Yer in!
The beleagured owners of the Mets have lost their bid to wriggle out of a lawsuit by a fan who was injured by a falling fat guy at the old Shea Stadium.
Sterling Mets had argued it shouldn’t be held responsible for Ellen Massey’s injuries, because the 300-pound Timothy Cassidy’s five row fall onto her neck was “spontaneous and unexpected,” and could not have been prevented.
“This is a continuing legal matter and our position has not changed,” the Mets said in a statement today.
In a decision made public today, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische said there was plenty of evidence that the large man was a big problem.
Several witnesses said Cassidy was obviously drunk and behaving bizzarrely.
A female witness said the before the incident, Cassidy walked up to her and “randomly took nachos from [her] plate without asking.”
“He took I think two chips and scooped [her fixings] . . . and ate, and then walked back to his seat,” the woman said at a deposition.
He was also being “loud and boisterous,” and another witness testified that “he became real vulgar, started trying to pick a fight with anybody he can. He told me and my cousin he would kick both of our – pardon my French – asses.”
That witness said Cassidy had tried to pick a fight with at least three other people.
“Regardless of whether Cassidy’s fall was sudden and unexpected, a jury could find that it was foreseeable Cassidy’s conduct was putting the safety of other members of the public at risk. The security guards could have confronted or ejected Cassidy from the stadium based on his aggressive behavior towards other fans,” the judge wrote.
“In fact, Sterling’s own policy provides that ‘drunk or disorderly fans will be denied admitance to the stadium.'”
Cassidy maintains he wasn’t drunk – he said he’d only had three beers – and was merely enjoying himself at the game. Two of Cassidy’s friends testified they didn’t think he was intoxicated – but they did think he had “four or five beers.”
Cassidy blames the fall on another man named Eric Metzger, who he says pushed him “after some banter back and forth during the game . . . more or less about the game itself, players, things of that nature.”
He’s contending that Metzger should be the one held responsible for Massey’s injuries.
The case is expected to go to trial by this summer.