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Can You Sue for a Sports Injury Even If You
Signed a Release? |
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If you engage in sports or other activities that
involve a risk of harm, you’ll often be asked to sign a “release.”
This is a document that says you understand the risks of the
activity, and that if you’re injured, you won’t sue the owner of the
business.
Most of the time, these releases are valid. So if
you sign a release when you go skiing, and you fall down and hurt
yourself on the mountain, you usually can’t sue.
But you should know that in some cases, you might be
able to recover for your injuries even if you signed a release.
Generally, a release will stop you from suing if
you’re injured because of (1) your own carelessness, or (2) a risk
that is a natural, unavoidable part of the sport.
But what if the owner of the business was careless,
and made the risk worse than it otherwise would have been? In those
cases, you might have a right to recover.
For instance, a guest at a resort in New Mexico went
horseback riding. He fell off the horse and hurt himself. He claimed
that the reason he fell was that the resort employees didn’t put the
saddle on the horse properly.
The resort argued that it couldn’t be sued because
the man signed a release. But the New Mexico Supreme Court said that
while the release might cover the man’s own carelessness or the
unpredictable behavior of horses, it |
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wouldn’t be right to let the resort use the
release to protect itself from its own carelessness.
A similar case happened in Connecticut, where a
woman signed a release before she went “snowtubing.” Snowtubing
involves riding an inner tube down a snowy hill. In this case, the
tube didn’t stop at the bottom of a hill, and the woman fell over a
cliff and hurt herself.
The snowtubing business said that the woman couldn’t
sue because she signed a release. But the Connecticut Supreme Court
disagreed. It said that a cliff is not a normal, unavoidable risk of
snowtubing, and if the woman was injured because the business was
careless in not putting up warning signs or otherwise protecting
against the cliff, then it could be sued.
A final example comes from Kentucky, where the wife
of a race car driver signed a release in order to be able to watch
the race from the pit area. She claimed she was injured due to the
racetrack’s carelessness in driving a truck too close to where she
was sitting. The Kentucky Court of Appeals said that if the
racetrack was careless, it could be sued despite the release.
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Workers’ Compensation May Cover People Who
Weren’t ‘Working’ |
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Workers’ compensation will generally pay you if
you’re injured while you’re working. But many people don’t realize
that “working” includes not just doing a job, but many “non-work”
activities related to doing a job. For instance:
. In Alabama, a work crew was laying
fiber-optic cable along a highway near a river. A supervisor
suggested that the crew take a “swim break” and cool off in the
river. One worker fell into a shallow part of the river, and he
became paralyzed. The Alabama Supreme Court said he was “working”
even while he was swimming, so he was entitled to comp.
. In Louisiana, an electrician was ordered by
his boss to attend an after-hours safety meeting that was held off
the worksite. On his way home after the meeting, he was injured in
an auto accident. The Louisiana Supreme Court |
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said he was entitled to workers’ compensation.
Although you’re not usually “working” when you’re on your way to or
from work, this case was different because the employer had
specifically told the employee to go to a meeting off-site, the
court said.
. In North Carolina, a nursing assistant was
responsible for looking after an elderly woman in her home. One day,
the assistant decided to climb a pear tree in the woman’s backyard
to get her some fruit to eat. She fell from the tree and injured her
spine. Her employer said she wasn’t “working” because she wasn’t
authorized to climb trees as part of her job. But the North Carolina
Court of Appeals disagreed, and said the assistant was working
because climbing the tree had some reasonable relationship to her
job duties.
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Why You Should Always Consult an Attorney
If You're Injured |
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A truck ran a stop sign and hit a car, seriously
injuring a passenger. The passenger can probably recover something
from the trucker’s insurance, and maybe something from her own
insurance. But that’s all, right?
Wrong. In this case the passenger contacted an
attorney, who thoroughly investigated the accident. It turned out
that the day before the crash, the trucker’s doctor had prescribed
two painkillers for him, and allegedly didn’t tell him that he
shouldn’t drive while taking |
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the pills. Also, the doctor arguably should
have known from the trucker’s medical records that he had a history
of abusing painkillers.
Once these facts became known, the Tennessee Supreme
Court decided the passenger could sue the doctor to recover the rest
of her damages.
Moral: If you don’t consult with an attorney after
an injury, you’ll never know if you have recovered all of the
compensation to which you’re entitled.
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If You Win a Lawsuit, Must You Pay Taxes?
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If you win a lawsuit, does the IRS win too…or can
you avoid paying income tax on the money?
That’s not always clear.
