Thomas v. Little League Baseball, Pa. No. 21-00260 (C.P. Lycoming May 11, 2022) (Linhardt, J.) Waverly Little League in NY banned a player. The plaintiff then sued Little League International. The court dismissed the matter, saying that there was no agency relationship and that none of the rules of Little League International would have applied to the plaintiffs. There is simply not a sufficient connection to justify dragging Defendant, a corporation coordinating local youth baseball leagues across the country and the world, into a dispute between the autonomously-acting board members of a local little league organization (that is located not just outside of this Court’s jurisdiction but outside of its state) and a community member who wishes to attend that local league’s games. This is not a matter that Defendant controls but has delegated to Waverly Little League to enforce Defendant’s wishes; rather, Waverly Little League’s decision to ban Plaintiff was an autonomous one distinct from the marketing and coordination provided by Defendant. Defendant’s Preliminary Objections are SUSTAINED. Because the Court concludes that Defendant is entitled to a demurrer as a matter of law, Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint shall be dismissed with prejudice.
Attorney Cliff Rieders
Cliff Rieders is a Nationally Board Certified Trial Lawyer practicing personal injury law. A large part of his practice involves multi-district litigation, including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements and medical devices. He is admitted in several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Rieders is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the Board for 15 years.
Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed, leadership positions, he authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. Rieders also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West Publishing.
As recognition of his wide range of contribution to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award, and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. [ Attorney Bio ]