HOUSTON – A woman is claiming the Houston Astros acted with “an attitude of conscious indifference” for the “welfare” of fans by firing free t-shirts at them.
Seeking an award of punitive damages, Jennifer Harughty filed suit against the Astros on April 8 in Harris County District Court.
According to her lawsuit, on July 8 Harughty’s finger was “shattered” during an Astros game when a t-shirt was fired into the stands from a close distance.
Gibson
“Around the seventh inning … Orbit used a bazooka style t-shirt cannon to rapidly fire multiple t-shirts into the crowd,” the suit states. “Orbit took aim and fired a t-shirt into the stands where Harughty and her family sat. The t-shirt struck her left index finger head-on and with so much force Harughty’s finger fractured.”
Harughty was attending the game with her two sons, husband and father. They were sitting behind third base, about halfway up the first deck.
Harughty waited until after the game to go to the emergency room, where she was informed her finger was fractured and would require surgery, according to the lawsuit.
She is alleging the Astros negligently failed to warn those in attendance of the “unreasonable risk of harm” posed by t-shirt cannons.
“Defendant’s conduct, when viewed from the standpoint of the actors at the time of the occurrence, involved an extreme degree of risk, considering the probability and magnitude of the potential harm to others,” the suit states. “Furthermore, Defendant’s conduct illustrates not only an attitude of conscious indifference for the rights, safety and welfare of others, but also shows Defendant’s actual and subjective awareness of the dangers of such conduct.
“Therefore, Defendant is liable for exemplary/punitive damages.”
Harughty is also suing for her alleged past and future suffering, impairment, mental anguish, loss of opportunity, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of earnings, and medical expenses.
Houston attorney Jason Gibson represents her.
Case No. 2019-24958