Plaintiff was injured at Nassau Coliseum while attending a charity hockey game. During the game, T-Shirts were tossed into the stands and the plaintiff was knocked over in all of the commotion caused by the other spectators trying to catch the tossed T-Shirts. Defendants moved for summary judgment, using an assumption of risk defense.

The Appellate Division, Second Department, though not all in agreement on the reason, denied defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The majority concluded that defendants did not prove as a matter of law that they were entitled to summary judgment. In order to prove that plaintiff assumed the risk, they had to prove that “injury-causing events” were a known and foreseeable consequence of attending a hockey game. The majority concluded that defendants had not proven the events were a known and foreseeable consequence.

Thanks to Alison Weintraub for her contribution to this post.

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2009/2009_06791.htm