By Doyice Cotten
In the last post (You Be the Judge – Test your Liability Knowledge), a suit resulted from an injury when a woman slipped and fell on the icy sidewalk outside a health club. This post involves an injury caused by a fall on an uneven or cracked sidewalk about twenty feet from the entrance to a YMCA (Gibson v. Young Men’s Christian Association of Middle Tennessee, 2016).
By Doyice Cotten
Occasionally, we offer the reader an opportunity to test his or her liability judgment. Take a few minutes and check this waiver and see if you think it protected the defendant health club from liability for negligence (Hoffner v. Fitness Xpress, 2016).
Situation
Charlotte Hoffner had been a member of Fitness Xpress, a health club in Michigan, for about two weeks when she slipped and fell on ice on the sidewalk in front of the club.
By Doyice Cotten
The Olmos and their two sons signed up for a parasailing trip. While on the boat traveling out of the inlet, Dina Olmo shifted her sitting position just as the boat hit a wave, lifting her into the air. When she landed she felt “a stabbing pain at the bottom of [her] back.”The boat immediately returned to the dock and she was taken to the hospital. The two sons remained to continue with their parasailing trip.
By Doyice Cotten
In this case (Belliconish v. Fun Slides Carpet Skate Park, Inc., 2014 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 349), Mr. Belliconish took his family to an indoor skate park. He signed waivers on behalf of himself and his family. Fun Slides uses two waivers – one for adult participants and one for minor participants. Belliconish was inadvertently given a minor waiver which he signed.
After about an hour of skating, Belliconish fell,
By Doyice Cotten
A 2015 Colorado case at a ski resort illustrates the importance of clarity of intent or meaning in liability waivers (Schlumbrecht-Muniz v. Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation, 2015 U.S. Dist LEXIS 125899). Colorado courts examine four factors in determining the validity of a waiver. They are:
• whether the service provided involves a duty to the public
• the nature of the service provided
• whether the agreement was fairly entered into
• whether the agreement is clear and unambiguous
In this case,
By Doyice Cotten
In a 2013 California case (Vahedy v. Remigio), a 16 year-old camper was injured while being transported by a camp volunteer back to the Jews for Jesus headquarters for the final night of the camp. Cecilia Vahedy’s father had signed a “Medical Authorization and Liaibilty Release.” There were a number of issues in the case, but the one addressed in this post regards the possible ambiguity created when the waiver fails to clearly specify that the parent is waiving both the parent’s and the minor participant’s right to sue.
By Doyice Cotten
Many parties who suffer injuries after having signed a liability waiver still file suit and challenge the waiver in an attempt to collect damages. One of the most common allegations in the challenge is that the waiver is unenforceable because of ambiguity. In a 2012 health club case, a client was injured during a basketball game (Finley v. Club One, Inc., 2012 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2444).
Interestingly,
By Doyice Cotten
Cornelius Lister was injured when a fight occurred on the Fitness International basketball court (Lister v. Fitness International, LLC, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45954). He alleged that at least four men attacked him and that at least one of the men was not a member of the club. He claimed that the club was negligent in failing to adhere to club policies that provided that non-members could not use the basketball court.
By Doyice Cotten
Colleen Holmes, a participant in a racing event, tripped over an audio-visual box at the event. She filed suit against the television station claiming the waiver signed by the plaintiff was unenforceable because of ambiguity in the language (Holmes v. Multimedia KSDK, Inc., 2013).
RACE WAIVER AND RELEASE
(Participant must sign in order to be eligible to participate in Race): I understand that my consent to these provisions is given in consideration for being permitted to participate in this Event.
By Doyice Cotten
Many businesses and organizations, like Mississippi State University, require parents to sign a liability waiver on behalf of their minor child or children. However, Mississippi law on the enforceability of such waivers is unclear.
The Mississippi Supreme Court stated in Khoury v. Saik (1948) that “It is well settled that the infant can waive none of his rights.” It went on to say “Minors can waive nothing. In the law they are helpless,
