Litigious Yankees Fan Won't Get $10M for Napping at Game

He says ESPN defamed him by showing him dozing
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 29, 2015 6:16 PM CDT

A 27-year-old New York Yankees fan who sued after ESPN cameras caught him napping during a game in April 2014 had his $10 million defamation lawsuit thrown out by a judge last month, the Smoking Gun reports. Not even a second-row seat and a matchup with the hated Boston Red Sox could keep Andrew Rector awake during that April game. His fourth-inning doze was broadcast on ESPN and commented on by its announcers. Three months later, Rector sued ESPN, MLB, the Yankees, and the two announcers "for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress," claiming he was subjected to an "unending verbal crusade" by the announcers. He's now lost the case, however: "You snooze, you lose," is how the Daily News sums things up.

The Smoking Gun reports there was one major problem with Rector's lawsuit: The insults he attributed to the announcers actually came from online comment sections, where he was called things like "fatty cow" and "socially bankrupt," according to his lawsuit. In fact, his suit failed to cite any of the things the announcers actually did say, none of which the judge found to be defamatory anyway. “At worst, the announcers’ comments might be considered to be loose, figurative or hyperbolic," wrote Judge Julia Rodriguez. Furthermore the judge stated Rector's lawyer failed to supply a legal reason why any of the parties Rector sued would legally be responsible for what the Internet says about him. Rector's lawyer tells Daily Mail Online that his client hasn't decided whether to appeal. (Another unusual NYC suit: A man sued for every penny on Earth, and then some.)

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