Sport Waiver Risk Fitness Law

This article by Doyice Cotten was originally published in Fitness Management. It has been updated (in red) and presents the provider with some valuable information regarding waivers.
Jody Corso was injured while performing an aerobic exercise under the direction of an aerobics instructor.  She fell while using a yoga ball and when she quickly regained her feet, she injured herself.  She filed suit against the United States Surgical Corporation (owner of the fitness center provided for the use of its employees), claiming the corporation, its agents, servants, and employees were negligent …

This was written by Charles “Reb” Gregg in September, 2006. Mr. Gregg provides some invaluable information regarding indemnification agreements. Mr. Gregg is a practicing attorney in Houston, Texas specializing in adventure law and may be reached at 800 Bering Drive, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77057.
An indemnification is an agreement between two parties that addresses the possibility of a claim against one of them by a third party.
The party granting the indemnity (the “indemnitor”) promises the person indemnified (the “indemnitee”) that it, the indemnitor, will protect the indemnitee from a described …

By David L. Herbert
This article by David Herbert was originally published in Fitness Management in June, 2008. It offers timely advice concerning the use of waivers in unsupervised facilities.
A growing number of U.S. fitness centers are allowing “key access” to their facilities when no professional is present to supervise. Such use creates a number of concerns for facility owners, the biggest of which is emergency response. In the event that emergency response to users may not be possible, facility users need to be made aware of the risks. Standard assumption …

One of the most common reasons that a waiver fails when challenged in court is that it violates the public policy of the state. Often readers are puzzled by the term “public policy” and ask, “Just what is public policy?” This concept is quite broad and is not easily defined or explained.
Black’s Law Dictionary states that public policy is “… that general and well-settled public opinion relating to man’s plain, palpable duty to his fellowmen, having due regard to all circumstances of each particular relation and situation.” One court defined …

Waivers and releases of liability can fail to protect for many reasons. Releases in three 2009 cases failed to protect because the waiver did not name the protected parties either by name or by function. These three cases can give sport, recreation, and fitness providers some guidance in writing a waiver or in evaluating a waiver currently in use.
Porter v. Dartmouth College
In Porter v. Dartmouth College (2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90516), Christina Porter died from injuries suffered when she skied off the trail on her way down the slope …