Attorney Jackie Cowin obtained a ruling from the Massachusetts Appeals Court that the Town of Northbridge is immune, under the discretionary function exception of the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, from claims by a property owner that the Town was liable for damage to their property caused by baseballs hit from the neighboring high school baseball field. A Superior Court Judge granted summary judgment in favor of the Town, holding that the Town’s decision not to take the measures necessary to stop the baseballs from landing on the plaintiffs’ property was based on the Town’s determination of how to use its resources, and thus the discretionary function exception applied. The Appeals Court affirmed the decision upon the plaintiffs’ appeal.
