Fair winds up in court over volunteer’s injuries

MAT-SU — A horrific fall on the Alaska State Fairgrounds in 2008 wound up with a lawsuit landing in federal court this month.

The fall in question happened in the fall of 2008 when the fair was working to replace the poles it uses during the annual Lumberjack Show.

Rather than just throwing the old poles away, the fair decided to cut them in half and use them for a pavilion.

So Joel Stefanski, who was volunteering at the fair, climbed up to 20 feet high and cut through the pole.

“After the cut was completed and the top half began to fall, the base of the pole snapped,” according to documents filed Sept. 16 in federal court in Anchorage. “The base of the pole snapped because its interior had decomposed from exposure to water.”

Stefanski fell about 20 feet and wound up in the hospital. His injuries were so sever he was later flown to Seattle.

The resulting lawsuit, in which Stefanski sought to have the fair held liable for his medical bills, lost income and pain and suffering in an amount greater than $100,000, languished in state superior court in Anchorage, reaching the point where Stefanski’s lawyers moved earlier this year to have the judge rule for Stefanski by default.

But the case was moved to federal court this month because the fair’s insurance carrier wants out. The Great American Insurance Company wants a federal judge to rule it doesn’t have to defend the fair against the lawsuit.

Essentially, the Great American Insurance Company argues, the fair doesn’t insure the fair against injuries or property damage claims arising from the fair’s “ownership, operation, maintenance or use of any amusement device.”

The insurance policy defines an “amusement device” as a rides, slides, water slides, moonwalks, moon bounces, bungee operations and “any vertical device used for climbing — either permanently affixed or temporarily erected.” Video arcades and computer games don’t count.

According to the fair, however, lumberjack poles do count.

“On July 30, 2010, Great American denied coverage because the exclusion in the Policy applies to the Stefanski Lawsuit. As alleged in the Complaint, the wooden pole from which Mr. Stefanski fell is a climbing pole and his injuries arose from the use of that pole. The wooden pole qualifies under the exclusion because it is a “vertical device or equipment used for climbing,” according to the federal case.

The fair, however, disputes that Great American can be let off the hook but had not filed a response to the insurance company’s claims as of press time.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.