LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A settlement amount reached in a lawsuit brought against the Los Angeles Dodgers by a fan from Riverside County who was hospitalized with a serious brain injury when he was allegedly attacked in a stadium parking lot in 2019 should be sealed, the fan’s attorneys argue in new court papers.
Lawyers for 50-year-old Rafael Reyna of Eastvale filed court papers with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anne Hwang stating that making the settlement amount public could jeopardize the accord, which was reached July 31 in mediation.
In addition, Reyna’s privacy interests concerning the financial details of the settlement override those of the public, according to the plaintiff’s attorneys’ court papers, filed in advance of an Oct. 18 hearing on the motion.
Reyna’s settlement must be approved by a judge because the plaintiff is a disabled adult under a conservatorship.
Reyna’s lawsuit alleged negligence, premises liability, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He maintained lighting was poor and security was lacking at the game.
Reyna’s wife, Christel Reyna, alleged negligent infliction of emotional distress as a bystander to the attack.
The Reynas’ attorneys maintained in their previous court papers that the crime rate at Dodger Stadium exceeds that of any other ballpark in Major League Baseball.
Security was reduced in 2004 for financial reasons, possibly due to the financial troubles of former owner Frank McCourt, and in 2008, the Dodgers began relying solely on security guards uniformed in polo shirts, without any uniformed Los Angeles police officers, the suit filed in April 2020 alleged.
Rafael Reyna was attacked after watching the Dodgers play the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 29, 2019, the suit stated. The game lasted 13 innings and ended shortly before midnight, according to the complaint.
After the game, Reyna went to one of the parking lots to reach his car and called his wife to let her know he would soon be departing Dodger Stadium, but he was overtaken by about five people and violently beaten, causing him to collapse onto the parking lot asphalt and strike his head, the suit stated.
Reyna suffered a severe traumatic brain injury that required him to be in a medically induced coma and the plaintiff now suffers from the residual effects of the injury, according to Reyna’s attorneys’ pleadings.
In 2011, Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan, was attacked in one of the venue’s parking lots. A Los Angeles Superior Court jury in 2014 awarded about $18 million in damages to Stow while attributing 75% of the liability to his two assailants who beat him into a coma, 25% to the team and none to former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
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