Mayes v. La Sierra University (January, 7, 2022, E076374)
Plaintiff, a spectator at a college baseball game, was sitting near the dugout where there was no protective netting and no warning about the absence of netting. Plaintiff was struck in the face by a foul ball and sued the college. The trial court granted summary judgment for the college, finding that the plaintiff’s injury was an inherent risk of being a baseball spectator and that the college did nothing to increase that inherent risk.
The Court of Appeal, following Summer J. v. United States Baseball Federation (2020) 45 Cal.App.5th 261, reversed, holding that, in addition to not increasing the inherent risk of harm, owners and operators of sports venues have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect spectator safety if they can do so without altering the nature of the sport. The court agreed with Summer J.’s rejection of the “Baseball Rule,” under which spectators assume the risk of injury from foul balls if they sit in unscreened seats.
