City of Coral Springs v. Rippe

Herbert and Helene Rippe (plaintiffs) attended a little league baseball game that their son participated in at a facility owned by the City of Coral Springs (city) (defendant). The fence surrounding the field was eight feet high behind home plate but was only four feet high elsewhere. Helene was watching the game near the players’ bench, where the fence was only four feet high. Helene was knocked unconscious when she was hit by a foul ball. The Rippes sued the city, alleging that the city was negligent because the four-foot-high fence was too short. The jury found that Helene was 60 percent negligent and that the city was 40 percent negligent. The trial court entered judgment in the amount of $130,000 in favor of the Rippes. The city appealed, arguing that there was no evidence that it knew that a four-foot-high fence was too short or that other people previously suffered similar injuries. Per the city, it thus did not have a duty to correct the situation or warn spectators. The Rippes responded that it was common knowledge that a foul ball easily could be hit more than four feet in the air, that a prior injury was not required for the city to have a duty to correct or warn, and that there was evidence that the city had actual knowledge that an observer could be hit by a foul ball while behind a four-foot-high fence. With respect to the city’s actual knowledge, the Rippes cited the testimony of a city recreation manager, who stated that spectators were safe behind the eight-foot-high section of the fence and that spectators who watched from behind the four-foot-high section of the fence assumed some risk of paying attention.