Houston Astros sued for $1 million after fan says T-shirt cannon ‘shattered’ finger

A Texas woman says the mascot for the Houston Astros shot her with a T-shirt cannon at a baseball game last summer, shattering her index finger — and now she’s suing the major league team for more than $1 million.

“It was a life-changing event that I think if it happened to anybody else ... they would feel the same way,” said Jennifer Harughty, who filed the lawsuit Monday, according to KTRK. “It has nothing to do with the Astros.”

The lawsuit said Harughty was seated behind third base during a July 8, 2018, game at Minute Maid Park when the mascot, Orbit, shot off the “bazooka style” air gun during the seventh inning — hitting her left hand and breaking her index finger, which required surgery and screws, according to the Houston Chronicle, which posted a copy of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit said Harughty, a 35-year-old real estate broker, went to an emergency room after the game, according to the Chronicle. Even with Harughty’s treatment, the finger is stuck in an extended position and has limited range of motion after the injury, the lawsuit said.

Harughty’s lawyer, Jason Gibson, said the Astro’s wouldn’t cover the medical bills his client incurred trying to fix the injury, the Chronicle reports.

“Nothing was going to be done,” Gibson said, according to the newspaper. “We were directed to the general counsel, and he basically said ‘file your lawsuit.’ He asked for it, and he got it. We were hoping to get this resolved, but that didn’t happen.”

Even so, Harughty remains a fan of the team, KPRC reports.

“She and her family love the Astros, but the Astros aren’t showing her much love and it’s that simple,” Gibson said, according to the TV station.

The Astros have denied responsibility for the injury.

“The Astros are aware of the lawsuit with allegations regarding Orbit’s t-shirt launcher. We do not agree with the allegations. The Astros will continue to use fan popular t-shirt launchers during games,” the franchise said in a statement, according to KHOU. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment on this matter.”

The Chronicle reports that Major League Baseball tickets shift the risk of attending a game onto fans with the so-called “baseball rule,” which says that a fan “assumes all risk and danger incidental to the baseball game, and all other activities, promotions or events at the Ballpark before, during and after the baseball game, including, but not limited to, the danger of being injured by baseballs, equipment, objects or persons entering spectator areas.”

But Gibson said he doesn’t think that waiver covers Harughty’s injury.

“That’s not the type of risk you assume going to a baseball game, although they may take that position,” he said, according to the Chronicle. “Ours will be that you don’t assume the risk of having someone fire a cannon at you that creates that much force at that proximity that can cause that kind of damage.”

Gibson said Harughty’s finger will never work properly again, KPRC reports.

“It was 100 percent preventable,” he said, according to the TV station. “I do not think it was an accident.”

The lawsuit accuses the Astros of negligence, failure to warn about the risks of the cannon, and lack of proper training for staff who use it.

“We thought maybe there is something the Astros can do to help. We’re over $15,000 in medical bills, multiple surgeries,” Harughty said, according to KTRK.