NFL
Jerry Jones and the Cowboys Once Got Sued for Burning Somebody’s Butt
Writing professionally since 2015, Jack Dougherty spent six years as a sportswriter with publications such as GoPSUSports.com, the Centre Daily Times, and the Associated Press before joining Sportscasting in 2020. He covers the NBA, the NFL, and the world of golf extensively and has added expertise on any team located in or around his hometown of Philadelphia. Yes, that includes the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia 76ers, and Philadelphia Phillies. When Jack isn't writing about sports, he's watching them or playing them as he regularly heads to the gym for some pickup basketball or the golf course to hit the links. He's also an avid participant in the sports betting scene who worked at a casino sportsbook for a year and learned the ins and outs of the industry before bringing his expertise to Sportscasting with one excellent gambling recommendation after another.
Get to know Jack Dougherty betterPublished23 Apr 2020
There have been some crazy lawsuits filed in the sports world over the years. People will sue athletes and teams over anything they can think of, but one of the wildest recent lawsuits came from a Texas woman in 2012 who got third-degree burns in quite an uncomfortable place. She actually sued the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones for burning her buttocks.
Texas woman suffered burns on her butt watching a Cowboys practice
In August of 2010, Jennelle Carrillo attended a Cowboys scrimmage one day. She sat on a black marble bench to get a glimpse of her favorite team up close.
The problem was, summer days in Texas can reach blistering levels of heat. The scorching hot sun beating down on a black bench is a recipe for disaster, and Carrillo learned this the hard way.
Carrillo sat on the hot bench and immediately felt the heat. The high temperature that day in Dallas was reportedly 101 degrees. It wasn’t until Carrillo got medical attention that she realized the severity of her burns, according to her lawyer Michael Wash.
The woman went to the hospital shortly after and even underwent skin grafts for her injuries. Carrillo suffered third-degree burns on her buttocks from the hot bench. The lawsuit alleged there were no signs warning patrons about the hot conditions of the bench.
Carrillo sued the Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones
Two years after the incident, Carrillo sued the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones for her burned buttocks. According to the Cleburne Times-Review, she alleged “physical pain, impairment and disfigurement and mental anguish among other injuries as well as medical costs and loss of earning capacity.”
Carrillo’s main argument was that the “defendants knew or reasonably should have known that the material used to construct the bench would become unreasonably hot when exposed to the August sun.” She alleged the team’s carelessness and failure to warn patrons of the heat caused her burns, and she brought the lawsuit in 2012.
The Cowboys’ lawyer, Levi McCathern, wasn’t too amused with the suit.
“It’s amazing that we are now responsible for the Texas sun,” McCathern told ABC News. “Unfortunately, even lawsuits like this have to be defended.”
This isn’t the only time Jerry Jones has been sued
The burned buttocks lawsuit filed against Jerry Jones isn’t the first, but it might be the most peculiar. It turns out a man worth $8.6 billion dollars is a constant target for people filing bogus lawsuits in hopes of a big payday. Who would’ve thought?
In 2014, a former exotic dancer accused Jones of sexual assault. The woman filed a lawsuit against the Cowboys’ owner, seeking over $1 million in damages. The suit was later dropped.
It must be exhausting to constantly worry about microscopic details such as the temperature of a team bench on a hot day, but that’s exactly what Jones deals with every day as a billionaire. Fans are always looking to steal a portion of his massive wealth, even if that means suing him over a buttocks burn.
It’s certainly not the hot seat Jones expected to deal with as the Cowboys owner.
