ERIE – Little League Baseball denies liability for severe dental injuries an Oil City man suffered when he was struck by a baseball nearly nine years ago, and further denied allegations that it promised the plaintiff and his family that its insurance would cover his full medical damages and later reneged on that promise.
Matthew F. McQuaide of Oil City filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on March 1 versus Little League Baseball, Inc., of Williamsport.
“On May 20, 2013, plaintiff Matthew McQuaide was injured during a practice conducted by an agent of defendant. The coach admittedly hit a ball so aggressively and with such force that upon hitting a rock located in the field in front of the plaintiff, it directly hit the plaintiff in the face. The impact resulted in instant evulsion of a tooth. The tooth was propelled through the air and found 10 feet from the plaintiff,” the suit says.
“After a trip to the emergency room, the tooth was replaced in the socket of the plaintiff. On May 21, 2013, Matthew was treated by Dr. Edward Osborne and again on June 7, 2013 and June 14, 2013 for additional treatment, which included a root canal of Tooth No. 8 and 8-L. An agent of the defendant assured plaintiff’s legal guardians that there was ample insurance that would cover costs incurred by the injury.”
The suit adds that in July 2016, Matthew learned he sustained growth plate damage and shifting of other teeth surrounding the ones which were initially injured, leading to years and treatment and subsequent surgeries.
“In January of 2020, when it was apparent that the growth plate damage incurred in the incident had caused excessive damage, the guardians of the plaintiff, contacted a lawyer to seek help in recovering payment for damages. On Jan. 21, 2021, a letter requesting a settlement for damages was sent from the lawyer to the insurance adjusters. A response in reply was sent seven months later on Aug. 21, 2021, with an offer of $500 to cover the damages of the incident,” the suit states.
“Due to evasiveness of the insurance adjuster and Little League Baseball, Inc., and the lack of current contact information for CALL, the plaintiff is now representing himself pro se. On Jan. 27, 2022, two years after accepting to represent the plaintiff, with the statute of limitations running out, the lawyer decided to no longer represent the plaintiff.”
UPDATE
Little League Baseball provided an answer to the complaint along with 19 affirmative defenses on March 23.
“The alleged damages were caused by the negligence and carelessness of plaintiff. Therefore, plaintiff’s recovery should be limited or reduced in accordance with the Pennsylvania Comparative Negligence Act. Upon information and belief, the damages and occurrences alleged in the complaint were the result of an independent and intervening cause or causes over which answering defendant had no control or in any way participated. The complaint and each and every allegation considered separately, fails to state any cause of action against answering defendant upon which relief can be granted. Upon information and belief, plaintiff failed to mitigate or otherwise act to lessen or reduce his damages alleged in the complaint,” according to their answer’s defenses.
“Plaintiff’s damages are eliminated or reduced by plaintiff’s failure, in whole or in part, to mitigate his damages. Plaintiff’s claims are barred in whole or in part by the doctrine of unclean hands. Upon information and belief, any damages complained of by plaintiff were caused, wholly or in part, by the conduct or negligence of others, not including answering defendant, and by reason thereof, any damages to which plaintiff otherwise might be entitled should be reduced in part or barred in full depending upon the relative culpability of all tortfeasors whether named or unnamed. Answering defendant is not guilty of any negligence, carelessness, recklessness, or breach of any duty to plaintiff. It is denied that any alleged act or omission on the part of answering defendant was negligent or resulted in damages to plaintiff. Plaintiff’s injuries and resultant damages, if any, were caused by his own carelessness, negligence, and lack of due care.”
For counts of negligence, carelessness, recklessness and flagrant indifference, the plaintiff is seeking actual damages of $25,000 and punitive damages of $500,000 (due to the medical expenses incurred affecting his college fund).
The plaintiff is representing himself in this matter.
The defendant is represented by Jason Rojas of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case 1:22-cv-00080
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com