COURT REDEFINES STADIUM LIABILITY:

Departing from the traditional rule that stadium owners have only a limited duty of care, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a fan who was struck by a foul ball at a baseball game can sue the ballpark owner for negligence. In Masonave v. The Newark Bears Professional Baseball Club, the court weighed whether baseball stadiums owe a duty of care to their patrons to protect against harm from foul balls. The court decided the standard varies depending on where in the stadium the fan is when injured. The plaintiff was injured by a foul ball as he stood buying refreshments on the mezzanine at Riverfront Stadium, home of minor league baseball team The Newark Bears.

The Supreme Court held that an “owner or operator of a stadium must provide protected seating to those who would seek it on an ordinary basis and provide screening in the most dangerous sections of the stands.” The stands include the stairs as well as the areas immediately adjacent to the stands. As for all other areas of a stadium, the court continued, the proper standard of care is the business invitee rule, under which the operator “owes a duty of reasonable care to guard against any dangerous conditions” that he or she either knows about or should have discovered.