Illegal Bats

We must check bats and helmets prior to the start of every game. If not you will learn the hardway when you are held accountable for an injury that occurs as a result of an illegal bat or bad helmet. One of our umpires was hauled into court last year cause he let the coach sit on the bucket at the opening of the dugout, now he checks everything and the coach better not get anywhere near the opening.

quote:

Originally posted by NJUmp:
One of our umpires was hauled into court last year cause he let the coach sit on the bucket at the opening of the dugout, now he checks everything and the coach better not get anywhere near the opening.

Could you provide the jurisdiction for this, please? A check with NJ civil court records turns up nothing.

There are a lot of myths surrounding umpire liability.

As of 2009 there has not been a single instance in which an umpire was held liable in a civil suit, yet rumors persist and the internet is full of "I heard about this guy who......"

NCAA recognizes that verifying equipment is the responsibility of the coach. HS should follow suit.

I ask the coach, "Is everyone legally equippped and using legal equipment?" If he doesn't answer "yes" we don't play.

In my pregame conference with the coaches ask ( I have a printed scorecard I made with Cadd) Coaches are your teams properly equipped? Then add; We expect good sportsmanship and will quickly penalize misconduct and have your players hustle on and off the field!

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy03:

There are a lot of myths surrounding umpire liability.

As of 2009 there has not been a single instance in which an umpire was held liable in a civil suit, yet rumors persist and the internet is full of "I heard about this guy who......"

Jimmy, I agree with the myths - but here is a real one - from 2006 - hasn't been fully adjudicated yet.
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPI...%20et%20al%20OPN.pdf

http://www.nashvillepost.com/d...CirCt--29Nov2006.pdf

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association has been released - but school and umpires are still part of the $3M suit.

Old Fox

quote:

Originally posted by OldFox:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy03:

There are a lot of myths surrounding umpire liability.

As of 2009 there has not been a single instance in which an umpire was held liable in a civil suit, yet rumors persist and the internet is full of "I heard about this guy who......"

Jimmy, I agree with the myths - but here is a real one - from 2006 - hasn't been fully adjudicated yet.
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPI...%20et%20al%20OPN.pdf

http://www.nashvillepost.com/d...CirCt--29Nov2006.pdf

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association has been released - but school and umpires are still part of the $3M suit.

Old Fox

There have been numerous suits brought against umpires...my association had one about ten years ago, however, no umpire as of yet has been held liable.

And, all it will take to get the umps out of this suit is:

1. Establish their inability to pay an award.
2. Establish that one or both give the instructions that personnel were not allowed in liveball territory.

Courts have ruled previously that umpires cannot be expected to babysit all players continuously and perform their primary function. A player or coach, having been informed of the rule, who decided to ignore the rule then, in the eyes of previous courts, assume a certain level of risk.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy03:
And, all it will take to get the umps out of this suit is:

1. Establish their inability to pay an award.
2. Establish that one or both give the instructions that personnel were not allowed in liveball territory.

Courts have ruled previously that umpires cannot be expected to babysit all players continuously and perform their primary function. A player or coach, having been informed of the rule, who decided to ignore the rule then, in the eyes of previous courts, assume a certain level of risk.

So if you don't have any assets you can't be sued? I guess no umpire has any savings or vacation home or anything like that. All umpires must be in it for the money - they need the game fee to put food on the table.

Do you have an example of the Legal Citation where a court ruled as you described? I guess at the plate conference the umpires should just say "This is your notice that you need to follow all the rules in the rule book so we can get out of any legal proceeding for not enforcing them." No need for an umpire to have liability insurance that way.

I thought the umpires' primary function was to enforce the rules.

Old Fox

According to our association the umpire himself was not part of the lawsuit, it was the local board of education, but during the preliminary talks prior to witnesses speaking it was mentioned that the umpire's liability in the case needed to be proved, the case was settled mid way of the first or second day. The ump in question lost a ton of time from his regular job giving depositions. I'll see if anything is on line.

FRANKLIN — A former Battle Ground Academy baseball player has 60 days to decide if he will appeal the state's Court of Appeals decision to not hold the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association partly responsible for the injured he suffered during a baseball game.

