Court Opinion

ID: 9754401
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 19:58:58.921158+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:55:40.324967
License: Public Domain

Justice ZAZZALI
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The first recorded baseball game took place at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken on June 19,1846. Leonard Koppett, Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball 7 (2004). Since then, the game has become an integral part of our American identity *74and has emerged as an ever-expanding business. George F. Will, Bunts 28 (1999) (“The business of America is business, and so, of course, is the national pastime.”); see also Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258, 282, 92 S.Ct. 2099, 2112, 32 L.Ed.2d 728, 743 (1972) (“Professional baseball is a business and is engaged in interstate commerce.”). Between 1994 and 2001, eight minor league stadiums opened in New Jersey alone. As an increasing number of citizens flock to competitive baseball games, we confront difficult questions of tort liability.
Here, a foul ball struck plaintiff in the face as he purchased a beverage from a mobile vending cart on the concourse of a minor league stadium. The Appellate Division reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the stadium owners and operators, holding that the trial court erred in finding that defendants had not violated their duty of care as a matter of law.
In this appeal, we survey the law that has evolved concerning owner and operator liability and examine the boundaries of the limited duty rule. In doing so, we must accommodate the interests of both fans and owners. We hold that the limited duty rule, which restricts the tort liability of owners, applies in situations where an injury occurs in the stands. However, public policy and fairness require application of traditional negligence principles in all other areas of the stadium, including, but not limited to, concourses and mezzanine areas.
I.
Plaintiff Louis Maisonave suffered a facial injury when a foul ball struck him in the eye as he stood on the mezzanine at Riverfront Stadium, home field of minor league baseball team, The Newark Bears. The mezzanine is an open walking area exposed on one side to the baseball field. Vendors sell food and beverages on that level, and restrooms are located there. At the time of the incident, the stadium used movable vending carts for the sale of beverages because construction of the stadium had not yet been completed, and the built-in concession stands were not operational. *75The carts dotted the mezzanine along both the first and third base lines on the field-side of the mezzanine. The vendors stood with their backs to the diamond while the patrons faced it.
Plaintiff, who had watched the action at a railing on the first base side of the field, walked about 100 feet to the closest vending cart. Netting protects the seating area behind home plate and extends for some distance down both base lines. The beverage cart that plaintiff patronized was on the first base line, but beyond the protection of the net. In a written statement, Maisonave described the moments before the incident:
I wasn’t consciously aware of where the netting was or where it ended. From the time I reached the vending cart, I had not actually watched the field; I was aware the game was being played by the crowd reaction, but I wasn’t able to see the field ____Standing at the beverage cart before I was hit I was not thinking about the possibility of a foul ball coming at me. I didn’t think anything could happen to me there.
[ (Emphasis added.) ]
At his deposition, plaintiff described the incident:
Q. What were you doing during that five or ten minutes? Were you trying to watch the game?
A. No, I was talking with some people on line.
Q. And did the vendors move?
A. Well, the vendor I know ducked kind of sideways because when they said look out, the last thing I saw was her moving out of the way and the ball coming.
Q. You were not aware of this ball previous to that moment? In other words, did you see the pitcher throw the ball at the batter? Did you see the batter swing at the ball?
A. No.
Q. Did you see the ball leave the bat?
A. Nothing, nothing.
[ (Emphasis added.) ]
The batted ball struck plaintiff in the right eye, causing numerous fractures and persistent numbness in the area of the eye, drooping of the eye, problems with his sinuses, and scarring.
Alleging negligence, plaintiff sued The Newark Bears Professional Baseball Club, Inc., which leases Riverfront Stadium from *76the Essex County Improvement Authority, and defendant Gourmet Dining Services, which provides food and beverage services to Riverfront Stadium. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, finding that they had not breached their duty of care. In reaching that conclusion, the trial court relied on Schneider v. American Hockey & Ice Skating Center, Inc., 342 N.J.Super. 527, 533-34, 777 A.2d 380 (App.Div.), certif. denied, 170 N.J. 387, 788 A.2d 772 (2001), which set forth a two-pronged duty of care for stadium owners and operators:
[F]irst, the operator must provide protected seating “sufficient for those spectators who may be reasonably anticipated to desire protected seats on an ordinary occasion,” and second, the operator must provide protection for spectators in “the most dangerous section” of the stands. The second component of this limited duty ordinarily may be satisfied by the operator providing screened seats behind home plate in baseball and behind the goals in hockey.
