Protecting your assets
Posted: May 4, 2010 Filed under: Release (pre-injury contract not to sue) 5 Comments
You must do it equally and with everyone….or with no one
Some outdoor recreation businesses will only use releases with specific groups of people because of a fear that this group has a greater chance of injury or a greater chance of suing. In this case, the group did have a greater chance of suing, and did, and won.
The link is to a settlement agreement between the Department of Justice and an Arizona Amusement Park: Settlement Agreement between the United States of America and Castles n’ Coasters, Inc. under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, dj# 202-8-202. he amusement park required the group of disabled customers to sign a release to play miniature golf. No other guests of the amusement park were asked to sign releases.
The group filed a complaint with the department of justice and the amusement park wrote a check. By requiring the group of disabled guests to sign a release the amusement park violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The amusement park had discriminated against the guests because of the disabilities.
Of course the investigation found more than just one violation. Once an investigation starts, it usually does not end until everything is turned over inspected and access has been provided. The $1000 fine was probably cheap in comparison to the cost of making the park more accessible and providing training to all the employees of the park on the ADA.
You cannot single out groups to require that they sign a release. Equal opportunity to sue means everyone or no one signs a release.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
Keywords: outdoor law, recreation law, outdoor recreation law, adventure travel law
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Recreation Law 
LOL, made me think real hard about what type of miniature golf game needs a waiver….
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I understand that the ADA covers wide variety of the individuals with disabilities. So some recreation parks need releases for safety issues, but I thought the mini golf situation was doing the right thing in matter of safety wise. So what I don’t understand is what are common problems that people with disabilities have with law enforcement? For example, what happens if someone was using illegal drugs on their property or what if someone was demonstrating a liability of a threatening behavior because of their disability.
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The back of lift tickets in most states have no legal value. They are best are just a warning sign. To have value they would have to be a contract meaning the parties both understood and agreed to the terms. Since you get the ticket after you pay, there are no terms to agree too. There is no meeting of the minds. (I need to write an article about contracts….. hmm).
At the same time, I have played some games of miniature golf that probably needed a waiver but that usually involved my brother or the word “college” in the time period. Normally, I can’t see miniature golf needing a waiver.
So either this defendant should have had everyone sign a release or no one.
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I cant see miniature golf needing a waiver why would they keep them in the first place. The employee should have called its boss before taking action.
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I find that having these individuals with disabilities to sign waivers to be a bit redundant. When a person enters an amusement park the back of the purchased ticket usually has a disclaimer taking away liability from the park if anyone is injured. If the mini golf course is within the park wouldn’t it fall under the same disclaimer/waiver? I am also confused about why the mini golf station had waivers to hand out in the first place. Was everyone playing suppose to sign the waivers and the employees just didn’t hand them out, or were the waivers there just for people with disabilities to fill out?
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