Red Bull is not flying out of court just yet. An Allegheny County judge this week refused to toss a lawsuit filed by former KDKA reporter Dave Crawley over a Red Bull Flugtag promotional stunt. Crawley says he was pressured into riding a homemade craft off a 22-foot pier into the Allegheny River in August 2017 and later suffered traumatic head injuries and damage to his spleen. The ruling keeps his negligence and related claims alive and sends the case back into litigation for discovery and further motion practice. For Pittsburgh viewers, the decision puts fresh attention on how high-profile riverfront stunts are planned and supervised.
Judge Allows Lawsuit To Proceed
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Arnold I. Klein denied Red Bull GmbH’s bid for summary judgment, concluding that there are disputed facts a jury should sort out rather than ending the case early, according to Law360. The order rejects Red Bull’s argument that releases signed by Crawley automatically wipe out his claims and points to questions about what organizers said and did before the jump as issues for a jury. The judge did not set a trial date, leaving the case to move along on the court’s regular schedule.
How The 2017 Stunt Unfolded
The incident traces back to an August 2017 media preview tied to the Red Bull Flugtag at the Three Rivers Regatta, when Crawley climbed a 22-foot pier and launched a staged craft into the Allegheny River, according to The Seattle Times. His lawsuit, later named the EQT Three Rivers Regatta, Red Bull, and marketing firm M&C Saatchi, says he collapsed afterward and was diagnosed with diaphragm and spleen injuries as well as a traumatic brain injury. Video of the jump circulated at the time via KDKA’s coverage, a clip Crawley’s lawyers say understates the seriousness of the injuries he says developed later. KDKA’s original preview featured both the build-up to the event and the plunge itself.
Claims, Waiver Defense And What The Court Said
Crawley’s complaint lays out claims for negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation, and nondisclosure focused on how media participants were recruited, briefed, and supervised. Red Bull countered that Crawley had signed a waiver acknowledging and accepting the risk of serious injury or death. Judge Klein, however, found there were factual disputes about whether Crawley gave informed consent and whether the defendants’ conduct went beyond what the waiver covered, according to Law360. Crawley’s lawyers maintain the waiver was not the product of informed assent and say company representatives pushed him to participate despite his reservations.
Next Steps And Broader Context
Crawley has been down a legal road before: a separate federal age-discrimination and retaliation suit he brought against KDKA and its parent company was dismissed on summary judgment in 2022, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. With the state-court negligence action now moving forward in Allegheny County Common Pleas, the parties are likely headed back into discovery and more motion practice before any trial date is set. Red Bull has previously told reporters it has a long history of hosting major public events, and the safety of spectators and participants is always our primary concern, a line that will almost certainly get another close look as this case keeps unfolding.
