Lawsuit of the Day

Lawsuit of the Day: God Bless the Yankees, And Nobody Else

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As we mentioned this morning, just because the Yankees are opening a billion dollar ballpark today doesn’t mean that people can’t bitch about the Yankees. A 30-year-old Red Sox fan from Queens is suing because he was kicked out of old Yankee Stadium for his failure to observe the sabbath seventh. The New York Post reports:

In a suit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Bradford Campeau-Laurion is challenging the Bombers’ “policy” of forcing fans to stand still during the seventh-inning singing of “God Bless America.”

Campeau-Laurion claims he was the victim of “political and religious discrimination” when he was booted from the Stadium for trying to take a bathroom break as the patriotic piece began last year.

He’s a Red Sox fan (Boston) and he lives in Queens (Mets), but he was in the Bronx (Hell)? Maybe that explains the NYPD’s conflicting report:

In a statement, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne disputed Campeau-Laurion’s version of events, saying the officers “observed a male cursing, using inappropriate language and acting in a disorderly manner while reeking of alcohol and decided to eject him rather than subject others to his offensive behavior.”

Of course, Mr. America Hater disagrees. More details after the jump.


It’s not uncommon to be drunk, disorderly, and in desperate need of a bathroom at a baseball game. But Campeau-Laurion claims he wasn’t acting like the vast majority of Yankee fans:

The 30-year-old Web designer said he drank two Bud Lites and munched some peanuts before nature called at the Yanks’ Aug. 26 game against his beloved Bosox.

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If he wasn’t (unusually) drunk, the cops may have overreacted:

As he headed toward a tunnel to the concourse, a uniformed NYPD officer blocked his path, “indicating that he could not leave during ‘God Bless America,’ ” his Manhattan federal suit says.

Campeau-Laurion told the cop he didn’t care about the song and tried to get past, but was quickly grabbed by the officer and a colleague stationed nearby.

The cops then allegedly twisted his arms back and frog-marched him to the exit.

But what makes this more interesting than your run of the mill, “I’d pray to Allah if he could make them stop playing that damn song during my baseball game” problem is the state action issue. The Yankees (and many other major professional sports teams) pay the NYPD and the officers individually to act as security for the stadium. The officers dress up in their NYPD blues, but they are technically off duty while they are employed by the Yankees.

Of course, the New York Civil Liberties Union couldn’t care less about this technical distinction. New York 1 reports:

The [NYCLU] claims NYPD officers are enforcing a policy that’s unconstitutional because it forces people into a patriotic and religious act.

The NYCLU is suing the NYPD, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and the Yankees on behalf of Campeau-Laurion.

“They’re enforcing Yankee policy but they’re doing it as New York City police officers paid by a private entity. Even though the Yankees are paying for it, they are there as police officers,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU.

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That argument makes sense to me, but I don’t have a dog in this fight. In a battle between the Yankees and the NYPD against an annoying Red Sox fan living south of the accepted “neutral zone” of Connecticut, I root for whatever causes the most pain to everybody.

Fan’s Bathroom Trip At Yankee Stadium Leads To Lawsuit [NY1]

7TH-INNING ‘KVETCH’ [NY Post]

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