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Options Available To Someone Injured At Gym September 10, 2019

Most gyms ask those their members/users to sign a waiver. That signed waiver removes the named gym from liability for certain injuries. Still, it does not cover all injuries.

The waiver covers only any injury that was caused by negligence. If someone fails to wipe-up a spot on the floor and someone using the gym’s equipment slips on that wet spot, the injured party cannot sue the gym.

Waivers do not offer coverage to a gym’s owner, if an injury was caused by reckless or intentional conduct.

Negligence has been defined as careless and neglectful behavior. How does carelessness differ from recklessness? A careless person breaches a duty of care by failing to think thoroughly or correctly about a given situation. A reckless person performs wonton acts that are meant to create some type of disturbance.

Sometimes a person gets reckless after experiencing a sudden anger. At other times, the reckless man or woman chooses to perform an intentional act, even though it will create a disturbance. Both acts tend to be violent in nature, and both have the ability to harm someone else to the point where he or she dies.

Can a gym’s owner ever be charged with something other than allowing conduct that is both destructive and reckless or intentional?

Yes, the owner of a gym could be charged with premises liability, if that owned facility had not been well-maintained. For example, if someone got hurt on a short stairway, because the handrail fell off of the wall, that injured party would have grounds for a charge of premises liability.

By the same token, a situation might arise in which a person using the gym’s equipment got injured. An investigation might uncover the fact that the equipment being used by the injured man or woman had some type of defect. If the owner was aware of that defect, the injured victim could sue the gym’s owner.

Suppose though, that the incident described happened with a new piece of equipment. In that case, the injured party would need to speak with a lawyer about initiating a product liability case. That would demand the performance of further investigations.

It would be the lawyer’s job to learn where the defect originated? Did it originate in the design stage, at the time of the product’s conception? Did it become a troublesome feature during the manufacturing process, when a mistake was made on the plant floor? Did a recognized defect get hidden during the period when the product was being marketed?

Each of those possibilities would have to be considered and investigated. Based on the investigation’s findings, the Personal Injury Lawyer in Red Deer for the injured party should be able to determine how to proceed.