Re: [Paddlewise] Club liability

Shawn,

On PW, we've exchanged ideas about carrying poop. And we've talked about
peeing on wounds.  These topics were important, though distasteful.  But the
liability topic you raise is, to me, far more distasteful than poop transport,
and unfortunately, also important to discuss for paddlers.

My local club decided years ago to become an ACA club, in all honesty,
primarily for the liability protection the ACA offered. We had a disgruntled
paddler sue a trip leader on a trip that was canceled at the last minute
because ( despite the leader's best efforts ) the paddler didn't get word of
the cancellation. So because they were unhappy about driving to the put in
needlessly, they sued the leader.

You asked about case law. To a great extent, in the U.S., that's not
necessarily the most relevant risk. The most common exposure is simply the
fact that here, you can be sued by anyone for any reason and you'll have a
difficult time recovering your legal defense expenses even if they lose. So to
be pragmatic, it's worth considering investment in some liability coverage to
avoid these legal defense costs. And, of course, it may also make sense to
obtain insurance against the rarer legitimate lawsuit because, after all, we
do all make mistakes and we should be responsible for those mistakes.

Tort reform is long overdue in the U.S.. But even when it's been raised in the
past, it's been motivated by large corporations interested in capping their
liability and not by making those that sue when they shouldn't, pay for their
lack of ethics.
--
Al Vazquez
KayakGuide.com tm
         Places to Paddle tm
 - Kayaking - Canoeing - Rafting -

Shawn Baker wrote:

> Our club is currently at an impasse about whether to pursue club liability
> insurance and require waivers, or to be a loose group of "consenting adults"
> with no responsibility or liability to each other.
>
> Shawn



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