[ (Citations omitted.) ]
The trial court reasoned that the provision of “at least two vending carts close to home plate and behind the screening, which plaintiff could have utilized,” established that defendants had not breached their limited duty to plaintiff and, therefore, were not liable to plaintiff as a matter of law.
The Appellate Division reversed and remanded. Maisonave v. Newark Bears, Gourmet Services, 371 N.J.Super. 129, 134, 852 A.2d 233 (2004). Citing Schneider, the panel agreed that “the operators of a commercial sports facility owe a limited duty to spectators.” Id. at 133, 852 A.2d 233 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). However, focusing on the second part of the Schneider limited duty rule, the Appellate Division stated:
When we said that the second component [of Schneider ] “may be satisfied by the operator providing screened seats behind home plate in baseball and behind the goals in hockeyf,]” our identification of those locations was not intended to be exhaustive nor immutable. Rather, “the measure of that duty is ‘due care under all the circumstances.’ ”
[Ibid, (citations omitted).]
We granted certification on the separate applications of defendants. 182 N.J. 142, 861 A.2d 846 (2004). For the reasons discussed below, we affirm and modify the decision of the Appellate Division.
*77In our analysis, we consider general principles of tort liability, including the business invitee rule and its application to commercial establishments. Next, we examine the limited duty rule as an exception to the business invitee rule, its origins, its application in New Jersey and other jurisdictions, and concerns about the rule. We then determine whether we should adopt the limited duty rule, and if so, to what extent it should apply to the stands and to other areas of the stadium.
II.
A.
In Hopkins v. Fox & Lazo Realtors, we held that a landowner “owe[s] a duty of reasonable care to guard against any dangerous conditions on his or her property that the owner either knows about or should have discovered.” 132 N.J. 426, 434, 625 A.2d 1110 (1993) (citing Handleman v. Cox, 39 N.J. 95, 187 A.2d 708 (1963); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 343 (1969)). This is the standard of care generally applied to business enterprises and is the default governing standard unless a more specific rule applies. Although it applied the limited duty rule, our Appellate Division recognized in Schneider that “the operator of a commercial recreational facility, like the operator of any other business, has a general duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its patrons.” 342 N.J.Super. at 534, 777 A.2d 380.
B.
The limited duty rule is a specialized negligence standard that has protected stadium owners and operators since the early days of modern baseball. For example, in Crane v. Kansas City Baseball & Exhibition Co., 168 Mo.App. 301, 153 S.W. 1076, 1078 (1913), the court held that stadium operators must offer protected seating areas and that a spectator who chose an unprotected seat was contributorily negligent. In Quinn v. Recreation Park Ass’n, 3 Cal.2d 725, 46 P.2d 144, 146 (1935), the court held that “[t]he *78duty imposed by law is performed when screened seats are provided for as many as may be reasonably expected to call for them on any ordinary occasion.” (Citations omitted.) Since the early twentieth century, courts have held that “one of the natural risks assumed by spectators attending professional games is that of being struck by batted or thrown balls.” Ibid. Even a brief review of several early baseball cases reveals that many courts that adopted the rule, or a version of it, based their decisions on two facts: that the danger of errant balls was common knowledge and that spectators sitting in unscreened seats assumed the risk of injury. See, e.g., Brisson v. Minneapolis Baseball & Athletic Ass’n, 185 Minn. 507, 240 N.W. 903 (1932); Kavafian v. Seattle Baseball Club Ass’n, 105 Wash. 215, 181 P. 679 (1919). Thus, the rule establishes a fact-specific standard of care for injuries caused by errant balls at baseball stadiums by accounting for the open and obvious nature of the risk that batted balls pose to fans.
In Schneider, supra, our Appellate Division endorsed the limited duty rule, explaining that stadium operators must “provide protected seating sufficient for those spectators who may be reasonably anticipated to desire protected seats on an ordinary occasion.” 342 N.J.Super. at 534, 777 A.2d 380 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Additionally, stadium operators must “provide protection for spectators in the most dangerous section of the stands.” Ibid, (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
C.
