The Los Angeles Dodgers reached a tentative settlement with a woman who had sued for injuries suffered when she was struck by a foul ball hit by former Dodger Manny Machado during a 2018 game.
Attorneys for 56-year-old Lauren Magnanimo submitted court papers on Monday, with Judge Lisa R. Jaskol notifying them of a ”conditional” resolution in the case. The plaintiff is expected to file a request for dismissal by Sept. 30. No terms were divulged.
A team attorney had told the judge during a July 22 final status conference that a settlement was close, so Jaskol delayed proceedings so the parties could attend mediation. In previous court papers, Dodgers attorneys denied any wrongdoing on the team’s part and contended that Magnanimo “assumed the risk of getting struck by a baseball while being on the premises of a baseball stadium.”
According to the plaintiff’s suit, originally filed in September 2020 and amended in June 2022, Magnanimo was seated to the right of home plate during a Sept. 1, 2018, game at Dodger Stadium when a foul ball by Machado, then a member of the Dodgers, traveled over the protective netting and hit her left eye. That caused fractures, negative changes to her eye and face as well as facial numbness and scarring.
Magnanimo was taken to the team’s first-aid area, then to Los Angeles General Medical Center via ambulance for treatment, according to the suit.
The plaintiff claimed Dodger Stadium presented risks to spectators beyond those inherent in the sport of baseball by failing to add sufficient protective netting. Magnanimo believed the team knows that baseballs used by Major League Baseball are harder and are being hit into the crowd with greater frequency, according to her lawsuit.
Machado, now 33, signed a 10-year contract with the San Diego Padres in February 2019.
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