A student who was hit with a school golf cart driven by an ASU employee is suing the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing board of all of the state's public universities, including ASU, in Maricopa County Superior Court.
According to a lawsuit filed on Aug. 2, the student, Jude Barbano, is taking ASU to court to seek compensation for his medical and other general expenses. Last Thursday, there was a status conference in the case. According to civil court case information posted on the superior court's website, the pre-trial conference is scheduled for Dec. 1, 2023.
According to the lawsuit, the incident that led to Barbano's injury happened over one year ago on Oct. 20, 2021. The lawsuit says Barbano was riding his skateboard in Lot 59, the parking lot directly east of Desert Financial Arena, when Joshua Lenz, the manager of athletic grounds at ASU, was driving a maintenance golf cart and allegedly hit Barbano.
When Barbano was hit, he was "thrown into the air" and hit a second time by the hood of the small vehicle.
The lawsuit alleges Lenz was careless in causing a collision and was generally reckless in the operation of the vehicle. The lawsuit also says Barbano suffered severe physical and mental damage and was unable to work or participate in other activities as a result of the incident.
ASU and lawyers representing Barbano declined to comment on the case.
READ MORE: ASU Police Officer allegedly ran stop sign, hit man on bike, according to lawsuit
Earlier this year, another student sued ABOR, the University and the ASU Police Department after being hit on his bike by an ASU PD officer who was allegedly on his phone when he failed to stop at a stop sign.
Edited by Reagan Priest, Wyatt Myskow and Piper Hansen.
Reach the reporter at sbrenna5@asu.edu and @shanebrennan36 on Twitter.
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Shane Brennan is the Editor-in-Chief at The State Press. He was a sports and politics reporter, before becoming the editor of the politics desk. He has covered local and state politics for the Arizona Capitol Times and Cronkite News.