The scope of the duty that the owners and operators of baseball stadiums owe their patrons is a question of first impression for this Court. However, about one-half of the states have previously addressed this issue.1 Our research reveals that eleven of those *79jurisdictions have adopted the limited duty rule.2 Some states have not applied the rule and instead have adopted baseball-specific statutes.3 Finally, some courts have applied traditional negligence principles, such as the business invitee rule or comparative negligence.4
There is no gainsaying that the limited duty rule has its advocates. Many “believe [it] to be the better rule and adopt [that] definition of the duty owed by an owner of a baseball field to provide protective screening for its spectators.” Akins v. Glens Falls City Sch. Dist., 53 N.Y.2d 325, 441 N.Y.S.2d 644, 424 N.E.2d 531, 533 (1981); see also Lawson v. Salt Lake Trappers, Inc., 901 P.2d 1013, 1015 (Utah 1995) (“The [limited duty] rule insures that those spectators desiring protection from foul balls will be accom*80modated and that seats in the most dangerous area of the stadium will be safe. At the same time, [it] recognizes baseball tradition and spectator preference by not requiring owners to screen the entire stadium.” (internal citations omitted)).
That said, there are concerns about the rule. For example, Chief Judge Cooke of the New York Court of Appeals has identified its troubling aspects, describing the standard as
an unfortunate exercise in judicial rule making in an area that should be left to the jury. This attempt to precisely prescribe what steps the proprietor of a baseball field must take to fulfill its duty of reasonable care is unwarranted and unwise
This rule of law denies recovery to injured spectators as effectively as the old doctrines of assumption of the risk and contributory negligence ever did, and uses a fundamentally similar rationale to do so.
[Akins, supra, 441 N.Y.S.2d 644, 424 N.E.2d at 535, 537 (Cooke, C.J., dissenting).]
In 2002, when an errant puck struck and killed a thirteen-year-old girl attending a National Hockey League game in Ohio, the media intensified its focus on safety issues in both hockey arenas and baseball stadiums. See Phil Taylor, Death of a Fan, Sports Illustrated, Apr. 1, 2002, at 59; Steve Politi, Spotlight on Safety After Fan Death, Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.), Mar. 21, 2002, at 33. Since that time, some critics have described the limited duty rule as “hopelessly anachronistic,” David Horton, Note, Rethinking Assumption of the Risk and Sports Spectators, 51 UCLA L.Rev. 339, 365 (2003), and have noted that “stadium owners are so insulated from legal responsibility that they are under ‘little pressure to add more protection for fans,’ ” id. at 344-45 (quoting Politi, supra).
III.
With the above case law and commentary as a backdrop, we consider whether the limited duty rule should apply to stadiums, and, more specifically, to the stands. In doing so we are mindful that “[Recognition of a duty of care, ultimately, rests on considerations of public policy and on notions of fairness.” Crawn v. Campo, 136 N.J. 494, 503, 643 A.2d 600 (1994).
*81As the Appellate Division aptly observed, “[wjhile watching the game, either seated or standing in an unprotected area, spectators reasonably may be expected to pay attention and to look out for their own safety.” Maisonave, supra, 371 N.J.Super. at 134, 852 A.2d 233. It is the well-understood nature of the game that batted or thrown baseballs can land in the stands. Indeed, “most spectators prefer to sit where they can have an unobstructed view of the game and are willing to expose themselves to the risks posed by flying balls ... to obtain that view.” Schneider, supra, 342 N.J.Super. at 534, 777 A.2d 380. Moreover, professional baseball is a unique sport because fans actively engage in the game by trying to catch foul balls. Fans often greet out-of-play baseballs with cheers as they dive over walls and rows of seats, risking life and limb, for the thrill of triumphantly claiming the errant ball.
Although it has drawn criticism, we are not prepared to say that the rule’s time has come and passed. It would be unfair to hold owners and operators liable for injuries to spectators in the stands when the potential danger of fly balls is an inherent, expected, and even desired part of the baseball fan’s experience. Moreover, owners and operators would face undue hardship if forced to guarantee protection for all fans in the stands from every fly bah. Because the limited duty rule fairly balances the practical and economic interests of owners and operators with the safety and entertainment interests of the fans, we adopt the Appellate Division’s opinion in Schneider, to the extent that it holds that owners and operators must offer sufficient protected seating to those who would seek it on an ordinary basis and to provide screening in the most dangerous sections of the stands.
