Put Me in Coach
With Spring Training going on I thought you'd enjoy an interesting baseball case. In the case of Vaughn v. Barton and the West Frankfort Recreation Association, the plaintiff , Debbie Vaughn filed suit after getting hit in the eye at her son's baseball game. She sued West Frankfort Recreation Association, a non-for-profit Illinois Corporation that organizes 12 summer baseball leagues and owned ten baseball diamonds, and Jarrod Barton, the father and coach, of Cody Barton. The eleven year old Cody testified that he and a teammate were warming up before a game when he threw a ball that bounced off of a teammate's glove and struck the plaintiff.
The Association renewed its motion for a directed verdict on the basis of the immunity contained in the Recreational Use of Water and Land Areas Act. The trial court granted the motion for both defendants on the same basis. The Appeals Court affirmed. The statute provides that a possessor of land can be liable under only two cirumstances: "willfull and wanton failure to guard against or warn of a dangerous condition" or for any injury "where the owner of land charges the person or persons who enter or go on the land for" recreational uses.
The plaintiff argued that Cody's $35 sign up fee was sufficient to remove the immunity provided by the Act. The Appeals Court disagreed. It explained that the Association never charged spectators an admission fee. The plaintiff was a spectator and could enter free of charge like anyone else. The purpose of the statute is to encourage land owners to make the property available to the public for recreational purposes by limiting their liability to those who might use it.