Back in 1996, Congress passed a law that says you
can avoid paying tax on your lawsuit winnings if the money is to
compensate you for a physical injury. So if you’re injured in a car
crash and you sue, your recovery is generally tax-free.
On the other hand, if you sue for something that’s
not a physical injury, you’ll probably have to pay tax on the money.
For instance, if you collect in court for job discrimination, libel,
or invasion of privacy, Uncle Sam will expect a piece of the pie.
It gets more complicated. Sometimes a jury will
award you money to compensate you for a physical injury, and then
award “punitive damages” to punish the wrongdoers for what they
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did. In that case, you don’t have to pay tax
on the money that compensates you, but you do have to pay tax on the
punitive damages.
Sometimes a jury will award you money for your
“emotional distress.” Although this kind of distress is not a
physical injury, the money is tax-free if the distress was caused by
your suffering a physical injury.
Taxes can be very tricky in cases such as sexual
harassment or child molestation, which often involve various sorts
of improper touching, but where it’s not always clear at what point
the touching amounts to a “physical injury.”
If you have any questions about taxes that result
from lawsuits, we would be happy to help you, or in some cases to
refer you to a tax specialist.
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Don’t Just Believe Everything Insurance
Companies Tell You |
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Most of the time, an insurance policy means what it
says. But sometimes, part of a policy may be illegal — and the
policyholders may be entitled to collect more than the insurance
company says they are.
That’s why it’s always a good idea to talk to an
attorney if you or someone you know is involved in an accident.
Don’t just accept what the insurance company tells you about your
rights.
For instance, a New Mexico woman was injured in an
auto accident and applied for uninsured motorist benefits. Her State
Farm policy said that any disputes would go to arbitration. The
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policy also said that if an arbitration award
was less than the state’s required minimum insurance coverage, it
was binding — but if an award was more than that figure, then either
side could reject it and have a court trial instead.
The New Mexico Supreme Court said this was unfair
and illegal. The reason: If the policyholder got a small award at
arbitration, she was stuck with it. But if she did well at
arbitration, then State Farm could erase the result and get a second
chance. The court said it just wasn’t right to let State Farm stack
the deck in its favor.
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Tenants Can Sue Their Landlords for
Injuries |
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Here are a couple of recent cases that show that
landlords can sometimes be liable for an injury to a tenant.
. A landlord may be responsible if someone
breaks into a tenant’s apartment and commits a crime, according to
Maryland’s highest court.
In this case, the common area of the apartment
building had security lights, but the lights were broken and the
landlord didn’t repair them. Someone entered the building and
murdered a tenant. The tenant’s family sued the landlord.
The court said the landlord might be liable if the
common area was in a dangerous condition, and if a reasonable person
could foresee that the problem could lead to a crime.
. Tenants who were injured because |
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of poor conditions in their apartment can sue
their landlord, even though their lease says otherwise, according to
the California Court of Appeals.
The tenants claimed that they slipped and fell
because a concrete ramp was poorly maintained, and that they were
exposed to toxic mold in the apartment.
The lease said (in small print) that any claims
against the landlord couldn’t be brought in court, and had to go to
arbitration instead. The lease also said that the claims had to be
brought within a short time after the injury occurred, and that the
tenants had to split the cost of the arbitration and pay their share
in advance.
The court said this part of the lease was unfair,
and threw it out.
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Claims Against Home Builders Go Through the
Roof |
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New home construction has been occurring at a torrid
pace, fueled by low interest rates that make buying a new home much
more affordable.
But as new homes and condominiums are sprouting like
mushrooms in many areas, so are claims against builders for faulty
construction. Some people believe that the very fact that builders
are so busy has led to an epidemic of shoddy, hurried work.
A large number of claims are now being brought for
water intrusion and mold. Other claims involve bad concrete, defects
relating to synthetic stucco, and other types of problems.
If you or someone you know has a construction
problem, it’s wise to speak to an attorney. This is especially true
because a number of new laws passed in many states are encouraging
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construction companies to try to settle cases
out of court.
As a result of these laws, many builders will offer
to make a cash payment to the owners, or undertake a series of
repairs, in return for a release of future claims. But beware:
Construction problems often turn out to be more serious than they
first appear, and the repairs a builder makes may be merely cosmetic
and not solve the underlying problem. If you sign a release, you may
eliminate your right to collect everything to which you’re entitled.
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This newsletter is designed to keep you
up-to-date with changes in the law. For help with these or any other
legal issues, please call our firm today.
The information in this newsletter is intended
solely for your information. It does not constitute legal advice,
and it should not be relied on without a discussion of your specific
situation with an attorney.
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