In the interest of clarity, we note that the term “stands” includes the stairs that fans ascend and descend to access their seats in the stands. Similarly, areas immediately adjacent to the stands designated as “standing room only,” and dedicated solely to viewing the game, fall within the purview of the limited duty rule. In contrast, multi-purpose areas, such as concourses and play*82ground areas, are outside the scope of the rule, as discussed below.
Finally, as the Appellate Division recognized in its opinion below, the measure of the operator’s duty is “due care under all the circumstances” under New Jersey’s interpretation of the limited duty rule. Ibid, (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). We expect owners and operators—who are in the best position to determine which areas of the stadium are indeed the most dangerous—to identify those areas and take preventive steps to ensure fan safety to a reasonable extent. For example, concerns arise in many areas of the stadium because baseballs
hit into the unscreened seats are actually faster than those balls hit directly behind the screened home plate area____Traditionally, balls hit straight back are hit with the bat coming underneath the ball, which takes off some of the speed. In contrast, line drive fouls (most frequently right down the foul lines) are normally hit flush, and send the ball at a higher velocity down the line and into the stands. [Gil Fried, Baseball Spectators’ Assumption of Risk: Is It ‘Fair’ or ‘Foul’?, 13 Marq. Sports L.Rev. 39, 58 (2002) (internal citation omitted).]
Thus, owners and operators must reassess whether there is a sufficient amount of protected seating available “in the ‘most dangerous’ locations for those that might reasonably expect to obtain such seats.” Ibid.
IV.
We now must decide whether the limited duty rule should apply to areas other than the stands. To assist our analysis, we examine the developing law, principles of fairness, and related considerations. See Crawn, supra, 136 N.J. at 503, 643 A.2d 600 (“Recognition of a duty of care, ultimately, rests on considerations of public policy and on notions of fairness.”).
A.
Some jurisdictions, as noted above, have applied common law principles, rather than the limited duty rule, to resolve litigation between fans injured in the stands and stadium owners and operators. It appears that Pennsylvania is the only jurisdiction *83that has addressed the factually distinct issue of an injury to a patron in an area of the stadium other than the stands. In Jones v. Three Rivers Management Corp., 483 Pa. 75, 394 A.2d 546 (1978), the plaintiff was injured by a batted ball as she walked along the stadium concourse with her back to the playing field. Recognizing that a different standard of care might apply in the situation before it, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania framed the issue as “whether [plaintiffs] ease is governed by the ‘no duty rule applicable to common, frequent and expected risks of baseball or by the ordinary rules applicable to all other risks which may be present in a baseball stadium.” Id. at 551. The court held that the trial court had erred in applying the “no duty’ rule in that circumstance, id. at 552, and concluded that “[i]t was for the jury to determine the question of appellees’ negligence,” id. at 553.
Like Pennsylvania, we recognize that a different standard of care may be appropriate for areas of the stadium outside of the stands. We have held that “New Jersey tolerates immunities only for important reasons of public policy and in relatively exceptional situations, and therefore strongly endorses a standard of care based on ordinary negligence.” Crawn, supra, 136 N.J. at 502, 643 A. 2d 600. Thus, in considering the appropriate standard of care for areas of the stadium other than the stands, and in harmonizing the interests of fans and owners, “the nature of risks[ ] and considerations of public policy and fairness ... must inform our determination.” Id. at 503, 643 A.2d 600.
B.
Applying principles of fairness, as Crawn requires us to do, we recognize that, since the birth of the baseball rule, “both sports and tort law have undergone massive transformations.” Horton, supra, 51 UCLA L.Rev. at 343. While the baseball “event” has been evolving, tort law has shifted from a caveat emptor approach to one that generally requires defendants to assume more responsibility. Id. at 365. As a consequence, there is a “pragmatic difficulty [in] applying an old rule to a sport that has changed *84tremendously in the last seventy years.” Id. at 365-66. Thus, “[s]ports viewership has significantly changed over the years, but most courts have yet to embrace this change.” Fried, supra, 13 Marq. Sports. L.Rev. at 54. Because “the beauty of common law is the ability to adapt to the times[,]” ibid., we now consider whether our rule requires refinement.
