Cubs, Major League Baseball Sued By Fan Who Was Hit By Foul Ball

CHICAGO — Laiah Zuniga, the now-28-year-old woman who was hit by a foul ball during a 2018 Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field, is suing the team and Major League Baseball over the incident she said still causes her to have bloody noses to the day and will forever affect her taste and smell. MLB was named a defendant and the Cubs a respondent in discovery in the complaint filed by the Clifford Law Offices in Cook County Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Zuniga said in a statement she was excited on Aug. 27, 2018 when, after attending many Cubs games in the Upper Deck, she found tickets just a few rows up from the field for their game against the New York Mets. She was with her friend along the third base line eating when the foul ball hit her in the fifth inning of the game, she said.

"The blow knocked me unconscious and when I awoke my beef sandwich was the only thing I had to catch the waterfall of blood running down my face," according to Zuniga, who said she was in the hospital for "several days" as a result.

"I suffered a spider fracture under both of my eyes and I was told to see a specialist because they see some peripheral vision loss," she said. "I have frequent bloody noses to this day, and my taste and smell have been permanently affected."

Since the incident, Major League Baseball has mandated teams extend protective netting from foul pole to foul pole in an effort to protect the fan's safety.

The complaint itself states Zuniga "was struck in the face by a baseball traveling at a high rate of speed, causing severe facial orthopedic, nerve and dental injuries."

"Before August 27, 2018, Defendant MLB and the CUBS were aware that patrons have suffered serious injuries (i.e., blindness, skull fractures, severe concussions, brain hemorrhages) or been killed by baseballs entering the stands at a high rate of speed in foul territory at Wrigley Field and other MLB team fields."

The lawsuit, which alleges negligence, also cites a 2008 incident in which a seven-year-old was struck in the head and suffered a fractured skull and brain swelling after being struck by a foul ball at Wrigley Field and noted the heightened risk of sitting behind the first and third base line, where Zuniga was during the game.

"Defendant MLB and the CUBS have increased the risk of injury to patrons not only by failing to extend the netting further, but also by including distractions during the game, increasing the pace of the game and encouraging the use of mobile devices during the game."

This isn't the first lawsuit filed against the Cubs by Clifford Law Offices, the law firm representing Zuniga. They are also representing a Schaumburg man who they say was blinded in one eye after a foul ball struck him at Wrigley Field. That case remains in litigation, the law firm said.

“Major League Baseball and the Cubs were aware that severe injuries from foul balls could happen to its fans sitting in rows near the field because it had happened many times before,” said Tracy Brammeier, the attorney at Clifford Law Offices representing Zuniga. “Just late last year the MLB announced that all 30 teams would extend netting from foul pole to foul pole this year, but it’s too late for Laiah.”

Zuniga, who said in her statement she grew up in the Berwyn-Cicero area and remains a Cubs fan even after the incident, says she still suffers from anxiety over it and will never again sit in the Lower Deck seats at the stadium.

"I think that this never would have happened to me if Major League Baseball had instituted rules for more netting around the stadium," she said.