Man Blames Testicle Fracture on ‘Nutt Hutt’

PHILADELPHIA (CN) - A man fractured his testicle while playing lacrosse due to the faulty design of a plastic athletic supporter known as the "Nutt Hutt," he claims in court.

The plaintiff, who will not be named by Courthouse News due to the graphic nature of the story, sued athletic equipment manufacturer Warrior Sports Inc. in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday.

He claims that the Nutt Hutt cup he was wearing shattered when a lacrosse ball hit it, leaving him crying in pain on the ground and "unable to move or be moved for several minutes."

The plaintiff was playing goalie in a 2010 scrimmage at a Philadelphia-area overnight youth lacrosse camp when the accident happened, according to the complaint.

During a drill where he had been "instructed to stand in goal while other children his age took easy to moderate overhead bounce shots on goal," a camp employee fired the shot that made direct contact with his cup, shattering it and fracturing his testicle, the complaint states.

The next day, a nearby hospital diagnosed the plaintiff with a testicle fracture and told him his condition "constituted a medical emergency that required immediate surgery due to the absence of blood flow to the testicles," according to the lawsuit.

Warrior Sports Inc. is accused of strict product liability and failing to deliver on its marketing promises that the Nutt Hutt "utilized high-impact ABS plastic," offered "the ultimate protection, and featured a "layered design [that] absorbs impact." The malfunction of the cup while the plaintiff was using it in a "normal, foreseeable" manner constitutes a breach of warranty on the manufacturer's part, he claims.

The plaintiff seeks at least $50,000 in damages for severe physical and psychological pain and suffering as well as "embarrassment, a loss of life's pleasures and a phobia regarding athletic activities," which the lawsuit says will continue to plague him "indefinitely into the future." He is represented by Daniel O'Brien of the Philadelphia firm White & Williams.

Representatives for New Balance, the parent company of Warrior Sports, did not return a request for comment. New Balance is not a party to the lawsuit.

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