Transformations in tort law and the game of baseball suggest boundaries to the limited duty rule. Specifically, “new training techniques and technologies have made play faster and players stronger.” Horton, supra, 51 UCLA L.Rev. at 343-44. Ballparks now “present a sensory overload of distractions.” Tom Verducci, Safety Squeeze, Sports Illustrated, Apr. 1, 2002, at 64. The limited duty rule does not accommodate all of the activities that are part of today’s game, nor does it take into account that players can hit baseballs harder and farther.
The validity of the baseball rule diminishes in the context of injuries that occur in stadium areas other than the stands. Fans foreseeably and understandably let down their guard when they are in other areas of the stadium. Once the fan has disengaged him- or herself from the activity on the field and has left the stands, that individual is no longer trying to catch foul balls or even necessarily watching the game. It is all “harmless fun — until that one foul ball comes screaming at the wrong time and in the wrong place.” Fried, supra, 13 Marq. Sports L.Rev. at 57. The fact that “[cjhildren and seniors are an important part of minor league” games, Verducci, supra, at 64, underscores our concern.
Nothing about the game of baseball distinguishes it from other businesses in a way that justifies preferential treatment for stadium owners and operators for injuries that occur outside of the stands. Indeed, in areas outside of the stands, including concourses and mezzanines such as the one in this appeal, a commercial sports facility is no different than any other commercial establishment, and we do not hesitate to apply general negligence principles in virtually all other tort situations and the *85specialized business invitee rule to commercial enterprises. As the Appellate Division noted in addressing this appeal,
[t]he defendants are engaged in a commercial venture which by its nature induces spectators to let down their guard. They have a concomitant duty to exercise reasonable care to protect them during such times of heightened vulnerability. The imposition of a duty under these circumstances ... is not only fair but reasonable.
[Maisonave, supra, 371 N.J.Super. at 134, 852 A.2d 233 (emphasis added).]
We agree with that analysis and conclude that “times of heightened vulnerability” include all situations in which a patron is no longer in the stands.
C.
Because principles of fairness, and by implication public policy, support the application of traditional tort concepts to areas outside of the stands, we will not expand the scope of the baseball rule past its logical and appropriate borders, that is, the stands. Cf. Crawn, supra, 136 N.J. at 503, 643 A.2d 600. To apply the baseball rule to the entire stadium would convert reasonable protection for owners to immunity by virtually eliminating their liability for foreseeable, preventable injuries to their patrons even when the fans are no longer engaged with the game. “The wisdom of eschewing such blanket rules where negligence is concerned is obvious.” Akins, supra, 441 N.Y.S.2d 644, 424 N.E.2d at 536 (Cooke, C.J., dissenting).
We do not impose strict liability for owners in areas outside of the stands; such a bright-line rule would impose an onerous burden on owners and operators. We simply apply traditional tort principles and conclude that the proper standard of care for all other areas of the stadium is the business invitee rule, which provides that a landowner “owe[s] a duty of reasonable care to guard against any dangerous conditions on his or her property that the owner either knows about or should have discovered.” Hopkins, supra, 132 N.J. at 434, 625 A.2d 1110.
*86D.
Regrettably, the dissent misapplies basic concepts of tort law, focusing as it does on some notion that the plaintiffs “geographic location when injured,” post at 89, is an improper premise in the duty calculus. That notion is especially odd in light of the dissent’s adoption of the limited duty rule for the “geographic location” of the entire stadium. Our differences, rhetoric aside, seem only to be about the scope of the geographic area to which the limited duty rule applies.
