CLEVELAND (CN) — A country music fan plummeted to his death after falling down a five-story trash chute during a Jason Aldean concert because stadium staff left the door to the chute unlocked, his family claims in court.
The family of Cory Barron on Friday sued Cleveland Indians Baseball Company, Gateway Economic Development Corp., Live Nation and others in Cuyahoga County Court for wrongful death and negligence, two years after Barron's body surfaced in a trash dump days after the July 18, 2014, concert at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
"During the evening [Barron] entered a room in the upper deck of Progressive Field which had a five-story garbage chute which led directly to the basement level of the stadium," the complaint states. "The aforementioned room was supposed to be locked to prevent unintended access to the room by patrons attending events at the facility and as a basic security precaution. In addition, the doors to the garbage chute were unsecured, leaving an open chute in the wall of the room that led directly to a large dumpster located fifty ... feet below in the lower level."
According to the complaint, Barron fell down the chute during the concert, and was reported missing by friends, but a search failed to turn up the missing man.
"On July, 22, 2014, the contents of a trash dumpster that had been picked up from Progressive Field by a trash hauling company was being unloaded at the Lorain County Landfill," the complaint states. "During this process, a body was observed by [an] employee of the trash hauling company."
Investigators declared it to be Barron's body, his family says in the complaint.
"During the investigation by the Cleveland Police Department, it was determined that the door leading to the room in which the garbage chute was located that led to the dumpster that contained the body of Cory Barron, had not been properly locked and secured during the concert due to a broken lock on the door," the 13-page lawsuit states. "Defendants knew that the door leading to the aforementioned room had been broken functioning properly but had failed to repair or replace the door and/or lock despite their knowledge."
Curtis Danburg, the Cleveland Indians' senior director of communications, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In addition to the Indians, Live Nation and Gateway Economic Development, Barron's family is also suing Contemporary Services Corporation, Minute Men Staffing Services, Delaware North Companies Sportservice Inc., Delaware North Sportservice and Delaware North for wrongful death, premises liability, negligent security and "failure to secure and protect a patron who is served intoxicating liquors."
The family wants damages in excess of $25,000. They are represented by Mark R. Koberna of Sonkin Koberna in Beachwood, Ohio.
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