Little league coach suing his 14-year-old player for $600K after errant helmet toss

Will Lerner
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

Apparently discord between a coach and player isn’t the exclusive province of the New York Knicks. KCRA NBC 3 News is reporting on California resident Alan Beck who is taking legal action against one of his former players. The unnamed 14-year-old threw off his helmet as he was crossing home, celebrating his winning run in a game last spring. That helmet wound up hitting his coach’s Achilles tendon and tearing it.

The teen’s father, Joe Paris, is in disbelief over the matter, telling KCRA, “At first I thought it was a joke. Now, I think it’s absurd.” Paris has already spent $4,000 in legal fees, and he hasn’t even been in a courtroom yet.

So who is Alan Beck? He’s a chiropractor in Roseville, California. He declined to comment on the suit, but his attorney Gene Goldsman told the station, “"I don't think the boy meant to harm him. But, this wasn't a part of the game. A guy who volunteers his time to coach should not be subjected to someone who throws a helmet in the manner that he did. What the kid did, it crossed the line." It’s for those reasons that he’s seeking $500K for pain and suffering, as well as an additional $100K for lost wages and medical bills.

Sacramento-based legal expert Bill Portanova told KCRA that this case seems tenuous. Amongst the reasons why are that California law doesn’t allow children to be sued for their actions, and that because of the “inherent risk” of being on a baseball field, where things are flying around all the time, it would be hard to prove that the little leaguer intended to hurt Beck.

Unless it is settled beforehand, a judge will see the case in March. In the meantime, one has to wonder if this will be worth it for Alan Beck. As a local practitioner, he’s got to be reliant on being in good standing with his community. Suing a teenager for over half a million dollars over what appears to bean accident will surely do damage to his reputation. Negative reviews have already started to pop up on Yelp for his business.

More info: KCRA