A caller to our office was badly injured at a gym recently. He did not think he had a lawsuit because he had signed a waiver when he joined the gym. The waiver was pretty standard in that it released the gym from having any liability when it comes to injuries from working out, using the equipment, etc.
I have seen a lot of these waivers and you probably have too. Maybe you read them, maybe you didn’t. You can’t sign up for a 5k or any other race without agreeing to a waiver. So if you are running and break your leg in a pot hole, you state that you are going to forfeit your right to sue. We have seen waivers in others instances such as youth sports, trampoline parks, indoor rock climbing venues and many others.
Does Signing A Waiver End Any Chance Of An Illinois Personal Injruy Lawsuit?
A lot of people think that if you sign a waiver then that is it. In Illinois that is simply not true. A waiver can definitely limit your options, but it is always worth having a free consultation with an experienced attorney before making any final decisions.
When you sign a waiver, what it can do is waive your right to sue for an anticipated injury. So for example, if you are running on the treadmill at a gym and it skips, causing you to fall and hurt your knee, the waiver probably anticipates that will happen.
On the other hand, if a mirror falls off of a wall and hits you in the head, that is not anticipated. That is negligence. You can certainly sue for that. If you are playing basketball in the gym, getting fouled and hurting yourself is probably anticipated. Slipping on a wet gym floor due to a leaky roof is not and is definitely worth suing over. There have been successful lawsuits with each of those fact patterns.
This is the type of case where you will definitely need an Illinois personal injury lawyer in your corner. The insurance company for whoever harmed you will absolutely say that the waiver ends your claim. That is not true, but they will not voluntarily pay what the case is worth.
Even if you do sue, they will try to use the waiver to fight the claim. Sometimes it works, but very often it does not. It really comes down to the unique facts of how you got injured. Kids get hurt at trampoline parks all of the time. But if the injury happens because there was a defect in the trampoline, that might be enough to win. If you are doing indoor rock climbing and fall because the rock comes off the wall, that might be enough to win. Every case is fact specific.
What you should never do is take legal advice from the insurance company or anyone else that is not an attorney or has a competing interest with you.
We are happy to provide a FREE consultation and case review any time. If you would like to do that, give us a call at 312-346-5320 to talk to an attorney. We will give you direct, honest advice.
