Injured Operagoer Loses Lawsuit Against the Met | Playbill

Related Articles
Classic Arts News Injured Operagoer Loses Lawsuit Against the Met A woman who sued the Metropolitan Opera after being injured in a fall during a performance has lost an appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals, the New York Post reports.
In 2001, during a Met performance of Strauss's Arabella, Estelle Gilson stepped into an aisle to allow fellow operagoer Donald Taitt to return to his seat. Tait, who has Parkinson's disease, lost his balance and fell into Gilson. According to her lawyer, she then fell 12 rows down the aisle, tearing her rotator cuff and breaking her wrist, her nose, and a bone under her eye.

In her lawsuit, Gilson had held that the Met was responsible for her injuries because an usher did not accompany Taitt to his seat. The Court of Appeals rejected that claim, upholding the ruling of a lower court. According to the Post, the court ruled that requiring patrons to be accompanied to their seats "go[es] beyond the standard of ordinary care."

 
RELATED:

Explore Classic Arts:
Recommended Reading:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!