Burned man can’t sue Burning Man
You can’t make this stuff up.
Here we go.
Once a year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for the Burning Man Festival. According to the festival’s website, the event “is dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance.”
Sweet!
The highlight of the festival is the burning of a 60-foot wood sculpture in the figure of a man. (Who are these people, Druids?)
Apparently, after the sculpture collapses in flames, participants toss tokens, mementos and other combustible objects into the fire, completing their “Burning Man experience.”
Anthony Beninati made the 2005 festival a truly memorable affair.
Beninati wanted to place a photograph of a recently deceased friend in the Burning Man bonfire.
After slowly circling the bonfire for about 90 minutes, Beninati stepped forward and tossed in the photograph of his friend.
You know what happened next.
Turning away, Beninati tripped on something and fell into the fire, severely burning his hands.
After beating out the flames, Beninati was right there in a California courthouse, suing the city of Black Rock for negligence.
According to Beninati, Black Rock was negligent in allowing participants to approach the burning remnants of the Burning Man sculpture without provision for safe ingress and egress “routes and corridors” for those attendees who were “moved by the event to directly participate in the burning ritual.”
Of course, some might say that the sort of regimentation suggested by Beninati might detract from the “art, self-expression, and self-reliance” of the experience, but who are we to quibble?
The California Court of Appeal didn’t quibble, concluding that Beninati assumed the risk of his injuries.
“[A]n obvious risk inherent in the activity undertaken by Beninati was that the flames and ash hid the location of fire embers and Burning Man debris, including the cables which had held up the sculpture,” the court explained. “By continuing to walk into the fire, Beninati assumed the risk that he might trip and fall into the fire because he could not see the ground surface. This risk itself is one that is inherent in the burning of the effigy and the Burning Man commemorative ritual.” (Beninati v. Black Rock City)
— Pat Murphy
patrick.murphy@lawyersusaonline.com
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