Woman struck in head by bat at Yankees game suing for $10M: Complaint
A New Jersey woman has filed a $10 million lawsuit alleging she suffered severe injuries after getting struck in the head by a baseball bat during a New York Yankees home game.
Stephanie Duluc, 37, a senior healthcare executive, was sitting behind home plate during a June 2 game against the Cleveland Guardians when the incident occurred, according to a complaint filed this month.
A Guardians batter lost control of his bat, which flew over protective netting and struck Duluc in the head "with tremendous force," knocking her out of her fourth-row seat in Yankee Stadium, according to the complaint.
Duluc's injuries "include a traumatic brain injury and concussion, severe, persistent, and debilitating post-traumatic headaches, a disabling sensitivity to light, injuries to both of her hands, and an injury to her neck," the complaint stated, alleging that the incident was "violent and entirely preventable."
"Defendants did install netting in front of Plaintiff's section. But that netting was materially lower than the netting protecting the adjacent sections behind home plate," the complaint stated. "The lower netting left an open gap above Plaintiff's seats through which a foreseeably airborne bat could, and did, pass."
The incident was captured in part on the YES Network broadcast of the game and described by the broadcast announcers, the complaint noted.
"Bat goes one way, ball goes another. Bat goes into the stands, over the screen, too. Hopefully everybody's okay," an announcer said after Guardians third baseman José Ramírez lost his bat while swinging, per the broadcast.
"It was a woman who got hit. She's on her feet now," the announcer said, as the camera panned to a woman in the stands with her hand on her head.
Duluc attended the game as a guest of her employer, a season-ticket holder, according to the complaint, which alleged she has been "unable to return to her professional role and continues to suffer disabling symptoms."
The complaint alleges negligence by the Yankees and Yankee Stadium and companies it said are behind the stadium's protective netting system -- including Promats Athletics and its parent company, Sportsfield Specialties.
ABC News has reached out to the Yankees and Sportsfield Specialties for comment but has not yet received a response. The complaint noted that Promats has been "administratively dissolved."
