Case against Mets fails
In Matthew Staudt v. Sterling Mets, LP (Supreme Court, Queens, NY, 2011) The plaintiff alleged that he sustained personal injuries during a fight with several individuals outside old Shea Stadium. The Mets argued (through Carla Varriale, one of our esteemed board members) that the alleged assault was unexpected and unforeseeable. They also argued that they did not own or control the area outside their stadium so they did not have a duty to monitor and protect those areas. The plaintiff tried to argue that the Mets owed a duty to secure the stadium approach area. The court disagreed with this analysis and held that the team was not responsible for providing security outside the stadium, especially when under the lease agreement the city operated the parking area. The court also agreed that this was a sudden unforeseeable attack that the Mets could not have prevented.