CAPE GIRARDEAU — A Southeast Missouri State University baseball player, Broc Kreitler, settled a lawsuit he had filed accusing the university of negligence after he was injured during practice.
According to SacBee.com, the award was $200,000.
The lawsuit states that the plaintiff was pitching from behind an L-shaped pitcher's screen in March 2015 when he was struck by a ball that was thrown through a hole in the screen.
The plaintiff accused the university of negligence, but the university argued the plaintiff should have checked the screen's ties to ensure that everything was secured.
Peter Vujin, a Miami-based attorney, said that in cases such as these, finding which party is truly at fault can be a challenge.
The university's defense was based on comparative negligence, which meant that the plaintiff was partially to blame for the injuries sustained, he said.
"Upon review it is clear to me that this a a case of comparative negligence. Even in cases where the plaintiff was negligent, he or she may recover in negligence, but only in the proportion to the injury he or she caused themselves," Vujin told the St. Louis Record. "That means that the jury will weigh the evidence, and then partition the negligence."
Even though comparative negligence may save an institution a portion of the damages, it more often pushes for a simple settlement, which can save money in the long run, versus a long legal battle and all of the costs associated.
"It is a very complicated issue of law and fact, and the costs of litigating often are higher than a simple analysis," Vujin said. "As the law in the State of Missouri on comparative negligence stands now, it, fairly, encourages early settlement to avoid costly court proceedings."