Goalpost Victim Files $50M Suit Against New Haven, Yale

Lawyers for Margaret M. Cimino '87, who suffered permanent neurological damage after a falling goal post struck her in the head following the 1983 Harvard-Yale football game, have filed a %50 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Connecticut.

The suit, filed late in December, charges that Yale University, the City of New Haven, the City of West Haven (which supplied some security for the game) and Ogden Security, Inc. "definitely did not take appropriate and diligent care under the circumstances" to prevent the accident, Cimino's lawyer, Kenneth J. Finger, said Yesterday.

Cimino's parents declined to comment on the suit.

The Mechanical Hills, N.Y. native spent the rest of the 1983-84 school year undergoing physical therapy but has returned to Harvard this year. Although she is technically a freshman, she has moved to Winthrop House with her roommates from last year.

Finger said the accident "permanently and detrimentally affected her life." He added that she is "still having a multitude of severe problems," including difficulty with certain aspects of coordination, learning processes and eyesight.

"If the [defendents] had done what is reasonable under the circumstances, there is no question that the accident could have been prevented," Finger said. "Now, she is looking forward to permanent, severe problems."

Year Later

Finger said he his clients waited more than a year after the November 19, 1983 accident because there was a "substantial investigation to be completed and substantial information to obtain."

The Cimino family indicated last March that they planned to use the City of New Haven. At that time, Yale Athletic Director Frank B. Ryan told The Crimson that it may be difficult for Cimino to make a strong case against Yale because "a mob of people brought this about. You could have had an army of policemen out there and still not have stopped them.