After recently escaping a lawsuit arising from the fact that Cowboys Stadium didn’t have enough seats for Super Bowl XLV, the Cowboys are facing a new lawsuit alleging that one specific seat outside the structure was unreasonably hot.
According to CBSDFW.com, Jeannelle Carrillo claims her buttocks were burned after sitting on a bench outside Cowboys Stadium in August 2010 while attending the team’s annual scrimmage.
“She sat down on this black bench, outside an entrance and unfortunately she suffered third-degree burns as a result of it and had subsequent skin grafts,” Carrillo’s lawyer, Michael Wash, told CBSDFW.com.
The lawsuit claims that black, marble bench, when exposed to sunlight on a day with temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, was unreasonably dangerous. Carrillo alleged was hospitalized for roughly a week.
Though the situation will provide plenty of fodder for jokes, Carrillo suffered serious, avoidable injuries, if her allegations are true. By building a structure intended for public use, the Cowboys should have selected seating materials that wouldn’t become unreasonably hot. And if black marble was the only way to go, the Cowboys should have been prepared to take precautions on hot days, by roping off the black, marble benches or installing warning signs.