Judge: Flying hot dog lawsuit will go to trial

The 2013 baseball season may not have started just yet, but the Kansas City Royals will try to avoid a loss – in the courtroom – after a Missouri appeals court ruled that a lawsuit over a mascot-launched hot dog will go to trial, according to Courthouse News Service.

The lawsuit, which centers around an incident at a Royals home game in September 2009, was initially filed in 2010 by John Coomer, who was in attendance. According to the news source, the defendant claims to have been hit in the eye with a hot dog during what is known at the Hot Dog Launch. The event, which occurs after the third inning of each home game, involves the Royals' mascot, Sluggerrr, launching 20-30 hot dogs into the stands with an air gun or by throwing them. Coomer claims that he was looking at the scoreboard when the Launch was going on and was subsequently struck in the eye.

As a result, Coomer was diagnosed with a detached retina two days later, according to the news source. He then underwent surgeries for the detached retina as well as for a cataract. He now has an artificial lens in that eye. Although a trial court had ruled that Coomer was at fault in the incident, an appeals court overturned the decision.

"Mr. Coomer argues that the trial court erred in submitting the defense (of primary implied assumption of risk) to the jury because 'the risks created by a mascot throwing promotional items do not arise from the inherent nature of a baseball game.' On these facts, we agree," Judge Thomas Newton wrote, according to the source.

Meanwhile, the Royals argue that Coomer should have been aware of the risks, citing that he had previously attended roughly 175 Royals home games in the past. 

Local companies looking to make sure they're protected from similar liabilities are encouraged to seek out a Phoenix small business attorney.

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