A Utah jury this month awarded a Park City bowling alley employee nearly $2.4 million after a Vail Resorts employee smashed her hand with a bowling ball during a company outing three years ago.
Amy Herzog alleged in a February 2020 lawsuit that she was attempting to fix a clogged gutter in one of the Jupiter Bowl lanes when a Vail Resorts employee “engaged in a dangerous 360-degree helicopter spin, while cradling the bowling ball in the palm of his hand and let the ball fly as he completed his 360-degree turn.”
The ball slammed into Herzog’s left hand, fracturing it in multiple places. The employee needed surgery and she now suffers from “permanent impairment,” the lawsuit stated.
The Vail Resorts employees were there celebrating an end-of-season company party in April 2019.
But several began to bowl in a “dangerous and reckless manner,” Herzog’s attorneys alleged, including bowling two balls at a time, bowling backward and between their legs.
“The employees were enjoying the tomfoolery,” according to the complaint.
A jury in Utah’s Third Judicial Court sided with Herzog in a verdict last week, finding the Colorado ski giant and the employee who threw the ball at fault for injuring the bowling alley worker.
The jury awarded Herzog $14,000 for lost earnings, $88,000 for medical expenses and $2.25 million in noneconomic damages.
Herzog’s partner was also awarded $50,000 for “loss of consortium”, which occurs when an injured spouse can no longer give them the same comfort and support that they could prior to an accident.
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