Bearman v. Notre Dame 453 N.E. 2d 1196 (Ind Ct App 1983) Facts: The plaintiff Christenna Bearman and her husband sued the University of Notre Dame for the damages that resulted from an injury occurring on October 27th, 1979. Mrs. Bearman’s leg was broken when an intoxicated person after walking away from fighting with another intoxicated man fell into her from behind, knocking her down as she was returning to her car after a Notre Dame football game. During the incident there was no security or ushers in the area. Mrs. Bareman argued that she was a business invitee and there was a sense of duty of care that the university should have had for her. The plaintiff was suing based on failure to take the proper guidance and action to prevent …show more content…
Bearman from the injuries that were caused by the intoxicated person. Holding: The Indiana Court of appeals decided to reverse the case and favor the plaintiff, awarding them damages of what was caused during the injury. Along with requiring the defendant, the University of Notre Dame to take action to protect the patrons of the football games from third party individuals. Rationale: Notre Dame made the argument that they cannot be held accountable for actions of a third party, and that they are absent of notice or knowledge of any particular danger to a patron. They later admitted to knowing that alcohol is consumed at these sporting events and on the premises after. This requires the defendant to owe a duty of safety and have a duty to take reasonable precautions in order to protect the plaintiff and to anyone who attends one of the football games. The defendant has to have an understanding that something could happen due to there being alcoholic beverages consumed. Having low numbers of security and staff around while there is alcohol present, and claiming to have knowledge that alcohol is being consumed suggests that there was negligence on the defendant’s part. The court is now requiring the University of Notre Dame to increase the number of ushers along with security at and after their sporting events. Bearman was a business invitee of the University of Notre Dame and expected that Notre Dame owed her a duty of care to protect her from injury and the university was negligent in upholding these expectations. Due to the defendant’s negligence and lack of regard for safety, the court found that the defendant did owe a duty of care to the