Four fans have taken legal action against the Washington Commanders and three other defendants citing gross negligence after a railing struck down on them following a game against the Philadelphia Eagles last season.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Maryland on Friday by plaintiffs Andrew Collins, Morgan French, Michael Naimoli and Marissa Santarlasci. All four fans claim to still be receiving medical treatment from cuts, bruises and muscle injuries after having fallen onto the field by the barrier’s collapse.
The fans, who all live in New Jersey, are each seeking compensatory damage in excess of $75,000 for their injuries, loss of income and medical bills, as well as punitive charges, according to The Washington Post.
The lawsuit names the franchise, the company owning the stadium’s rights and a security service for large crowds as defendants. Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder is also the owner of FedEx Field.
‘Defendants knew, or should have known, that extreme pressure [from the weight of leaning fans] would be placed on the railing between where the fans, including the Plaintiffs, were located and the tunnel below,’ the lawsuit states.
The Contemporary Services Corporation was the operating security company at the Commanders’ home game.
Four NFL fans based in New Jersey have sued the Washington Commanders and three other defendants on Friday, citing gross negligence for the railing’s collapse
Fans hit the ground in front of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) after a railing collapsed at FedEx Field on January 2, when the Commanders lost 16-20
The barricade’s collapse happened on January 2 following the Eagles’ away win over the Commanders, 20-16. Footage of the incident showed a set of Eagles fans going overboard and falling 5-10 feet while quarterback Jalen Hurts’ was walking down the tunnel. All of them landed on concrete.
The 2020 NFL Draft pick avoided the railing and calmly helped some injured fans to their feet. Mark Tenally, a sports photographer for The Associated Press who stood near the railing, was injured and received medical attention. It is believed that he is not part of the lawsuit.
On January 4 – two days after the incident – Hurts penned a letter to the NFL and the Commanders, inquiring ‘what follow-up action is being considered.’
‘I tried to handle the situation with a lot of poise and show compassion for the people that fell down, really, but it could’ve been so much worse,’ the 24-year-old stressed to both organizations.
‘It didn’t hit me until after the fact, having time to reflect on it and think about it, so I just wanted to see what could be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s all I really care about it. That’s a very tragic incident and it could’ve been much, much worse but I don’t want it to happen again.’
The Commanders later responded that at the time and ‘to our knowledge, everyone involved was offered onsite medical evaluation and left the stadium of their own accord.’
‘We’re very glad no one appears to have been seriously injured,’ the team’s January statement further read. ‘The safety of our fans and guest is of the utmost importance and were looking into what occurred.’
Two days after the incident involving the railing’s fall, Eagles quarterback Hurts signed a letter to the NFL and the Commanders, inquiring about ‘what follow up action is being considered’
Hurts further stressed to the league that he doesn’t want a similar incident to reproduce itself and that January’s incident was ‘a very tragic incident and it could’ve been much, much worse’
Injured fans were furious with the Commanders’ response, with Naimoli labelling the teams statement as ‘completely incorrect’ and that no medical assistance had been provided.
‘Everybody get the F off the field,’ and [they] quickly grabbed us away from Jalen and shoeed us up into the stands,’ the Sicklerville native, who is engaged to French, told ESPN.
‘They didn’t ask if anyone was hurt, and they sure as hell didn’t ask if anybody needed medical attention,’ Collins, 26, recalled. ‘The only thing the staff said to us was to get the F off the field.’
Naimoli, who was wearing a green Hurts jersey at the time of the incident, previously claimed to have felt neck and arm pain, ESPN reported. He also said his hand was trembling after being stuck underneath the barricade.
He was treated at Inspira Medical Center in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, later on the day of the collapse and had to wear a neck brace while waiting for treatment. Naimoli was later treated for a cervical strain, an unspecified head injury and bruises to his knees and elbows.
Collins remembered suffering lower back pain and pulled a groin, while Santarlasci and French sustained bruises to their legs, as a result of the fall.
‘I was the last person to fall,’ recalled French to ESPN, while elaborating on a bruise from waist down to her knee. ‘I was on top of everyone so I quickly jumped up, and the security guard literally pulled me up by my two arms and got me off the field. I didn’t have time to process. I was more so in shock.’
Co-owner Dan Snyder has not yet commented on Friday’s filing of the lawsuit
A spokesperson with the Commanders later clarified that fans were jamming up an area of FedEx field designated for disabled people, including wheelchair access, and that the railing that collapsed was not designed to contain the weight of a large crowd.
The group, however, argued that they were allowed access to the designated area by a security member and that no signs in the restricted area indicated that it was reserved for people with disabilities.
‘The security guard at the bottom, we [asked] him, ”Can we go over there?” And he was like, ”Yeah,” Naimoli told ESPN. ‘If Washington Football Team wants to come out and say that the area is restricted, there was no documentation of that at all. The one security guard that was right in front of that area swept us in there and was like, ”OK, go ahead over to the tunnel.”’
The Washington Commanders and the NFL have yet to comment on the lawsuit.
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