Red Bull GmbH must continue defending a lawsuit alleging liability for injuries sustained by a Pittsburgh television reporter during a 2017 promotional stunt connected to the company’s “Flugtag” event, after a Pennsylvania state judge rejected the company’s request for summary judgment.
The ruling was issued by Judge Arnold Klein of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, allowing the case filed by former KDKA-TV reporter Dave Crawley to proceed toward trial. The judge concluded that material factual disputes remained regarding whether Crawley knowingly accepted the risks associated with participating in the stunt.
The lawsuit stems from injuries Crawley suffered while filming a news segment covering the Three Rivers Regatta’s Flugtag preview event in Pittsburgh. Crawley alleges he was pressured into riding a “flying contraption” off a ramp into the Allegheny River, where he landed awkwardly and suffered head and spleen injuries.
Red Bull had sought dismissal of the case by arguing that Crawley signed a waiver acknowledging and accepting all risks of serious injury or death before participating in the stunt.
