A woman struck in the face by an errant throw at a Little League baseball game is suing the then-11-year-old catcher for $500,000, claiming multiple fractures from the injury.
Elizabeth Lloyd, 45, of Manchester Twp., N.J. was attending a Little League game and sitting at a picnic table next to the bullpen. Matthew Migliaccio, who is now 13, was warming up a teammate when an errant lob back to the mound went astray, striking Lloyd in the face. According to Migliaccio (who was quite erudite about the matter during a Today show interview this morning), she told him she was OK and went on with her business.
But apparenty thing weren’t OK, and Lloyd ended up undergoing reconstructive surgery because of a broken eye socket and claims to still be suffering from headaches. And although Migliaccio claims things were always cordial between him and her in the almost two years since the incident, her attorney went ahead and filed a suit against Migliaccio — a lawsuit that claims she was the victim of “assault and battery” at the hands of the youngster. Of course, the fact that insurance companies denied some of her claims for medical treatment had nothing to do with the lawsuit being filed just a couple of weeks before the statute of limitations kicked in. She is seeking $500,000.
In New Jersey, the law is quite clear about the assumption of risk at a ballgame — a law that’s been tested and upheld in recent years. We’ll see whether it applies to Little League as well.
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