Thursday, December 30, 2010

Golfer Who Sued After Getting Hit By Golf Ball Loses

A golfer that was left blind in one eye after an errant shot has lost his appeal. The shot came while three friends were playing golf on Long Island in 2002. The man who lost part of his vision, Azad Anand, was no longer able to work as a neuroradiologist. He sued Anoop Kapoor, the golfer whose shot hit him, claiming that Kapoor should have warned him by yelling fore.

The New York State Court of Appeals ruled that Kapoor was not responsible for yelling fore because Anand was not in the intended path of the ball.

The Court ruled that Anand assumed the risk that he could be hit by an errant ball when he decided to play golf and that Kapoor was responsible for yelling fore only to golfers in the ball’s intended path.

This decision is in keeping with previous golf decisions, where courts have generally found that golfers assume risk when playing.

The legal principle at law is called voluntary assumption of risk. This refers to the acceptance of a risk or danger associated with an activity by doing the activity. For example, when you play hockey you understanding that there is a risk, and when you step on the ice you assume and agree to that risk associated with contact that is incidental to the game.


2 comments:

Daniel Gilbeau said...

Good ruling! Thanks for the info Eric but it is surprising since this was in the US and everyone seems to be allowed to sue anyone for anything and almost always seem to win their cases.

Bakes said...

As an avid and somehow not improving golfer, I always wondered what liability there was out on the course. Thanks Eric.