Buggy wrote:I am not a lawyer, but it my understanding that you cannot sign away your rights. You can sign a waiver saying that you know that you are about to undergo a dangerous activity, but you can still sue if you get hurt even if the waiver said you agreed not to sue. So waivers don't actually prevent lawsuits in this situation.
The people asking for waivers would still sue and say, "if they knew we might have been injured they shouldn't have let us ride waiver or no waiver."
Not quite correct. You absolutely can waive rights -- it's done every day. You can even agree not to hold someone liable even if they are negligent or even grossly negligent towards you. Granted, those types of waivers are strictly scrutinized by the courts, but it can be done if done correctly.
Where you are absolutely right is that the person can still file a lawsuit. A former boss in another city used to laugh when any department head would ask him what steps could be taken in any particular situation to prevent a lawsuit. He'd chuckle and say something like, "Any yahoo with a pen, paper, and a filing fee can sue you -- they don't have to be in the right or have even the slightest chance of success. All you can do is act properly so that they don't a
valid reason to win any lawsuit."
In the end, I'm guessing that it's a business decision for Disney, like most everything else. If they thought it was good business to keep attractions operating in hazardous situations if guests sign a waiver, they'd do it. But it's simple to balance the pros and cons:
[INDENT]
Leave the ride open/Get waiver:
Pros: Happy SG, unless an accident occurs. If an accident occurs, hey, one less SG!
Cons: If an accident occurs, Disney -- not the SG -- will suffer the blame, bad press, investigations, fines, and trauma to cast members. If no accident, the SG's sense of entitlement grows.
Close the ride/No waiver:
Pros: No bad press or blood-spatter cast members.
Cons: An SG gets his panties in a twist and gripes about it on Board X.[/INDENT]
Seems like a pretty easy call to me! :p:
hobie16 wrote:A group of us were going on a white water rafting trip. We were told to sign a paper. A lawyer in the bunch signed immediately without reading the form. I told him later I was surprised he signed without reading it. He told me, "If I get injured and they say I signed a waiver, I'll say no one said anything about a waiver. I thought it was an attendance roster."
A member of the general public might be able to get away with that, but I bet your lawyer friend couldn't. I can hear the judge now, "You're an attorney, and you signed something without reading it???" :D: