7/7/2014
By Ivan Pereira
A Yankees fan caught sleeping on camera during an ESPN broadcast is taking the network and team to court.
Andrew Robert Rector filed a lawsuit in Bronx Supreme Court on July 3 seeking $10 million in damages after he was videotaped sleeping during the April 13 game between the Bombers and the Red Sox and poked fun at by the commentators John Kruk and Dan Shulman.
The suit contends Rector was the victim of an “unending verbal crusade.”
“These words, include but not limited to ‘stupor, fatty, unintelligent, stupid’ knowing and intending the same to be heard and listened to by millions of people all over the world,” the suit says.
The lawsuit says the teasing escalated after several other media outlets, including MLB.com, and websites reposted the video and included false statements that said the plaintiff is “a confused disgusted and socially bankrupt individual.”
The commentators never used the terms “fat,” “unintelligent” or “stupid,” but they joke about how he could be sleeping in the fourth inning of a game between big rivals.
“Did he sleep through the [Carlos] Beltran homer?” Shulman said. “I mean 45,000 people stand up and cheer and he sleeps through it.”
ESPN, MLB and the Yankees didn’t immediately respond to messages for comment.
