties. I doubt seriously that an umpire is going to be found negligent for what happens on a field with multiple games being played and when nothing has been brought to their attention or if they are not an expert on the safety of a fence. You see fences all the time that are probably installed or made incorrectly. I doubt the umpire would have to pay anything for what took place. Now the park district or the league might be another issue.

Peace

I think most of these responses are missing the point. The umpires may -- ultimately -- have no liability. But it can be expensive, worrisome and time-consuming to defend a lawsuit, no matter how "frivolous" the claim may be against the umpire. That is what I would be concerned about: who is going to represent me to get my name tossed off the lawsuit.

This is where a NASO membership comes in handy.

Missing what point. If you have a state like mine where you get insurance for these issues for a sport you are licensed in or you have the NASO insurance, this part is not much of an issue.

Peace

If it doesn't, then it was written by a bad lawyer who didn't know what he was doing. Releases are for ANY and ALL injuries, usually, except maybe for intentional torts.

What about player negligence? Why not sue the other defensive players for not telling him he was closing in on the fence? Competent players do that for their teammates.

What about his own negligence in believing he was coordinated enough to make a play on a ball?

Even better, why not negligence on the part of the batter? Popping up a ball in foul territory, he's not supposed to do that! Sue him!

Don't hold your breath.

Rich mentions NASO membership, which includes insurance, but the purpose of any liability insurance is to address this issue. The insurance company is responsible for representing you, for removing your name when you're not liable, and for settling the case and paying when you are.

Might seem expensive until you need it. ;)

Many years ago, an association I was involved with looked into a policy to protect those of us on the board. While researching it, one of our members could not find a case where a baseball umpire was successfully sued for administering a contest. He did find a couple cases where umpire misconduct (one threw a bat carelessly and another was drunk) led to case settlements. I am not sure that this isn't a bit of scare tactics by the insurance companies. The stories you read about from them are usually suppositional.

In Illinois, insurance coverage is as follows:

IHSA Official:
$1,000,000 per occurrence. Coverage includes defense costs and is excess of any other valid and collectible insurance. No liability coverage is provided for members while driving or riding in any auto.

NASO Membership:
$3,000,000 aggregate per event. Coverage is per occurrence (not claims made) protection for liability resulting from bodily injury, property damage, personal injury and advertising injury, and includes costs to defend against such claims as specified in the policy.

ABUA Membership: $2 Million per occurrence/$3 Million general aggregate coverage covers court judgments and awards; legal fees and court costs; $1 Million coverage for lawsuits for bodily injury, property damage and personal injury (defamation of charcter, libel, slander); $50,000 Coverage for fire damage. $0 deductible.

Do what is in your best interest.