The long legal saga of the 300-pound Mets fan who fell on a woman and broke her back at Shea stadium in 2007 is still rolling slowly through the courts. You'll recall that Ellen Massey, a lawyer and Mets fan, is suing the Mets, the beer concession, the union that represents the team's security guards, and one Timothy Cassidy, the husky gentleman who fell on her during the season opener. Yesterday Massey won a big huge victory when a judge ruled that the Mets could be held liable for the falling fan.
Mets policy prohibits "drunk or disorderly fans," and several witnesses say Cassidy was behaving like a big fat boor. One woman recalls that Cassidy "randomly took nachos from [her] plate without asking. He took I think two chips and scooped [her fixings] . . . and ate, and then walked back to his seat." Others say Cassidy was so drunk he couldn't pronounce "Phillies," and berated the fans in his upper deck section for their lack of enthusiasm, allegedly yelling, "Why aren't you cheering for the Mets? I'll kick your f------ ass!'"
A friend of Cassidy's concedes he drank about four or five beers before his fateful fall, but Cassidy insists he didn't fall, he was pushed. He blames one Eric Metzger, a fan who reportedly criticized Cassidy during the game. According to a copy of the decision, "Cassidy stated that at one point, when he was talking on his cell phone, Metzger stated, 'Put the f------ Treo away, buddy."
The case is expected to finally go to trial this summer. In her 13-page ruling, Justice Judith Gische wrote, "Regardless of whether Cassidy's fall was sudden and unexpected, a jury could find that it was foreseeable Cassidy's conduct was putting the safety of other members of the public at risk. The security guards could have confronted or ejected Cassidy from the stadium based on his aggressive behavior towards other fans."
