Fan Kicked Out of Ballgame for Timing of Bathroom Break Gets $10K
New York City, without admitting liability, will pay a $10,000 settlement to a fan who was ejected from a New York Yankees game in August after attempting to leave his seat during the playing of “God Bless America.”
In April, the Yankees, the New York City police department—which the team pays to provide security—and several individual officers were hit with a federal lawsuit from Bradford Campeau-Laurion of Astoria, Queens—“Mets country, no less,” the American Chronicle points out. The Chronicle also mentioned that Campeau-Laurion is a Red Sox fan.
Campeau-Laurion said that when he tried to leave his seat during the song, an officer stopped him and told him he needed to return to his seat. Campeau-Laurion said in his suit that he did not care about the song and wanted to use the bathroom, at which point the officer grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and, with another officer, led him out of the stadium, the American Chronicle reported. New England Sports Network said that Yankee ushers used handheld chains to block off some exits during the playing of the song.
New York City police spokesman Paul J. Browne and Yankees attorney Alan Vickery of Boies, Schiller & Flexner told New England Sports Network that Campeau-Laurion was actually ejected for being drunk and disorderly.
“[Campeau-Laurion] ignored the NYPD officer’s requests, shouted expletives and initiated physical contact with the NYPD officer by pushing the officer’s hand out of the way and attempted to push past the NYPD officer,” Vickery said.
Campeau-Laurion told CBS that “he had two beers, an hour apart, and enjoyed the game quietly.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union—which was awarded $12,000 in fees in the settlement—said Campeau-Laurion was the victim of religious and political discrimination, the New York Times City Room blog reported. In a stipulation (PDF provided by City Room) as part of the settlement, the Yankees declared “that they have no policy or practice at the new Yankee Stadium that imposes any restrictions on fans wishing to move about the stadium during the playing of ‘God Bless America’ that do not apply during the rest of the game.”
Campeau-Laurion told the American Chronicle that the settlement is a victory. “Now people can visit the stadium and feel like they can watch a baseball game without feeling they’ll be pressured into performing a perceived patriotic act.”