The limited duty rule is an exception to general negligence principles, and more particularly, to the application of the business invitee standard of care in the commercial context. The dissent apparently prefers not to consider public policy and fairness concepts if the result is to hold the owner of the commercial enterprise responsible for its negligence when it does not adequately protect its business invitees, at least outside of the spectator seating areas. But, the Court is required by its common law precedents to examine the owner’s duty in those circumstances, and to consider which of the parties is best able to bear the burden of foreseeable harm within the stadium. See Carter Lincoln-Mercury, Inc. v. EMAR Group, Inc., 135 N.J. 182, 194, 638 A.2d 1288 (1994) (holding that relationship between plaintiff and tortfeasor, nature of risk, and ability and opportunity to exercise care are relevant concerns to imposition of duty); see, e.g., Bd. of Educ. of City of Clifton v. W.R. Grace Corp., 258 N.J.Super. 94, 113, 609 A.2d 92 (stating that public interest dictates that cost of defective construction should be borne by party who created danger and who is in better economic position to bear the loss rather than by victim). In the dissent’s view, clearly, a decision tethered in “either law or proper public policy,” post at 98, would relieve the stadium owner, who is in the best position to protect its patrons, of any responsibility anywhere on its business premises regardless of its negligence. This we decline to do.
*87V.
To recapitulate, the limited duty rule, as set forth above and in Schneider, will apply to injuries occurring in the stands. However, traditional rules of negligence, specifically the business invitee rule, will govern owner and operator liability for injuries that occur in all other areas of the stadium. That adjustment of the ground rules is a fair and appropriate accommodation of the competing interests.-
We remand this matter to the trial court for application of the standard we have set forth in this opinion to all future proceedings in this matter. The judgment of the Appellate Division is affirmed as modified.

 See generally James L. Rigelhaupt, Jr., Annotation, Liability to Spectator at Baseball Game Who Is Hit by or Injured as Result of Other Hazards of Game, 91 A.L.R.3d 24 (1979) (electronically updated as of 2005).

 The following jurisdictions have explicitly adopted the limited duty rule: California (Rudnick v. Golden W. Broadcasters, 156 Cal.App.3d 793, 202 Cal.Rptr. 900 (1984)); Iowa (Arnold v. City of Cedar Rapids, 443 N.W.2d 332 (Iowa 1989)); Louisiana (Lorino v. New Orleans Baseball & Amusement Co., 16 La.App. 95, 133 So. 408 (1931)); Michigan (Benejam v. Detroit Tigers, Inc., 246 Mich.App. 645, 635 N.W.2d 219 (2001)); Minnesota (Brisson v. Minneapolis Baseball & Athletic Ass’n, 185 Minn. 507, 240 N.W. 903 (1932)); Missouri (Anderson v. Kansas City Baseball Club, 231 S.W.2d 170 (Mo.1950)); New York (Akins v. Glens Falls City Sch. Dist., 53 N.Y.2d 325, 441 N.Y.S.2d 644, 424 NE.2d 531 (1981)); North Carolina (Cates v. Cincinnati Exhibition Co., 215 N.C. 64, 1 S.E.2d 131 (1939)); Ohio (Cincinnati Baseball Club Co. v. Eno, 112 Ohio St. 175, 147 N.E. 86 (1925)); Texas (Friedman v. Houston Sports Ass'n, 731 S.W.2d 572 (Tex.App.1987)); Utah (Lawson v. Salt Lake Trappers, Inc., 901 P.2d 1013 (Utah 1995)).

 See Colorado Baseball Spectator Safety Act of 1993, Colo.Rev.Stat. § 13-21-120 (1993); Baseball Facility Liability Act, III. Comp. Stat. 38/1-49 (1992).

 See, e.g., City of Milton v. Broxson, 514 So.2d 1116, 1118 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1987) (holding that "liability must be determined by the common law standards ... governing the duty of landowners to invitees"); Bellezzo v. Arizona, 174 Ariz. 548, 851 P.2d 847, 850 (Ct.App.1993) (holding that "[bjecause [plaintiff] was an invitee, the applicable standard of care obligated appellees to discover and warn or protect ... against unreasonable risk of harm"); Jones v. Three Rivers Mgmt. Corp., 483 Pa. 75, 394 A.2d 546 (1978) (discussed further in Part IV below). See also Costa v. Boston Red Sox Baseball Club, 61 Mass.App.Ct. 299, 809 N.E.2d 1090, 1092-93 (2004) (holding only duty is to warn of unreasonable dangers which do not include foul balls).