Sloppy but still lucky? Obstacle course avoids lawsuit with release, however, it was close

When the defendant learned of a problem was a critical part of winning this case.

Anderson v. Rugged Races, LLC, 42 F.4th 955 (8th Cir. 2022)

State: Minnesota; United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

Plaintiff: Jeanne Anderson

Defendant: Rugged Races, LLC; Dennis Raedeke, Inc., doing business as Wild Mountain Recreation Area

Plaintiff Claims: (i) that defendants had duties to design and construct a reasonably safe course, maintain the course in a safe condition, inspect the course for unreasonable risks of harm, warn race participants of unreasonable risks, supervise parties responsible for performing those duties, and operate and maintain the course to ensure participants were not exposed to unreasonable risks; and (ii) that defendants were grossly negligent in failing to perform each of these duties.

Defendant Defenses: Release, Assumption of the Risk

Holding: For the Defendant

Year: 2022

Summary

A release signed by a participant in an obstacle course race was sufficient to defeat her claim that the defendant builder and operator of the race were negligent. Minnesota does not allow claims for greater than ordinary negligence; however, whether the defendant was guilty of such acts was also examined.

Facts

Since 2010, Rugged Races has planned hundreds of obstacle races around the country, including Rugged Maniac Twin Cities. The events feature an obstacle course with a series of challenges involving barbed wire, fire, water, and mud, followed by a post-race party. When Anderson registered for the 2016 Twin Cities event, she signed a Race Participant Agreement (the Agreement). In Part III of the Agreement, titled Assumption of Inherent Risks , Anderson acknowledged:

I understand fully the inherent risks involved in the Event and assert that I am willingly and voluntarily participating in the Event. … (1) I understand the nature of the Event; (2) I understand the physical and mental demands that this activity will place upon me; and (3) I understand that I may be injured by participating in the Event. I hereby assert that I knowingly assume all of the inherent risks of the activity and take full responsibility for any and all damages, liabilities, losses or expenses that I incur as a result of participating in the Event.

In Part IV, titled Waiver of Liability for Ordinary Negligence , Anderson waived and discharged both Rugged Races and Wild Mountain “from any and all claims resulting from the INHERENT RISKS of the Event or the ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE of Rugged Races LLC (or other Released Parties).” Anderson again signed the Agreement when she checked in on race day.

After starting the race and completing the first seven obstacles, Anderson reached the “Bang the Gong” challenge. This obstacle required her to jump from a raised platform, attempt to slap a gong in midair, and land in a pit of muddy water. When Anderson landed in the pit her “left foot hit something hard.” She crawled from the pit, received medical attention, and learned she had shattered the calcaneus bone in her left heel. Of the more than 4000 participants in the 2016 race, four others were injured on the Bang the Gong obstacle, suffering injuries to their foot or ankle after landing in the pit.

Anderson’s Complaint alleged (i) that defendants had duties to design and construct a reasonably safe course, maintain the course in a safe condition, inspect the course for unreasonable risks of harm, warn race participants of unreasonable risks, supervise parties responsible for performing those duties, and operate and maintain the course to ensure participants were not exposed to unreasonable risks; and (ii) that defendants were grossly negligent in failing to perform each of these duties. After discovery, defendants moved for summary judgment. The summary judgment record includes deposition testimony from Anderson and Rugged Races employees, declarations from the other injured participants, reports by Anderson’s expert witnesses, and other documentary evidence.

Analysis: making sense of the law based on these facts.

This was an obstacle race. The defendant reached “Bang the Gong” where she climbed up a man-made platform and jumped into a muddy pit of water. Her foot hit something shattering her heel. She sued. The federal district court granted the defendants motion for summary judgment, and this was the appeal of that judgment.

Minnesota does not recognize gross negligence. Meaning if you sue there is no hierarchy of types of negligence that void releases or get you additional damages. According to Minnesota law, negligence is defined as:

…ordinary negligence” is the “failure to exercise such care as persons of ordinary prudence usually exercise under such circumstances.” Gross negligence is “substantially and appreciably higher in magnitude than ordinary negligence … [and is] the absence of slight diligence, or the want of even scant care.”

Minnesota law imposes on defendants as the landowner and operator of a for-profit recreational activity a duty to exercise a “high degree of care” to ensure that invitees are not exposed to unreasonable risks of harm.

This was an issue because the plaintiff argued the defendant had participated in greater than ordinary negligence in the construction of the Bong the Gong. Even though Minnesota does not recognize greater than ordinary negligence, the appellate court found the standard of care to be applied in this case was based on greater than ordinary negligence.

First, the “ordinary negligence” clause in the Agreement is less, or at least no more ambiguous than the exculpatory clause held to be un ambiguous (the term “all acts of active or passive negligence … specifically purports to exonerate Spa Petite from liability for acts of negligence and negligence only”). Second, when the duty to exercise this high degree of care applies, it is an ordinary negligence duty to exercise “reasonable care, meaning care commensurate with the risks involved.” Thus, that the waiver of claims for “ordinary negligence” includes this type of duty for landowners and for-profit operators does not make the waiver ambiguous. We agree with the district court that the Agreement’s exculpatory clause is unambiguously limited to ordinary negligence. As in Beehner, Anderson was a voluntary participant in a recreational activity that does not “implicate[ ] a public or essential service.”

