So you are the hot new prospect for the “Minnesota Mud Hens”. Your arch-rival “Wisconsin Webmasters” base stealer comes in cleats up and hits your leg at second base. Blood everywhere. The team doc stitches you up and gives you a shot to prevent infection. The shot needle breaks and you end up with an infection. You are out for the season. Can you sue the needle manufacturer?
Years ago the answer would have been “no” because only the team had bought the needle, not you. Thus the team had a contract with the needle manufacturer, not you. The answer as to why you can now sue is “product liability.” The courts have decided that modern society requires transferring the liability for the loss to the responsible party, which is not you, the second baseman.
The seminal case in California took place in an old courtroom, which had a chandelier hanging over the judges’ benches. The attorney for the plaintiff posed the question, “Your honors, do you mean to tell me that if the chandelier were to come down on your heads, leaving you dead and your wives as widows, that the only one with a right to sue would be the procurement agent for the State of California?” The judges spent the rest of the argument nervously looking up at the chandelier, before ruling for the plaintiff!
