Articles tagged with: health club
Other Voices, Waivers »
A patron’s fall off a stationary bike meets a court’s support of waiver protection for clubs.
By John T. Wolohan
This January, 2010, article written by John Wolohan illustrates the value of an effective waiver when an injury occurs.
Why do courts in some jurisdictions fail to uphold waivers, while other courts will accept them in most cases? Often, the reason is a …
Other Voices, Risk Management, Waivers »
Alexander “Sandie” Pendleton
Sports, Fitness & Recreational Team Leader
Kohner, Mann & Kailas, S.C.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Christopher McDougall’s bestselling book Born to Run, and the extensive discussion therein regarding the reported benefits of barefoot running, have helped to ignite a new exercise trend (craze?). Fitness center owners are being asked if members can exercise barefoot, or are just seeing members working out barefoot in areas of the facility where, until recently, no one wanted to do so. What to do? Should your facility prohibit barefoot weight lifting? What about barefoot running on treadmills? (for …
Risk Management »
This article by Doyice Cotten originally appeared in Fitness Management, but is as timely today as ever. Health, fitness, and recreation providers should have a plan in place for dealing with heart attacks and other serious incidents. Failure to do so can leave the provider liable.
Jerry Atcovitz suffered a heart attack while playing tennis at Gulph Mills Tennis Club in Pennsylvania. He later filed suit against the club claiming that damage to his heart could have been mitigated if the club had utilized an automated external …
Featured, Waivers »
Doyice Cotten summarizes four recent cases involving health clubs. The first three are appellate cases from Minnesota and the fourth is a New Jersey Supreme Court case. These cases re-emphasize the importance of unambiguous waivers. One might say that two of the three Minnesota cases involve gross negligence or willful and wanton actions, but the court did not agree. Actions resulting in injury are not often deemed grossly negligent, reckless, or willful and wanton by the courts. This high threshold further increases the value of well-written liability waivers. It is …
Featured, Other Voices, Risk Management »
A fitness center injury lawsuit illustrates the importance of a proper risk management plan.
Attorney John Wolohan (jwolohan@ithaca.edu) reports on a fitness center injury lawsuit that illustrates the importance of a proper risk management plan. John is a professor of sports law and chair of the Sport Management & Media department at Ithaca College. This article was published in Athletic Business in May, 2010.
As any administrator or employee involved in the sports and recreation industry will acknowledge, one of the most important tasks is to control or limit …
