Recreation providers' liability

California's liability waiver law refined by ruling
The state Supreme Court says releases signed by participants or their parents don't protect recreation providers in cases of gross negligence.
By Maura Dolan and Ari B. Bloomekatz
Times Staff Writers

July 17, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO — Recreation providers in California may be held liable for gross negligence regardless of the wording on liability waivers signed by participants or their parents, the California Supreme Court ruled 6-1 Monday.

The state high court decision permits the parents of a developmentally disabled girl who drowned at a summer camp run by the city of Santa Barbara to sue even though her mother had signed an agreement assuming "full responsibility for risk of bodily injury, death or property damage."

California's recreation and sports industry had strongly urged the court to reject liability, warning that it could be the death knell for camps, fitness centers, hiking clubs and other providers of physical activity.

But Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who wrote the majority opinion, said there was no evidence that states with even more liberal rights to sue have lost recreational opportunities.......

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-recreation17jul17,1,640592.story?coll=la-headlines-california