Ethics

A Clearly Frivolous Lawsuit

By Ed Brayton

As understandable as the grief of this family is, the lawsuit they filed is patently ridiculous. Their son was hit in the chest by a ball hit back at him while pitching a baseball game. His heart stopped and he went without oxygen for 15 minutes or more, sustaining brain damage. And the family is suing the manufacturer of the baseball bat, the store that sold the bat and - most bizarrely - Little League; he wasn't even playing in a Little League game, it was a Police Athletic League game.

Look, I understand that the family is grieving, but we have got to get beyond this childish idea that every time a tragedy happens someone has to be blamed for it and has to pay out some huge cash settlement over it. Playing any sport carries risk. Pitchers get hit by comebackers. You know that when you play the game. Stop blaming people for a fluke event.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on May 20, 2008 (boomark / email).