A healthcare executive suffered a traumatic brain injury in the luxury seats of Yankee Stadium when a player accidentally frisbeed his bat into the stands and whacked her in the noggin, a new $10 million lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Duluc, 37, chief of staff at the Bronx-based SOMOS Community Care, was taking in the June 2 Yankees game from fourth-row seats directly behind home plate when Cleveland Guardians infielder Jose Ramirez launched his bat into her section during the fifth inning, the suit said.<\/p>\n
Jose Ramirez lost control of his bat, which flew into the stands and hit fan Stephanie Duluc, during a game between the Cleveland Guardians and the New York Yankees on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. YES Network<\/p>\n
Duluc\u2019s employer owns season tickets in the section.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re some of priciest seats in the House That Ruth Built \u2014 and also some of the most dangerous \u2014 with required netting that\u2019s supposed to shield fans from foul balls and errant bats, the court filing said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the one location where the law has long required a stadium operator to provide adequate protective screening,\u201d according to the suit.<\/p>\n
But Ramirez lost his bat mid-swing and the protective netting did nothing to stop the high-speed bat, according to her lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.<\/p>\n
The suit claims the netting was \u201csignificantly lower\u201d than adjacent sections, leaving an \u201cunprotected opening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bat hit Duluc \u201cwith such force that it knocked her from her seat and violently threw her to the ground, causing her to sustain severe and permanent injuries,\u201d her suit claims.<\/p>\n
Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez loses the bat on a swing during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees on June 2, 2026, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. (Imagn Images) IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
As the terrifying moment aired live, announcers gasped as they noted the bat had cleared the screen and flattened a spectator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBat goes one way, ball goes another,\u201d Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay said during the Yes Network broadcast, according to a video clip of the game. \u201cBat goes into the stands \u2014 over the screen too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stephanie Duluc, 37, is the chief of staff at the Bronx-based SOMOS Community Care. Facebook \/ SOMOS Community Care<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a woman who got hit; she\u2019s on her feet now,\u201d he adds as cameras show Duluc holding her head.<\/p>\n
Duluc claims the blow caused a traumatic brain injury, concussion, severe light sensitivity and permanent damage to her neck and hands \u2014 leaving her completely \u201cunable to return to her professional duties.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the alleged injuries, Duluc appeared on PIX11\u2019s Monica Makes It Happen<\/a> in late July \u2014 less than two weeks before the lawsuit was filed.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the short televised segment, she appeared on camera under studio lighting to discuss a recent event sponsored by her company at Fordham University.\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked if the TV spot contradicted her injury claims, her attorney Jon L. Norinsberg said \u201cnot at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite alleging total work disability and crippling light sensitivity in her lawsuit filed on August 1, Duluc appeared on TV in late July \u2014 less than two weeks before the lawsuit was filed.\u00a0 PIX11<\/p>\n \u201cMs. Duluc continues to suffer significant residual deficits from her traumatic brain injury, including persistent headaches, sensitivity to light, balance issues, and other cognitive impairments,\u201d said Norinsberg, who also represents former banker Chirayu Rana in a notorious \u201csex slave\u201d lawsuit against JPMorgan.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA brief television appearance does not mean she has recovered or is capable of performing her professional duties on a sustained basis,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The Yankees declined comment.<\/p>\n Duluc\u2019s lawsuit will likely face a high-stakes legal battle over the century-old \u201cBaseball Rule,\u201d<\/a> a doctrine that typically exempts teams and owners from liability over foul ball, bat or other similar injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n That rule helped toss numerous other injury suits brought against The Bronx Bombers, including injuries from foul ball<\/a> and flying bats.<\/a><\/p>\n Other shocking stadium horrors \u2014 including a 2015 Fenway Park tragedy where a fan suffered life-threatening injuries<\/a> from a shattered bat, and a 2017 Yankee Stadium incident where a 105-mph foul ball fractured a toddler\u2019s skull<\/a> \u2014 forced baseball stadiums to dramatically expand netting requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the \u201cBaseball Rule\u201d contains a critical legal exception: stadiums must provide adequate protective netting in the zone of greatest danger \u2014 directly behind home plate where Duluc sat \u2014 and whether or not she can prove the net was defective could be the difference between a strike out or a home run.<\/p>\n Their season\u2019s hope hinges on talented top prospect George Lombard Jr., who homered in his first game for the Yanks on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A healthcare executive suffered a traumatic brain injury in the luxury seats of Yankee Stadium when a player…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15853,2850,277,57,20,9,11,10,321,319],"class_list":["post-316123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-head-injuries","tag-lawsuits","tag-manhattan-federal-court","tag-metro","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}