Injured at the Gym? Who is Liable?

The fitness mania of the 1980s is long behind us, but gyms and fitness centers are still doing a brisk business. Busy locations mean lots of people, and lots of people in one place means there are going to be accidents and people injured from time to time. A gym is no exception. So, if you’re injured at the gym, who is liable? That is a complicated question.

Types of Accidents

In order to determine liability if you’re injured at the gym, you must first discuss the types of accidents a person could have.

If you hurt yourself while exercising or participating in a sport, no party may be liable. There is a concept in law known as voluntary assumption of risk. In other words, if you play a sport, you know you might tear or break a part of your body. Similarly, you might be lifting more weight than you know you can handle and hurt yourself. Those kinds of examples are unlikely to result in a successful claim.

Voluntary assumption of risk is not always a bar to a claim, however. There could be liability at the gym because the gym failed to maintain equipment such as a basketball net and backboard, and the whole apparatus collapses on you. You may have assumed the risk that you might twist your ankle, but you did not assume the risk that the faulty equipment would cause you serious injuries.

On the other hand, if a gym’s staff member encourages you to participate in an activity that you don’t realize is dangerous or risky, but he or she knows or should know will potentially cause you injury, than you may be able to sue that employee, and by association, the gym that employs that person. That’s because the employee, by virtue of working for and representing the gym, should take steps to ensure your safety. In law, employers are responsible for their employees if they are acting in the usual scope of their employment. That’s called vicarious liability. If a staff member is doing something that is completely unrelated to their employment, however, than the gym owner will likely not be held responsible for the employee’s independent action.

If you slip and fall because there’s water on the floor, or you trip over an obstacle that an employee has left lying around the gym, then the employee and the gym will be held accountable. The Occupiers’ Liability Act requires the gym’s owners and the persons who have care and control of the gym facility to ensure that the facilities are reasonably safe. Extraordinary steps do not have to be taken – only steps a reasonable person would have taken in the circumstances. That’s why you often see a bathroom cleaning schedule in a gym locker or bathroom. It shows the gym’s employees are taking steps to ensure the floor isn’t covered in water.

Contributory Negligence

The only caveat to gym owners and employees being fully responsible for somebody’s injuries is the principle of contributory negligence. In other words, you may be held partially at fault for not looking where you were going, in which case your compensation will be reduced accordingly.

Independent Contractors and Manufacturers

Now, if you slip on ice in the parking lot of the gym, the owners or employees may be responsible for your injuries, but they may not be the only parties to sue. Many gyms hire independent contractors to remove snow and ice from their parking lots or sidewalks. Once the gym hires a reputable company to do this, they are usually absolved from liability for your injury because they took “reasonable steps” to ensure your safety. So, who is liable? It’s the independent contractor, if they failed to remove snow and ice at all, or didn’t do it in a timely manner, or they did a sloppy job (in legal terms, they were negligent in their duties).

If you are using the gym’s equipment and it falls apart and injures you, then the gym and its employees may be liable for your injuries if they failed to properly maintain and repair the equipment. If an independent contractor was hired to move and set up the equipment, and did a poor job which resulted in the equipment falling apart, that contractor and its employees may be legally liable. Or the equipment could be poorly designed and manufactured in the first place, causing it to fall apart, in which case the manufacturer can be sued for product liability.

Liability Waivers

No discussion of liability at the gym would be complete without a discussion of liability waivers. These are the papers you might sign when joining the gym or a specific class. In the waiver, it typically says that you understand that a gym has some dangers associated with it, and you might suffer personal injury, but you understand the risks and agree not to sue the gym for any injuries.

Whether the waiver will truly stop any finding of liability if you are injured at the gym will depend on a number of factors. First, was the waiver clear and easily understandable? Were the contents reasonably brought to your attention? (like a big “Danger! Falling rock!” sign)

Finally, does the waiver, no matter how broadly worded, protect the gym from all responsibility no matter how it’s caused? A waiver on the back of a baseball ticket might protect a sports facility from a fly ball that strikes you, but it wouldn’t necessarily allow the sports facility to escape liability for an improperly maintained roof that eventually collapses. Similarly, liability at the gym may not be avoided for injuries that arise from an event that occurs outside of the scope of the normal operation and activities related to a gym.

Consult a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you are injured at the gym, and aren’t sure who is liable, you should consult an experienced personal injury lawyer right away. They will know what questions to ask, what evidence to gather, and who the proper parties to sue are, to ensure you recover proper compensation for your injuries, your medical and rehabilitation needs, and your financial losses.