A Waiver Is Not 100% Legal Protection Against A Lawsuit
Michael Babboni
Law
When something is created as a document and even requires a signature from someone to acknowledge they’ve read and understood that document, that lends a certain amount of legal weight. It’s true that signed documents are a form of contract and that in a court of law, a contract if it’s legal, enjoys protection from the court with regards to being enforced and followed.Where some people make a mistake is in their understanding of the scope of a document. Just because something is signed doesn’t mean it’s ironclad and grants the contract owners unassailable legal protection. This kind of misunderstanding is especially true for documents known as waivers that some businesses require customers to sign.
What Is A Waiver?
As you may have guessed from the name, a waiver is a document that declares that the person signing it is waiving certain legal protections and rights based on the activity they are about to participate in. Waiving these rights is typically done for more risky activities that would normally cross the boundaries of what is known as “premises liability.”
Under normal legal circumstances, premises liability is a legal obligation the owner of a property has to ensure that there are no elements on a property that could bring a visitor to harm. This typically means preventive measures for a business, such as a grocery store cleaning up spills before anyone slips on them or for homeowners to lock away firearms so that visiting children can’t pick them up and accidentally shoot someone.
However, by their very nature, certain activities are inherently high risk and would technically violate an owner’s premises liability responsibility. Bungee jumping, for example, is an activity where people can easily come to harm due to the unpredictable nature of the sport. The same is true for athletic activities, such as football, or baseball where a tackle or an impact from a baseball can hurt the players.
In these circumstances, property owners or managers may offer a waiver of an activity to ensure an understanding. Even when all safety protocols are observed, the randomness of some actions in a given activity can still result in harm. A waiver acknowledges that the person signing the document understands that some risk of injury is present in the activity. However, they do not hold the owners or managers legally or financially responsible for that mishap should that harm occur.
Not Negligence Proof
However, waivers are only legal protection for property owners when all the protocols have been observed, and harm befalls a client or customer. For example, it’s one thing if a skydiver gets injured due to a strong, unexpected gust of wind blowing them into a tree as they descend. But, unfortunately, that’s the kind of consequence that is nearly impossible to predict and is an expected risk of skydiving.
However, if a skydiver dies because the parachute provided to them wasn’t packed in, and they pull the ripcord, and nothing comes out, that is negligence. The business transaction for people skydiving is that they pay money for access to plane transport, training, and the use of carefully maintained and safe equipment. If the service provider does not give them safe equipment, that is the fault of carelessness on the provider’s part, not an unfortunate event of random chance.
Negligence Has Consequences
This is why the nature of an injury, even when a client or customer has signed a waiver, is critical to determine for the purposes of legal action. For example, if an injury occurred due to something that should have been the responsibility of the property owner or manager, and there is compelling evidence that connects the injury to that negligence, no waiver in the world will protect the property owner or management from legal consequences.
Random, unpredictable acts can be acknowledged as a risk that participants know and absolve management from. But safety measures and other procedures that should be the responsibility of the management can never be covered by a waiver. No business can protect itself from harming its own customers through carelessness or incompetence.
Take The Action You Have To
If you’ve been injured in an activity that required you to sign a waiver, and you know you are not at fault for that injury, don’t immediately assume you have no legal recourse and must pay for your medical treatment. If the cause of the injury can be traced back to a negligent act on the part of the people running the activity, then that is not a random, unpredictable act, and someone is at fault for causing you harm. They have failed in their duty of care to ensure you are adequately protected, and they can be held accountable to you for the costs you have to bear.
In situations like this, you should get legal help. There’s a chance the business may try to convince you that signing the waiver absolves them of all legal responsibility, but unless a lawyer is telling this to you, do not take that legal declaration at face value. Talk to a personal injury attorney about your situation. Explain what happened, show a copy of the waiver, and let a legal professional decide. In most cases, negligent acts are above and beyond what a waiver can protect a business from, and you can get the compensation you are owed.