Woman injured by drunk concert attendee files personal injury claim

A New Jersey woman who claims she became injured after being shoved by a fellow concert-goer at a Philadelphia sports venue has filed a civil complaint in Pennsylvania state court.

Philadelphia attorney Joseph A. Cullen, Jr., of the law firm of Stark & Stark, P.C., filed the personal injury claim Aug. 26 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Jana Keating of Mantua, N.J.

The defendants named in the suit are Comcast Spectator, L.P., Spectrum Arena Limited Partnership, and Global Spectrum, Inc.

According to the complaint, Keating was attending a concert at what was then known as the Wachovia Center, at 3601 S. Broad St., (the building is now the Wells Fargo Center), back on July 31 of last year, when she was shoved forward by an “unruly and visibly intoxicated male patron,” an act that caused her to strike her forehead on the back of a seat and land her right arm on the concrete floor.

“Prior to this incident, plaintiff witnesses the tortfeasor stand up and fall forward into the row in front of him, contacting a female patron,” the suit states. “This female patron then alerted event security.”

The lawsuit claims that Keating was injured as a direct result of the failure on the part of event security to take action to prevent the actions of the intoxicated man despite the “known and obvious risk posed by the tortfeasor under the circumstances, thereby causing a dangerous and hazardous condition, which condition was known to or should have been known to defendants.”

As a result of the incident, Keating sustained injuries to her head, right arm, and other parts of her body. The arm injury required surgical repair. Keating also suffered forehead lacerations, the lawsuit claims.

Keating has had to spend money on medical treatment, and she has been unable to carry out her usual duties and activities because of her injuries.

“As a result of the accident … the plaintiff has undergone great physical pain and mental anguish and she will continue to endure the same for an indefinite time in the future to her great detriment and loss,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit accuses the various defendants of carelessness and negligence for failing to provide adequate security to ensure the plaintiff’s safety; failing to respond to a known and obvious safety risk in the form of the intoxicated patron; failing to warn Keating of a reasonably foreseeable injury resulting from the conduct of a “loud, unruly and visibly intoxicated patron;” and failing to exercise reasonable care to protect the plaintiff.

Keating demands judgment against the defendants, jointly and/or severally, in a sum in excess of $50,000.

The plaintiff has demanded a jury trial.

The case number is 110803924.