Teen Sues Cardinals for ‘STD’ Text Message

An Illinois teen is suing the St. Louis Cardinals for displaying a text message on its scoreboard that claimed she had a venereal disease.

The message falsely claimed the 16-year-old plaintiff "has an STD! Eww!" the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The team introduced a program last year to allow fans to send text messages to the scoreboard at a cost $2.99.

The suit, filed in Missouri state court, says the teen was humiliated in front of her many friends at the game. It claims she missed school and sought psychological counseling because of the incident.

Lawyer Dan Nelson, who represents the Cardinals, said the message was apparently “an unfortunate prank” by one of the teen’s classmates. “We are, frankly, surprised that the matter has even elevated to this level."