The sleeping Yankees fan lawsuit ended in dismissal. Andrew Robert Rector, the fan filmed dozing in his seat during ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball in April 2014, sued ESPN, Major League Baseball, the Yankees, and announcers Dan Shulman and John Kruk for $10 million, and a Bronx County judge threw the case out in 2015 after finding nothing on the broadcast was false or legally actionable.1ABA Journal. Judge Tosses Defamation Suit by Yankees Fan Caught Napping on Camera
What Happened on the Broadcast
On April 13, 2014, cameras at Yankee Stadium caught Rector, then 26, asleep in the fourth inning of a Yankees-Red Sox game.2ESPN. Sleeping Fan Files $10 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against ESPN, Announcers Play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman and color commentator John Kruk spent a few moments riffing on the sight. Kruk joked that the stadium was “not the place you come to sleep” and said the man next to Rector “likes him a lot better when he’s asleep.” Shulman wondered whether Rector had slept through a Carlos Beltran home run: “45,000 people stand up and cheer and he sleeps through it?”3Hollywood Reporter. Yankees Fan Caught Sleeping Sues ESPN for $10 Million When Shulman asked whether the dozing fan could be a relative of the heavyset Kruk, Kruk played along: “I didn’t get a good look at him because of the head tilt. But I mean physically he could be, yeah.”4New York Post. Yankees Fan Caught Sleeping Suing ESPN for $10 Million
MLB Advanced Media posted the clip to YouTube, where it quickly drew attention and a stream of anonymous comments.5CBS News. Sleeping Yankee Fan Sues ESPN, Announcers for $10 Million
What Rector Claimed
In early July 2014, Rector filed a defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress suit in Bronx County Supreme Court, seeking $10 million.2ESPN. Sleeping Fan Files $10 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against ESPN, Announcers He named ESPN, MLB Advanced Media, the New York Yankees, Shulman, and Kruk as defendants, with attorney Valentine Okwara representing him.6Los Angeles Times. Sleeping Yankees Fan Suing ESPN for $10 Million
The complaint accused the announcers of an “avalanche of disparaging words” and an “unending verbal crusade.”7CBC. Why Andrew Rector the Dozing Baseball Fan Has No Case Against ESPN It attributed a string of harsh insults to the broadcasters, including that Rector was “not worthy” to be a Yankees fan, was “a fatty cow that need two seats at all time,” and was “a confused disgusted and socially bankrupt individual.”4New York Post. Yankees Fan Caught Sleeping Suing ESPN for $10 Million Those phrases appear to have come not from the ESPN broadcast but from anonymous comments posted under the YouTube clip. Rector, a used car salesman, said the broadcast amounted to “bullying,” caused “enormous grief and embarrassment,” damaged his work prospects, and led insurance companies to treat him as a high risk.8The Smoking Gun. Judge Boots Sleepy Fan Lawsuit
ESPN called the inflammatory quotes “clearly not said in our telecast” and the claims “wholly without merit.”9Time. Sleeping Yankees Fan Lawsuit
Why the Case Was Dismissed
On August 17, 2015, Bronx County Supreme Court Justice Julia Rodriguez dismissed the suit.1ABA Journal. Judge Tosses Defamation Suit by Yankees Fan Caught Napping on Camera Her ruling worked through each claim.
On defamation, Rodriguez found that none of the comments actually made on the broadcast were false, which is a required element of the claim. She described the announcers’ remarks as “loose, figurative or hyperbolic statements which are not actionable.”10New York Daily News. Sleeping Yankees Fan’s $10M Lawsuit Dismissed She added that showing spectators on camera is “common practice during baseball games and other public sporting events.”1ABA Journal. Judge Tosses Defamation Suit by Yankees Fan Caught Napping on Camera
On the online insults folded into the complaint, Rodriguez ruled that Rector failed to “cite legal authority” showing that ESPN or the other defendants could be held liable for remarks posted by anonymous third parties.1ABA Journal. Judge Tosses Defamation Suit by Yankees Fan Caught Napping on Camera The theory that the broadcast “set the stage” for others to mock him was not enough.
On intentional infliction of emotional distress, she concluded the commentary did not meet New York’s standard of “extreme and outrageous conduct.”1ABA Journal. Judge Tosses Defamation Suit by Yankees Fan Caught Napping on Camera
Was There an Appeal?
Okwara told reporters after the dismissal that he had advised Rector “there is room for appeal.”11Toronto Sun. Dozing Baseball Fan’s $10 Million Lawsuit Thrown Out of Court No appeal appears in the available record.