Recreation, leisure and the law

Providers of recreation and leisure facilities and services must become acquainted with the legal principles that govern their relationships with participants; here we briefly describe some of the most important principles.

• Tort is the legal term for a civil (as opposed to criminal) wrong inflicted on a person other than a breach of contract. (In some cases, such as assault, an act may be both a tort [ a civil or private wrong] and a crime [ a public wrong].)

• Liability is responsibility or obligation under the law.

• Act of God is the legal term used to describe a sudden interruption by a natural cause (such as a flood or earthquake) of the usual course of events that experience, knowledge, or care cannot reasonably foresee or prevent. The owner/manager of a recreation facility would not be held liable for a death or injury on their premises that result from an act of God.

• Negligence is failure to use at least the degree of care in a given situation that a reasonable person in similar circumstances would exercise to avoid harming others. Negligence is an unintentional tort. A fitness club manager might be held liable for negligence in failing to maintain exercise equipment in a reasonable safe condition when that failure caused injury to a client who was using the equipment in the prescribed manner and had no knowledge that the equipment was unsafe.

• Contributory negligence is conduct on the part of the injured person that falls below the standard required for his or her own protection. In the fitness club example, contributory negligence might describe a situation in which a client who knew the correct, safe way to use a piece of equipment chose instead to use it in an obviously unsafe way and as a result sustained an injury. A finding of contributory negligence usually prevents an injured person (plaintiff) from recovering and damages from the defendant (person the plaintiff alleges caused the injury). In determining contributory negligence, courts use the reasonable person test: that is, how would a reasonable person behave in these circumstances.

• Comparative negligence is a legal doctrine that asserts that when both the plaintiff (party claiming to be injured) and the defendant (party alleged to have caused the plaintiffs injury) are at fault, the damages will be apportioned between them according to one of several formulas. Whereas contributory negligence is usually a complete bar to recovery on the part of the plaintiff, comparative negligence prevents the plaintiff from recovering only that proportion of damages for which he or she was responsible.

• Assumption of risk describes a situation in which a person assumes the risk of harm by another's negligence when the person voluntarily exposes himself or herself to

potential harm with full knowledge of the danger. An example is choosing to attend a baseball game where the attendee knows he or she may be injured by a ball hit into the stands. Assumption of risk requires knowledge and deliberate choice, whereas contributory negligence involves lack of care and therefore the absence of deliberate choice.

* Trespasser is one who enters the property of another without the possessor's knowledge or consent. To an adult trespasser the possessor of property owes the duty of only slight care, that is, refraining from intentionally harming a discovered trespasser or setting traps for undiscovered trespassers. In the case of children who trespass, the possessor owes a higher degree of care under the doctrine of attractive nuisance. Under this doctrine, if the possessor of land has something artificial on the land that is likely to attract children (for example, a swimming pool), it is constructed as an implied invitation for a child to enter onto the land. In this case the possessor is required to keep the premises in a suitable and safe condition and to use ordinary care to protect trespassing children from harm.

* Licensee is a person who enters another's premises with implied or expressed permission but who does so only for his or her own benefit. In this case the owner owes the duty of reasonable care: to remove known hazards or to post adequate warnings of those hazards. Examples of licensees are door-to-door sales representatives, persons seeking shelter from inclement weather, and those seeking help in an emergency.

* Invitee is a person who enters another's premises with permission and for the mutual benefit of the possessor and the invitee. The invitees the possessor owes the duty of great care: to make a definite effort to discover hazards or post suitable warnings. Invitees include customers and prospective customers, representatives of government bodies (other than police officers and firefighters, who are considered licensees), representatives of public utility firms, and others whose entry directly or indirectly benefits the possessor.

* Sovereign or governmental immunity, a doctrine created over time by the courts, held that the states and the federal government could not be sued without their consent. The doctrine also applied to municipalities for acts they performed when functioning in a governmental (not proprietary) capacity. In recent years this doctrine has been eroded by both judicial and legislative action, and sovereign immunity no longer protects governments and their agencies from civil lawsuits.

* Waivers and releases are attempts to avoid liability. Many business owners either require patrons to sign wavers or release agreements or simply state, on signs or ticket backs, that the proprietor is not responsible for injury to patrons. Such documents and statements, however, frequently do not hold up in court. A prime example is the "ride at your own risk" warning commonly printed on the backs of tickets for amusement part rides. Such warnings do not shield the owner from liability for injuries or deaths caused by faulty maintenance, overcrowding, negligent operation, or mechanical failure of rides.

19.1. Read and translate the text in writing.

19.2. Analyze the text vocabulary.

19.3. Ask 9 questions of all 4 types to the text.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-27