The Supreme Court agreed and sent the case back to the trial court. On appeal, Coomer argued that it was up to the trial judge-not the jury-to decide whether getting hit in the eye by a hot dog is an inherent risk of attending a sporting event at Royals Stadium.

Coomer appealed to the Western District Court of Appeals, and after an unsuccessful appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court accepted transfer of the case. In fact, the jury found Coomer 100% responsible for his own injuries. The jury found against Coomer and in favor of the Royals.

At the trial of the case, the judge instructed the jury that the Royals should not be found at fault if the jury believed that “the risk of suffering an injury by being struck by a hotdog thrown in a manner in which Sluggerrr threw the hotdog that plaintiff alleges struck him was a risk inherent in attending a game at Royals’ Stadium….and that (Coomer) comprehended the actual risk….and that (Coomer) intelligently accepted that risk.” Coomer objected to the judge giving this instruction to the jury, but the judge allowed the instruction. He discovered that his retina had detached and he had to undergo surgery.Ĭomer filed a lawsuit against the Royals organization, alleging that Sluggerrr failed to use ordinary care when throwing the hotdogs, and that the team failed to both train and supervise Sluggerrr in tossing the hotdogs. Then, two days later, he was having vision problems in his left eye. During the Hotdog Launch, Coomer looked away for a moment to examine the scoreboard and got hit in the face with a hot dog.Īt first, Coomer did not realize he was injured. Coomer knew of the promotional event, as he attended 175 Royals games prior to this game. He would sometimes toss the hot dogs himself.

Sluggerrr would load an air gun with hotdogs and then shoot the hotdogs from the roof of the visitor’s dugout to fans. The team mascot, Sluggerrr, climbed on top of the visitor’s dugout to begin the “Hotdog Launch,” a spirited feature of every Royals home game. Coomer and his guest left their assigned seats and moved six rows from the visitor’s dugout as a result. There was a very small crowd that day, due to rain. On September 8, 2009, John Coomer attended a Kansas City Royals baseball game. The facts of this very interesting case are as follows. On June 24, 2014, the Missouri Supreme Court reached a decision in the case of Coomer v. The Supreme Court recently reached a decision that was eagerly watched by both personal injury attorneys and sports lawyers around the country.

Baseball game website with hot dog game