Sports Insurance Blog » liability

PA School District Sued By Ex-Football Player Over Concussions

jrs-admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 20:18:36 +0000

A Pennsylvania school district is being sued by a former student who received three concussions in games during the 2007 football season. Zachary Alt, 19, has to deal with symptoms, including memory problems and nausea, stemming from brain injuries after being told by the coaching staff to continue in games without being properly diagnosed. He was never removed from the games, but after the last concussion, he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury at a hospital.

Source: Insurance Journal, April 4, 2011.

Business Liability Waivers Affecting Children Not Allowed In FL

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:34:46 +0000

“The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that a parent can’t execute an injury liability waiver for a minor child when the liability release involves participation in a commercial, as opposed to community or nonprofit, activity.”

According to the court, if pre-injury waivers were allowed for commercial establishments, the incentive to take reasonable precautions to defend the safety of minor children would be eliminated.

Florida is one of about ten States that currently recognizes a parental waiver/release for purposes of contractual exculpation and lawsuit dismissal upon summary judgment.

This case is narrower in scope and does not impact the successful use of waiver/release agreements for minors in non commercial settings such as private leagues or municipal recreation departments.

Source: Insurance Journal-Southeast Region, January 12, 2009

Is a League Liable for Faulty Sports Equipment?

admin-sh — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:34:24 +0000

We received a phone call the other day from a coach of a youth lacrosse club who was concerned about the use of 20 year old helmets that have not been reconditioned or recertified. He wanted to know if he could be liable in the event of a head injury to a player since he is responsible for verifying to the referee prior to the game that all equipment is in safe operating condition. He also wanted to know if such a lawsuit would likely be covered by his General Liability policy.

The short answer is that league administrators and coaches are responsible for the following aspects of equipment safety:

* Long range planning for the repair, refurbishing, and replacement of helmets. These decisions need to be made far in advance as they can take time to budget and complete.

* Confirm that the helmets meet current NOCSAE requirements as well as the requirements of the sports governing body.

* Helmets should be inspected for defects in post season, pre season, weekly, and prior to any game or practice.

* Maintenance, repair, and conditioning on a regular basis.

* Reconditioning to restore to “like new” basis of safety equipment such as helmets should be performed by a reputable reconditioning business as opposed to an on staff trainer for liability reasons. NOCSAE may require recertification.

* Replacement of helmets should be done on a periodic basis per manufacturers recommendations of the useful life of the helmet.

* Record keeping for documentation purposes on all of the above.

There is no doubt that many of the above outlined principles may have been violated and the coach is justified in his concerns about liability.

As regards coverage under General Liability, such policies generally don’t have an exclusion for lawsuits arising out of injuries due to failure to follow proper equipment safety protocol as outlined above. Therefore coverage is likely to exist under most policies. However, a minority of policies may have a punitive damages exclusion. Willful disregard of known safety protocol could result in punitive damages. In addition, any litigation, even if covered by General Liability insurance, results in a “black eye” for the program in the community as well as the emotional drain of league administrators and coaches of pre trial discovery and litigation.

For a more detailed resource on Equipment Safety, see our Risk Management Program For Sports Organizations