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Dozing Yankees Fan's $10 Million Lawsuit Thrown Out Of The Park
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 30, 2015
Modified Apr 5, 2018
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 30, 2015
Modified Apr 5, 2018
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FYI: If you fall asleep during a Yankees game, are caught on TV and then become the subject of viral video viewing, don't expect to win your $10 million defamatin lawsuit. A judge ruled that used car salesman Andrew Robert Rector didn't have enough to sue ESPN, MLB and the Yankees.
Back in April 2014, Rector fell asleep when the Yankees were playing the Red Sox. ESPN's cameras ate it up:
Rector, however, was upset at his infamy and filed a $10 million lawsuit, claiming distress and that the announcers were defaming him:
"Plaintiff is unintelligent and stupid individual.
"Plaintiff is not worthy to be fan of the New York Yankee.
"Plaintiff is a fatty cow that need two seats at all time and represent symbol of failure.
"Plaintiff is a confused disgusted and socially bankrupt individual.
"Plaintiff is confused individual that neither understands nor knows anything about history and the meaning of rivalry between Red Sox and New York Yankee.
"Plaintiff is so stupid that he cannot differentiate between his house and public place by snoozing throughout the fourth inning of the Yankee game."
that the judge found the announcers never actually said those thing, "At worst, the announcers’ comments might be considered to be loose, figurative or hyperbolic statements which are not actionable.”
One lawyer who was not involved in the case complained last year that the lawsuit was pretty stupid, "Without a doubt, this shouldn't only be embarrassing to the lawyer who brought this case, but it's embarrassing to his fellow lawyers. There's no reason for it... Attorneys can do really valuable things, like exposing the steering system defect in GM cars, recently. That only came out because lawyers were breathing down GM's neck and taking depositions and investing thousands of hours and dollars to prove there was a serious problem causing needless deaths. However, this kind of frivolous, groundless suit ... is the kind of thing that gives lawyers a bad name."
Damn*, you gonna take that, lawyers?!
(The opinions of the attorney quoted above do not reflect the opinions of Gothamist LLC and its subsidiaries.)
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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