Another Look at Club Liability on Slip & Falls

By Doyice Cotten

It is well-established that the common law imposes a duty of care on business owners to maintain safe premises for their business invitees (clients or potential clients). Justification of this is that the law recognizes that an owner is in a better position to prevent harm than is the invitee. Courts in most states recognize, however, that participation in sports will result in injuries and grant businesses providing sport, recreation, and fitness activities permission to contract away their liability for injuries resulting from provider negligence through the use of waivers of liability.

Do You have a Liability Insurance Policy? Yes, but do you REALLY know what it says?

By James H. Moss, J.D.

James Moss is a highly recognized lawyer in the outdoor recreation industry. He is a well-known authority in the sport and recreation law field and is the author of a top book in the field, Outdoor Recreation Insurance, Risk Management, and Law. We can all learn some lessons from this article illustrating that nothing good comes from not understanding your insurance policy. Check out his popular blog Recreation-Law.com .

An event organizer of a 5K Extreme Rampage purchased an insurance policy that specifically excluded coverage for a 5K run with obstacles,

California: When a Provider Increases the Inherent Risks of the Activity

By Doyice Cotten

Jim McNeil was a professional motocross rider and jumper; he was killed in an incident in which he was attempting to make a 75 foot jump over a motorhome (McNeil v. Freestylemx.com, 2016). His motorcycle had a loss of power and his flight fell short of the landing ramp. He had performed similar jumps in about 250 shows. In an earlier litigation, this court declined to grant the defendant’s bid for summary judgment because there was an issue of fact as to whether McNeil had actually signed the waiver.

New York Law that Can Prevent Enforcement of Waivers GOL § 5-326.

By Mary Cotten

In New York, liability waivers relieving a service provider of liability for its own negligence are generally enforceable. However, sport, recreation, and fitness providers who do business in New York are familiar with one major exception, New York General Obligations Law § 5-326. This statute prohibits waiver enforcement in certain situations; most notably for places of amusement or recreation at which an admission fee is charged.  The law provides:

Every covenant, agreement or understanding in or in connection with,

What Makes a Waiver Adhesionary – and consequently unenforceable?

 

By Mary Cotten

A waiver of liability in the sport, recreation, or fitness industry can usually be accurately described as a standardized agreement printed on the company’s form, offering little or no opportunity for negotiation or free and voluntary bargaining by the signer. Unfortunately, this is also the definition of a contract of adhesion. Worse news yet, adhesionary contracts in most states are against public policy and unenforceable. But, for the good news, courts are consistent in holding that sport,

What if the Client does not Read English?

By Mary Cotten

The question of the effectiveness of a waiver signed by a non-reader or a non-English reader is a concern for sport, recreation, and fitness providers.  Courts generally hold that a person who signs a contract is bound by it whether they read it or not.

This was one of the issues before the U. S. District Court in a 2016 New Jersey case, Kang v. LA Fitness.  Kang, who could not read or understand English,

Enforcement of Health Club Waivers of Liability Challenged by New Jersey Supreme Court Judge

By Doyice Cotten

Courts in most states will enforce well-written liability waivers signed willingly by adults. Nevertheless, many people argue strongly against this protection for service providers. This post presents good arguments by one judge opposed to health club immunity from liability granted by such waivers.

Current New Jersey case law supports the enforcement of health club liability waivers. In fact, the Supreme Court of New Jersey recently determined to accept a stipulation for dismissal following a settlement of the matter by the parties.

Four Common Waiver Formats: Which is Best for Your Business?

By Doyice Cotten

Thousands of agreements which waive the liability of sport, recreation, and fitness providers are utilized each day; but not all waivers look alike. There are at least four commonly used formats for liability protection. Each format has advantages and disadvantages — consequently, the formats are not equally effective. In this post, I compare the formats so that the reader may decide if he or she is using the best possible type of liability protection.

Common Formats

The common formats are 1) the stand-alone waiver of liability,

Waiver Fails to Protect Sports club in a Trip and Fall Case

By JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FACSM

Dr. Eickhoff-Shemek is Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida (USF) and is President of the Fitness Law Academy, LLC (www.fitnesslawacademy.com). This post originally appeared in the Fitness Law Academy Newsletter, Vol 1, Issue 4 (October, 2018). You may subscribe to the quarterly newsletter free of charge at www.fitnesslawacademy.com.

Case Brief: Crossing-Lyons v. Towns Sport International,

Negligence Standard or Recklessness Standard – Which Standard of Care Applies to Injured Spectator of a Snowmobile Race?

By Doyice Cotten

Spectators Tory Baughan and Megan MacNeill were injured while watching a snowmobile “hillclimb” racing event. They were in the designated, but unprotected, spectator area when one of the racers became dismounted from his Polaris snowmobile on his way up the hill. The driverless snowmobile continued to travel back down the hill at a high rate of speed before colliding with plaintiffs. Baughan sued claiming negligence, premises liability, gross negligence, and willful and wanton misconduct (Baughan v.