Woman Sues for $1M Over T-Shirt Cannon Incident

She's suing the Houston Astros, says cannon broke her finger
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 9, 2019 7:32 PM CDT
Updated Apr 10, 2019 1:03 AM CDT
Woman Sues for $1M Over T-Shirt Cannon Incident
The Boston Red Sox work out at Minute Maid Park, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018, in Houston. The Red Sox are to face the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the baseball American League Championship Series, Tuesday, Oct. 16.   (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

A woman has sued the Houston Astros for more than $1 million, saying that a T-shirt cannon by the team's mascot at a game last season broke her finger, the AP reports. The Houston Chronicle reports that Jennifer Harughty alleges the mascot, who is named Orbit, "shattered" her left index finger during a game last July when a T-shirt fired from a "bazooka style" cannon into the stands struck her finger. The Astros said in a statement Tuesday the team is "aware of the lawsuit with allegations regarding Orbit's T-shirt launcher. We do not agree with the allegations. The Astros will continue to use fan popular T-shirt launchers during games. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment on this matter."

The Chronicle reported court records said Harughty was seated in the middle of the first deck behind the third base line when the incident occurred. The lawsuit said the fracture required two surgeries to repair. The newspaper reported that court records said two screws were placed in her finger to repair the break and that she needed to attend physical therapy two times a week after the surgery. The suit added she "continued to suffer pain, swelling and loss of range of motion." Her second surgery was performed in October and Harughty's lawsuit says that her finger still isn't right and "remains locked in an extended position with little to no range of motion." The lawsuit alleged the Astros were negligent in not using reasonable care in the firing of the T-shirt cannon and that they failed to provide warnings to fans about the risk the cannons pose and not properly supervising staff to ensure fan safety.

(More lawsuit stories.)

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