Oregon SC: Broad liability waivers are 'unconscionable,' paralyzed snowboarder can sue Mt. Bachelor

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Broad liability waivers are 'unconscionable,' paralyzed snowboarder can sue Mt. Bachelor, Supreme Court rules

By Aimee Green | [e-mail]
@o_aimee
on December 18, 2014 at 12:56 PM, updated December 18, 2014 at 5:30 PM

An 18-year-old paralyzed from the waist down at Mt. Bachelor in 2006 didn’t lose his rights to sue the ski resort by signing a blanket liability waiver, the Oregon Supreme Court said Thursday. ... Such disclaimers are "unconscionable," the high court ruled.

The decision likely will have widespread implications beyond Oregon’s ski resorts. ... It could affect a broad range of recreational businesses -- including ice skating rinks, rock climbing gyms and parachuting companies -- that have stood steadfast behind negligence liability waivers to protect themselves from paying out millions for people who get hurt or die.

The high court's ruling came in the case of Myles Bagley -- a Bend teenager who became permanently paralyzed when he broke his spine on Feb. 16, 2006, after he launched off a jump at Mt. Bachelor terrain park.

His season pass stated that by using it at the ski resort, he agreed not to sue the resort for injury or death “even if caused by negligence,” but Bagley’s attorneys argued that such a release was contrary to public policy. ... The attorneys contended that the resort created a dangerous condition at the terrain park by the way it set up the jump and that Bagley's $21.5 million lawsuit should be allowed to go forward.