Woman sues, was hit by ball at church picnic

St. Louis Today ^ | today | some guy

[Rodney King]

A woman sued the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Our Lady of Help of Christians Roman Catholic Church in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., on Friday, claiming she was hit in the head by a baseball near a church picnic dunking booth.

Donna Tinsley's suit in St. Louis Circuit Court says she was sitting down when hit by the baseball, which had been thrown at a dunking booth target...

[Rodney King]

If the booth was too close to the seating area, why the hell did you sit there?

[Dane]

She is probably being represented by Sheister & Sheister.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Sorry, but if one sets up a baseball tossing facility with inadequate backstop, and you know people will be behind it, unaware of the risk, you are most probably negligent.

It's not like she came to watch a baseball game, and got hit.

[garyhope]

Was this before or after she spilled hot coffee and chili on herself?

[US admirer]

I strongly suspect that liability will not be anywhere near as obvious as the possible scenario which you have and that even if it is not, in fact even if the woman was in another city and the baseball made its way onto the roof of a passing train car, traveled 100 miles, then bounced off and hit her noggin some scumbag, piece of dirt, lower than whale sh_t attorney, would create some theory of liability to suggest she needed to be compensated so he/she could collect a fat contingency fee.

[taxesareforever]

I can imagine the scenario, (1)Ah, they are throwing balls at the dunking booth (2) Ah ha, it is a church group and they probably have a lot of money (3)Ah, there is a seat where I can sit where I will have a good chance of getting hit with the ball (4) Ah, let me make sure I have my lawyers phone number in my phone memory (5) Ouch. (6) Ah, dialing my lawyer.(7)Lawyer says good to go.

[isom35]

or Dewey Cheatham and Howe. Or one of the Japanese firms, Sosumi, or Isuyu.

[cardinal4]

Continue to read down that page you linked. There was two other lawsuit stories on it, both equally embarrassing..

[sittnick]

I notice that she makes no claim of any actual damage. (No fear of picnics, no hospital time, not even an aspirin) In the old days, damages were to make the plaintiff whole. This woman seems to be seeking punitive damages so that people cannot even relax at a church picnic.

[Xenalyte]

Sheister & Sheister . . . wasn't that the firm formerly known as Dewey Cheatham & Howe?

[WildTurkey]

If the booth was too close to the seating area, why the hell did you sit there?

If an organization puts up a seating area, there is a presumption that people will sit there, duh.

The question is "Why did they set it up so close to the booth?"

[jimboster]

Is it possible someone (her husband?) beaned her on purpose?

[Leo Carpathian]

She should sue the ball manufacturer, baseball bat manufacturer, gloves mfg., and whole church from the church janitor all the way to Pope. Whata dangerous world we live in. It's all them Christian's fault. Ban the religion (and knives, scissors, pin and needles....) Long live Shaister & Shaister!

[csvset]

It was God's will .

[WildTurkey]

I notice that she makes no claim of any actual damage.

No, you saw that there was no mention of a claim in the article.

[Rebelbase]

Principal attorney, Ben Dover.

[sittnick]

I notice that she makes no claim of any actual damage.

No, you saw that there was no mention of a claim in the article.

I accept your correction, as journalists cannot be trusted to give the complete story. However, if so much as a visit to the emergency room occurs, that usuallymakes it into the article.

One thing I am not big on, is terms like "the organization" negligently set up, etc. I have been to many church picnics, and there is no reasonable expectation that the middle-aged male parishioner who set up the dunking booth or seating area has any more judgement on these things than the people who sit in the seating areas.

If the woman suffered no more damage than an unpleasant jolt to the head, she should not go racing off to court to go after the deep pockets. If she was not significantly hurt, the only reason for her behaviour is an attempt at personal enrichment, pettiness or a false understanding of the results of a punitive judgement, which would likely be no more baseball at picnics.

Already, children cannot bring home made baked goods to school for sharing because of liability fears. If this lady received an upset stomach from a deviled egg that sat in the sun too long, should she sue again, so nothing but catered food can be had at church picnics?

I banged up my leg pretty bad at church picnic as a youngster, tripping in the woods adjacent to the picnic. I also received poison ivy from the same picnic. Thank God my parents never dreamed of suing somebody over my tripping over a carelessly placed boulder or suffering agony from some growing poison ivy that a reasonable Archdiocesan official should have foreseen as an attractive nuisance to an 8-year-old boy.

I'm amazed that the horseshoe pits survive at these things. Its just a matter of time before someone lets one fly into someone's cranium.

[Jeff Chandler]

She should sue God for creating the air the ball traveled through, and gravity, and physics, etc..