Can you waive your right to sue

Among other requirements, clear and unambiguous language has to be visible to the reader, not in a small illegible font. Where a waiver spells out the kinds of risks that are envisioned in the activity, a court is more likely to find that the person signing the waiver understood what rights were being signed away. If a person does not understand what the waiver is referring to, it is possible in some cases to ask for clarification before signing the waiver.

Waivers are not usually enforced if the injuries sustained were not foreseeable or expected in the activity the injured person was participating in. Parents also cannot waive away the right to sue for acts caused by gross negligence. While most people just assume that waivers are just paperwork they should sign to get through and enjoy their activities, they should not dismiss them easily. In some cases, you may not realize the true risks involved in an activity until you read the waiver. Different considerations are present where a parent or guardian has signed a waiver for a child.

It is important to recall that although dependent persons, such as children and dependent adults, may not have the capacity to contract on their own, they have independent legal rights that cannot be waived without court approval.

Waivers signed by a parent, or guardian, may not be enforceable. Although the courts have not specifically set out how parental waivers will be dealt with, the following principles can be identified:.

A waiver must address the type of act, or omission, that it seeks to shield or it will not be effective. Waivers that attempt to address events of gross or criminal negligence may not be enforced because of public policy. Although this area of the law is not settled, one can identify the general trends from recent decisions in the area of personal injury.

It is notable that the definitions of gross negligence and criminal negligence as set out by the courts are nearly identical. The interaction of these principles can be illustrated with reference to decided cases. Crocker v. Sundance Northwest Resort Ltd. Crocker signed a waiver to gain entry to a tubing contest and was seriously injured during the contest. The court determined that the waiver was not enforceable because Mr. Crocker was intoxicated when he signed the form, and he had not read its contents nor understood that he was waiving his legal rights.

The decision in Rauhanen v. Lee is an example of where a waiver was upheld. She had signed a waiver in order to gain entry to the race and tried to sue for her injuries. The waiver was upheld by the court, and it acted as a complete shield for the defendants. The Court noted that Ms. Rauhanen had completed her Grade 12 matriculation and started a psychology degree, and that she had raced in many similar wheelchair events. In one such case brought before a Texas court , a woman who suffered injuries at a trampoline park sued the park for damages.

The court found that the waiver explicitly stated that the signer agreed to release the company from injury liability and that the waiver was in no way ambiguous. Signing a liability waiver makes it difficult to recover injury compensation. Keep in mind that this case is specific to Texas and Texas law. It is just one instance of an injury claim after a liability waiver was signed. The law varies on a state-by-state basis, and the outcome of your case depends on the facts surrounding your injury.

This often rises above the protections of a liability waiver, giving you the option to sue in case of injury. To illustrate gross negligence, consider again the trampoline park. If the trampoline park fails to warn jumpers of the construction—with a warning sign, caution tape, or other warning—and you jump and break your leg, then you will most likely have legal recourse to sue, even though you signed a liability waiver.

Because they failed to warn you of the construction, their negligence put you in immediate danger. This may rise to the level of gross negligence. So, do liability waivers hold up in court? If you are injured as a result of gross negligence , then you may have a case. Contact us today for a free legal consultation! This blog is not meant to dispense legal advice and is not a comprehensive review of the facts, the law, this topic or cases related to the topic.

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