Female NFL fan sues team after two drunk men fall on her at game, breaking her nose, finger... and sunglasses

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 10:51 EST, 29 December 2010

An NFL fan is suing the Cincinnati Bengals after she was injured when two drunken supporters sitting in the row behind fell on her during a game.

Rebecca Dunn claims the men continued to be served alcohol despite their obvious drunkenness at Paul Brown Stadium before toppling over and breaking her nose and finger.

Mrs Dunn and her husband Curtis, of Owensboro, Kentucky, are seeking unspecified damages for past and future pain and suffering and for medical treatment that they say has cost $20,000 so far.

Lawsuit: Rebecca Dunn is suing Cincinnati Bengals and the Paul Brown Stadium after she was injured by drunk fans who fell on her at an NFL game

Lawsuit: Rebecca Dunn is suing Cincinnati Bengals and the Paul Brown Stadium after she was injured by drunk fans who fell on her at an NFL game

She is also suing the beer vendor and the county-owned football stadium for negligence, alleging they continued to serve alcohol to 'noticeably intoxicated' fans at an NFL game on September 27, 2009, in which the Bengals beat Pittsburgh Steelers 23-20. 

The lawsuit accuses the fans, identified only as 'John Doe' and 'John Doe II', of battery.

Legal documentation states that 'as a direct and proximate result of their intoxication, (the two men) lost control and fell' on Mrs Dunn, causing 'catastrophic injuries' that required nose surgery and continuing orthopaedic and other medical treatment.

The couple are also claiming compensation for a pair of $700 Oakley sunglasses that were broken in the incident, and the cost of the hotel they stayed at that night because the stadium car park closed after the game, before they could retrieve their car following medical treatment.

On the field: The Cincinnati Bengals in action. Team spokesman Jack Brennan said that the club wouldn't comment on pending litigation

On the field: The Cincinnati Bengals in action. Team spokesman Jack Brennan said that the club wouldn't comment on pending litigation

Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan said that the club wouldn't comment on pending litigation, due to be heard next month, and neither would the beer seller, Aramark Corp..

Unlike football matches in the UK, NFL teams are free to sell beer to fans during games but the league has recently taken measures to curb drunken behaviour by fans.

The Bengals already have a 'Jerk line', a number which fans can call during the game to report bad or drunken behaviour by fellow fans.

A similar case is pending in New York with the Mets baseball team and other defendants, after a woman was hospitalised with spinal injuries after a drunk fan fell on her in 2007.

Her lawyer, Joshua D. Kelner, said this week that teams have an obligation to provide crowd control and that alcohol providers may be held partially responsible for the actions of intoxicated people.

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