NEW YORK A woman whose back was broken by an apparently drunken fellow fan at a New York Mets baseball game has filed a lawsuit against stadium concessionaire Aramark Corp., the team, the union that supplies security employees for Shea Stadium, and the 300-pound man who allegedly had fallen on her.
The plaintiff, 58-year-old Manhattan attorney Ellen Massey, asserted that she was hurt during the Mets game at Shea on Apri 9, which was Opening Day. Her suit, filed May 4 in Manhattan's State Supreme Court, alleges that the man who fell on her was "visibly intoxicated" and "acting in a rowdy, boisterous and dangerous manner for a long period of time." Massey, who suffered several broken vertebrae during the incident and underwent surgery for spinal injuries, is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
The man reportedly was not injured and "got up and left," according to Massey's attorney, Stephen Kaufman, who said additional information indicated that one of the security people at the stadium "might have spoken to him and let him leave."
Massey's lawsuit asserts the Mets "had a duty to provide reasonable safety for stadium patrons" and that "Aramark should not have sold alcohol to spectators who appeared to be already drunk."
Aramark said it is reviewing the complaint.
"We continue to work closely with the Mets and stadium security personnel in their investigation of this incident," spokeswoman Kristine Grow said.
The Mets issued a statement saying it believed the suit had no merit.
Aramark is involved in another alcohol-related legal matter, filed on behalf of a child who was paralyzed in a 1999 car crash involving Daniel Lanzaro, a drunken fan who attended a New York Giants football game and was served more than six beers while at the team's New Jersey stadium. The child, Antonia Verni, and her family were awarded a record $135 million in a first trial, but the verdict was overturned by a New Jersey appeals court last year. A new trial is set to begin in July. Lanzaro settled his portion of the damages with the family for $200,000 in insurance money.
