Patricia Abato, a spectator at a charity hockey match, sued Nassau County--owner and operator of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum--after she was knocked to the floor by other spectators who were trying to retrieve a free t-shirt that had been tossed into the stands.
When the Nassau County Supreme Court denied the County's dismissal request, an appeal ensued.
Since it thought the injury was predictable and a "natural response" to launching free garb into a spectator area, the Appellate Division, Second Department, also concluded that the case shouldn't be dismissed. (It rejected a "lack of notice" defense because the County triggered the events which led to Abato's injuries.)
The AD2 also didn't buy the argument that free-flying t-shirts, and the commotion that follows, are "known, apparent or reasonably foreseeable consequences" of attending a hockey game.
Puck!
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Abato v. County of Nassau