He's suing the TSSAA and BGA for "failing to enforce the rules against his conduct."
In 2005, Cason McInturff, a high school junior, was sitting on a bucket with his assistant coach outside the dugout during a game between BGA and host Father Ryan when he was hit in the head by a foul ball. Standing or sitting just outside the dugout during play is a violation of TSSAA rules.

The injury caused "severe internal brain damage that has affected his cognitive skills to the point where everything he does he has to process slowly," according to McInturff's lawyer, Joseph Bednarz Sr.

"That's why we filed the lawsuit, because kids are going to be kids, even though they're 16 or 17. That's the whole idea of the rulebook," Bednarz said. "Safety ought to be first. The rules specifically said they're not supposed to be out there, and it's up to the coaches and the umpires to enforce this rule."

Immediately after the injury, BGA waived McInturff's tuition and fees for his final year of high school, an amount totaling $13,325.90.

McInturff is now a student at Abilene Christian University in Texas.

Bednarz said McInturff has had to cancel his plans of becoming a veterinarian like his father because of the injury. He held the TSSAA partly responsible for the umpires based on his claim that "the umpires were actual agents of the TSSAA or the apparent agents of TSSAA," according to the court file. The court, however, ruled in favor of the TSSAA's argument that it is not to blame after determining that the umpires are independent contractors.

Bednarz said he hopes a trial date with BGA, with which the suit is still pending, will be set soon.

"BGA doesn't feel it bears any responsibility on what happened to Cason," said Ben Rose, one of BGA's lawyers.

quote:

Originally posted by NJUmp:
He held the TSSAA partly responsible for the umpires based on his claim that "the umpires were actual agents of the TSSAA or the apparent agents of TSSAA," according to the court file. The court, however, ruled in favor of the TSSAA's argument that it is not to blame after determining that the umpires are independent contractors.

I am one of those umpires who pays for liability insurance on my own. I know that the instances of umpires being sued is few and that the instances of them being helid liable is even more remote, but when the state association insulates themselves from liability by making sure we are classified as independent cotractors.....then I am left to my own devices to protect myself......

To that end my liability insurance is relatively cheap and it makes me feel better knowing I have it.....How good it is or how much it is worth is yet and hopefully never to be determined.

quote:

Originally posted by OldFox:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy03:
And, all it will take to get the umps out of this suit is:

1. Establish their inability to pay an award.
2. Establish that one or both give the instructions that personnel were not allowed in liveball territory.

Courts have ruled previously that umpires cannot be expected to babysit all players continuously and perform their primary function. A player or coach, having been informed of the rule, who decided to ignore the rule then, in the eyes of previous courts, assume a certain level of risk.

So if you don't have any assets you can't be sued? I guess no umpire has any savings or vacation home or anything like that. All umpires must be in it for the money - they need the game fee to put food on the table.

Do you have an example of the Legal Citation where a court ruled as you described? I guess at the plate conference the umpires should just say "This is your notice that you need to follow all the rules in the rule book so we can get out of any legal proceeding for not enforcing them." No need for an umpire to have liability insurance that way.

I thought the umpires' primary function was to enforce the rules.

Old Fox

1. Anyone can be sued whether or not they have assets, however as a practical matter, most attorneys go for those with deep pockets and do not fight hard when a judge considers dropping others from the suit.

2. I'll look for the case number. It never went forward. It involved two players injured as the result of an illegal slide. (One being the offensive player doing the sliding.) Both sued each other, the league (men's adult) and the umpire. When dropping the umpire from the suit the judge wrote, in part, that "players who are made aware of the rule and still persist in breaking them are first and foremost responsible for their own actions."

3. The primary duty of an umpire is ensure that neither team receive an advantage not intended by rule. The party litigating in the bucket case would need to establish what priority among all other responsbilities the umpire had was ejecting the young man for sitting on a bucket outside the dugout.

Any time you go to court it's a **** shoot. Anything can happen. I am not recommending that umpires be lax or not have liability insurance. I rise only to point out the myths of umpires being held responsible by courts in the past. No one knows what the future may hold.

I hate to say it but if anybody was responsible in the bucket case it should have been the coach he was sitting next to. Umpires don't always see a player or coach the second they come out. The coach wasn't allowed out there to begin with, then he allowed a player out with him.