Re: Waiver Form Legality Question
Welcome to “Law for Dummies” which is a very dumbed down version of the law, and should in no way be taken as legal advice, and if you want to point it the below post has, at least; one thousand; flaws, oversimplifications, and contradictions.
Facts: You joined a league and they require you to sign the attached waiver.
Issue: What if any legal impact does signing the waiver have.
Mainly I’m going to be discussing the rink owner (as subcontractor of the league) because most injuries that can occur, if there is fault, are the fault of the rink owner (due to poor maintenance). Really the only injury that is a direct result of the league is failure to ban a player who goes crazy and seriously harms another player.
The Law (before you sign a waiver):
There are two competing concepts: Duty of Care and Inherent Risk (and acceptance of same).
Duty of Care. Simply put the owner/manager of a facility has a reasonable duty of care to ensure that attendees are not injured at the facility when being used for its intended purpose and from reasonably foreseeable events.
In short, the ice needs to be frozen, the boards safe, the lights cannot fall on anyone etc.
Inherent risk. The counter-balance to making sure the rink is “reasonably safe” is that players need to acknowledge that sports contain a certain level of risk. The league (and the facility) can do everything right and a player can still be injured. Whether by the actions of another player, or just bad luck.
This balance should make sense to most people. If you get a puck to the face, or a slash or a check, or wipe-out and break your ankle you knew that was possible. If, however you are checked into the boards, and the plexi-glass falls on you, or you’re electrocuted in the shower, that was not foreseeable and the rink should be liable for your injuries.
The above is the law, without or without a waiver.
The Law (of waivers):
Legally speaking, typically you cannot waive a “claim in negligence”, or sometimes it is argued you cannot “waive a claim in gross negligence”. There will always be some liability on the league.
I also assume there is much more to the waiver then quoted, because the clause quoted is likely not enforceable.
What the waive does do:
1. Confirms risks and acceptance. As mentioned above, whether signed or not this would apply but this confirms said acknowledgment in writing. (there is probably another paragraph that says “hockey is a fast paced physical game and the player acknowledges injuries can occur, including death”).
2. To frame and define “negligence”. As mentioned above the rink likely cannot be covered for “negligence” and certainly not “gross negligence” but, if under contract the parties agree that actions x,y, and z are NOT negligence, then injuries flowing from those failures do not create liability. Where a waiver goes to far the courts will ignore what it says but again it is useful. In the hockey rink case an acknowledgment that uneven ice, loose boards and uneven floors may exist would likely be upheld. An acknowledgment that “hey sometimes scoreboards fall down and kill people” would not.
3. Creates a defence at first instance. “You cannot sue us, you signed a waiver”. An offshoot to points 1 and 2 having a waiver to hold-up creates an initial defence, which the player would have to overcome to sue successfully. This stops a lot of small dollar lawsuits in their tracks.
4. Mentally stops players from suing. Similar to #4, it puts most players in a frame of mind of “I signed a waiver that I would not sue so I cannot sue.” Again for most “minor” and recoverable injuries many players will not even consider suing thinking “they can’t”.
Conclusion:
1. The rink owner has a duty to provide a “safe” rink and ensure preventable injuries do not occur.
2. Hockey is inherently dangerous. By playing players accept this risk. Any injury that occurs from a “hockey play” that is “reasonably foreseeable” is not a lawsuit vs. the rink.
3. This is the law without a waiver.
4. A waiver has a player acknowledge risk, tries to define most injuries as “not due to negligence”, and puts an additional hurdle in the way of success. Finally, a waiver makes most minor injuries a non-issue as players think “ I can’t sue”.
The waiver provides the league with some legal protection, generally for more minor injuries and damages but it is not a complete blanket protection.
12 team H-2-H 1 year league, daily roster changes, 3 goalie start minimum/week
2xC, 2xRW, 2xLW, 4xD, 3xUtil, 2xG, 5 Bench
G, A, P, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, SOG, Hits, W, SV%, GAA, SVs
C: C. Keller, C. Mittelstadt, B. Nelson, R. Strome,
LW: K. Connor, B. Tkachuk, J. Gaudreau, J. Marchessault, E. Rodrigues, A. Lafreniere
RW: K. Fiala, J. Bratt, T. Jeannot V. Arvidsson
D: R. Josi, J. Trouba, E. Gustafsson,
G: L. Thompson, F. Gustavsson, V. Vanecek
NO IR