A North Vancouver man who sued the District of North Vancouver after being injured by an errant baseball has had his case dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada.
In April 2015, Thomas Rivers was struck in the back of the head by a foul ball while sitting in the bleachers for his son’s game at Inter River Park, according to court rulings. He sued the District of North Vancouver, alleging the park, with back-to-back baseball diamonds, was not designed with spectator safety in mind.
In 2020, a B.C. Supreme Court judge found park and ball diamonds were built to appropriate safety standards and ruled Rivers’ case was simply an unfortunate accident.
Rivers took his case to the B.C. Court of Appeal, arguing the trial judge was wrong to factor in the “risks inherent in watching a baseball game from the bleachers,” in deciding whether the district had been negligent. In October 2021, a panel of three appeals court judges unanimously rejected that argument.
Canada’s top court ruled on April 14 that it would not hear Rivers’ last-ditch appeal. As is custom, the court did not provide reasons for its decision.
Only about five per cent of the appeals submitted to the court are heard.