Then the appellate court started dissecting the arguments. The Bong the Gong structure was not a new structure; it had been used in races for several years. The plaintiff also argued the landing pit needed to be deeper so the plaintiff would not strike bottom. Because a thousand of participants in this race and thousands more in other races had not been injured the court did not buy into this argument.

However, Bang the Gong was not a new obstacle for the 2016 Rugged Maniac race. Rather it was tested, used in multiple previous events, and modeled on an earlier obstacle that was safely used for years. We agree with the district court that “[t]he fact that thousands of participants — many of whom undoubtedly outweighed Anderson — jumped into the landing pit without incident is compelling evidence that the water level was not unreasonably low.”

The defendant had a detailed protocol for building the structure and digging the pit which it had followed in this race.

Rugged Races followed a detailed protocol when constructing Bang the Gong for this and other events, described in deposition testimony by Rugged Races’ Senior Vice President, Bradford Scudder, and a construction crew member from the 2016 race, Christian Melnik. The process involved digging a pit, removing debris, lining the pit with a tarp, filling it with water, and then constructing the platform participants would use to jump into the pit. The protocol requires crew members to inspect the pit three separate times before it is filled to ensure no rocks, roots, or other debris are present. They conduct two subsequent visual inspections after the pit is filled, including on the morning of the race.

This proved that the defendant had followed its established routine in creating the obstacle, which could have been introduced at trial.

The court then agreed with the district court that the plaintiff had failed to introduce evidence to prove actions on the part of the defendant were anything but ordinary negligence.

We further agree with the district court that Anderson submitted insufficient evidence to establish that defendants acted with greater-than-ordinary negligence during or after the race. The district court estimated that Anderson was injured at approximately 1:00 pm.4 The court carefully reviewed when defendants would have learned that four other participants reported similar injuries before concluding that the record did not support Anderson’s contention that Rugged Races knew or should have known of a rock in the landing pit in time to take preventive action.

Because the injuries that occurred prior to the plaintiff’s injuries were not described in a way that would have put the defendant on notice of a problem that the plaintiff suffered and the injuries that occurred after the time the plaintiff was injured would not have mattered, the court found the plaintiff had failed to prove the defendant acted in any way that would give rise to more than ordinary negligence.

Here, the first two injuries were similar to Anderson’s and occurred earlier, but neither injury report mentioned a rock in the pit, only that the injured participant “landed wrong” or “jumped into … uneven terrain.” The other three injuries, including Anderson’s, occurred between 1:00-1:30pm. The injury reports reported there was a rock in the pit, but Rugged Races was not made aware of these reports in time to put it on notice that preventive action might be needed.

Applying the standard of care of a landowner under Minnesota law, landowners are not insurers of the safety of their patrons, (parties on their land), unless they dangerous condition resulted from the direct action of the landowner.

Under Minnesota law, landowners are not “insurers of safety of their patrons.” “Unless the dangerous condition actually resulted from the direct actions of a landowner or his or her employees, a negligence theory of recovery is appropriate only where the landowner had actual or constructive knowledge of the dangerous condition.”

Because the defendant had no knowledge of the issues until the plaintiff was injured, the defendant could not be held to a higher degree of negligence, negligence and thus the release stopped the plaintiff claims.

Because “an act or omission is not negligent unless the actor had knowledge or notice that it involves danger to another,” Rugged Races’ failure to remove the rock from the landing pit before Anderson’s injury is not a sufficient showing of greater-than-ordinary negligence.

So Now What?

This is a confusing case because Minnesota does not support claims for greater than ordinary negligence, but this court worked hard to make sure it was not an issue. What does come from the case is the general support that releases are valid in Minnesota.

Even though Minnesota has held that a parent could sign away a minor’s right to sue, the courts had also found ways to invalidate releases. See Minnesota decision upholds parent’s right to sign away a minor’s right to sue (Moore v. Minnesota Baseball Instructional School, 2009 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 299).

For other cases about Minnesota release law see:

Assumption of Risk used to defend against claim for injury from snow tubing in Minnesota

Federal court holds that under Minnesota law, a release signed at a ski area did not violate MN Public Policy

Federal court holds that under Minnesota law, a release signed at a ski area did not violate MN Public Policy

Minnesota Appellate court upholds a release signed by a mother for a child’s injuries

Plaintiff argues under Minnesota law, the language on the back of the season pass created an ambiguity which should void the season pass release for a ski area

Plaintiff argues under Minnesota law, the language on the back of the season pass created an ambiguity which should void the season pass release for a ski area.

For other states that allow a parent to sign away a minor’s right to sue see:

States that allow a parent to sign away a minor’s right to sue

Jim Moss is an attorney specializing in the legal issues of the outdoor recreation community. He represents guides, guide services, outfitters both as businesses and individuals and the products they use for their business. He has defended Mt. Everest guide services, summer camps, climbing rope manufacturers; avalanche beacon manufactures and many more manufacturers and outdoor industries. Contact Jim at Jim@Rec-Law.us

Jim is the author or co-author of six books about the legal issues in the outdoor recreation world; the latest is Outdoor Recreation Insurance, Risk Management and Law.

To see Jim’s complete bio go here and to see his CV you can find it here. To find out the purpose of this website go here.

Copyright 2022 Recreation Law (720) 334 8529

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By Recreation Law    Rec-law@recreation-law.com    James H. Moss

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