PLAYER WAS FOUND TO HAVE “ASSUMED THE RISKS” ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPORT
After he was injured tripping on a hole that existed on an outdoor basketball court, owned by the City of New York [Yellowstone Municipal Park, Queens], W. Balgley filed a personal-injury case with the Queens County Supreme Court.
But when his case got dismissed, because the court applied the “doctrine of primary assumption of risk,” Balgley appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department.
On its review of the dispute, the AD2 noted that participants in an athletic activity consent “to those commonly appreciated risks which are inherent in and arise out of the nature of the sport generally and flow from such participation.” Since that included all “known, apparent, natural, or reasonably foreseeable consequences of the participation,” the appellate court thought that Balgley was charged with assuming the risks of voluntarily playing on a surface that suffered from “less than optimal conditions.”
Given that the hole was “open and obvious,” the AD2 affirmed the outcome and allowed the dismissal to stand.
Guess Balgley was left holding the bag there.
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