Liability in sport and recreation final exam (Dan Matheson)

How law is created

-Constitution (fed and state) -Statutes (fed and state) -Court decisions (common law) -admin agencies

Elements of battery

1-intentional conduct by defendant 2-causes harmful or offensive contact to plaintiff 3-WITHOUT consent

Remand

(v.) to send or order back; in law, to send back to jail or to a lower court

Jurisdiction depends on:

1-parties involved 2-issue involved 3-$ amount involved 4-where events took place

Contributory fault

- if you contribute at all to the fault, you take nothing

Criminal charges

-44 states criminalize hazing and for some, it is a crime to not report it -const rights violations: 1st am right to free speech

Defenses to Assault and Battery

-failure to est all required elements of assault/ battery -defendant acted in self defense

Employees and supervisory/admin personnel are individually liable for their own negligent conduct such as:

-negligent instruction -negligent hiring -negligent supervision

Defenses against negligence

-ordinary negligence isn't proven bc 1 of the 4 elements isn't present (duty, breach of duty, damages, proximate cause)

Waiver must identify

-parties giving up their rights -parties are protected by the agreement

Neg vs reckless standard

-recklessness standard to contact sports -negligence to non-contact and activities

Temporary restraining order

-temporarily restrains defendant from taking whatever actions are in question or orders the defendant to continue with its actions

Interns, volunteers, trainees:

-treated similar to employees -individually responsible for their own negligence -corp/owner can be vicariously liable for action's if the intern was under control of corp AND acting within scope of employment

Instructors, coaches, officials

-when they breach a legal duty, negligence standard applies

Extreme behavior that is more egregious than ordinary negligence

-willful and wanton misconduct -reckless misconduct -gross negligence --unreasonable conduct that the defendant knew or should've known would create unreasonable risk of harm

3 elements required for successful defense using AOR

1- Plaintiff assumes inherent risks 2- Plaintiff must voluntarily consent to exposure to risk 3- Plaintiff must know, understand, and appreciate inherent risks

Elements of assault

1- intentional acts by Defendant 2- Causes reasonable apprehension by plaintiff 3- fear of imminent harm or offensive contact

Elements necessary to prove negligence

1-Duty 2-Breach of duty 3-injury or damages 4-proximate cause

Admin/ Sup usually not liable unless they fail to perform their admin/supervisor obligations :

1-employ competent staff and release those who are not 2-provide supervision and supervisory plan 3-direct program/services in a proper manner 4-est safety rules and regulations, enforce them, and comply w/ policy and statutory requirements 5-remedy dangerous conditions and defective equipment or warn users of danger

Typical civil rights violations in SRM

1ST AM: free speech and religion 4TH AM: search and seizure 5TH AND 14TH AM: prevents govt from discriminating and infringing on citizen's rights to due process and equal protection

Permanent Injunction

A court order requiring that some action be taken, or that some party refrain from taking action. It differs from forms of temporary relief, such as a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction.

Binding precedent

A decision of a higher court that must be followed by lower courts in the same hierarchy.

Promissory estoppel

A doctrine that applies when a promisor makes a clear and definite promise on which the promisee justifiably relies; such a promise is binding if justice will be better served by the enforcement of the promise.

Persuasive precedent

A precedent that a court does not have to follow but can be very influential when determining a case

Summary Judgement

A ruling by the court that no trial is necessary because some essential facts are not in dispute

NOTE

Constitution's civil rights protections only apply to conduct of govt entities

4th amendment

Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures (drug tests)

Expressed assumption of risk

Participants in athletic events are required to sign an assumption of risk form before being allowed to practice.

Respondeat Superior

Latin for "Let the master answer." Legal doctrine that holds an employer liable for acts of the employee.

college concerences

MIGHT be

Potential liability for schools and coaches for hazing

School and AD can be liable if: -inherent relationship btwn victims and adults -breach of duty of care -vicarious liability depending, schools and officials can use immunity defense

Inherent risk

NOT a duty to protect against inherent risks of activity that are known or should be known to the plaintiff

1st amendment

Protects freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition

Injunctive relief

Temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, permanent injunction

lemon test

The three-part test for Establishment Clause cases that a law must pass before it is declared constitutional: it must have a secular purpose; it must neither advance nor inhibit religion; and it must not cause excessive entanglement with religion.

Comparative fault

Where plaintiff's own conduct has contributed to the injury, fault is apportioned between defendant and plaintiff, reducing plaintiff's claim for damages accordingly

Waiver

a document that shows a person voluntarily gives up a right, claim or privilege to sue provider if provider injures participant thru ordinary negligence

Common law

a law established by following earlier judicial decisions (precedent)

Hazing

a person who knowingly requires a person in a school, college, university, or other ed institution in this state, for purpose of induction of admission if: -act is not sanctioned/ authorized by that ed institute AND -act results in bodily harm to any peson

Motion to dismiss

a request that the court terminate a case without permitting it to go further

Statutory duty

a statute specifies duty

Court decisions

affirmed, reversed, remanded

Admin law

agencies created to manage and enforce laws in specific areas; have force of law

Indemnification agreement

agreement by which one party agrees to indemnify, reimburse, or restore a loss of another upon the occurrence of an anticipated loss

Preliminary Injunction

an order issued early in a lawsuit prohibiting a party from doing something during the course of the lawsuit

Intentional torts

assault, battery, defamation

Jurisdiction

authority of a court to hear and decide a case

Tort

civil wrong for which the courts will provide a remedy in the form of damages

Class action

collective lawsuit

State action

conduct of state actors (govt) (usually not NCAA & NFL)

Negligence

conduct that falls below the legal standard for protecting others against unreasonable risk of harm

entanglement test

courts eval extent of govt's involvement to private entity and may decide private conduct qualifies as state action if the govt is heavily involved/ commands/ benefits from it

Breach of duty

def fails to meet the required standard of care- breaches duty owed to the plaintiff

Primary assumption of risk

defendant is not liable if plaintiff injures himself while voluntarily exposing himself to a activity with a know and appreciated danger

Defendant

defending themselves against lawsuit

Acts of commission

doing something that the def should not have done

Inherent relationship

duty arises out of the relationship between the parties

Corporate entity/ employer or govt body

ex-health club owner, team, school district, league

Acts of omission

failing to do something that the def should've done that led to damages

Due process

fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement. (must be violation of state actor)

Criminal law

govt is holding defendant accountable for wrongs against SOCIETY

Recreational user statutes

immunity provided by statute to certain private landowners. These statutes require that the landowner doesn't charge users a feel and the landowner must warn of hazardous situations

Battery

intentional and wrongful physical contact with a person without their consent that entails some sort of injury or offensive touching

Assault

intentional attempt or threat to inflict injury on another with display of present ability to do so that would cause the victim to reasonably fear/ expect harm/ offensive contact

Public function test

is it performing functions that are traditionally performed by govt

Statutory law

laws developed and passed by legislative parties; when there is a disagreement on on the interpretation of statutory law, courts may be asked to resolve the dispute- which creates common law precedence

Duty

legal duty to protect a plaintiff from unreasonable risk

Standing

legitimate justification for bringing a civil case to court

Negligence standard

minority standard for participations; participants are held to a higher standard that requires them to protect other participants from unreasonable risk of harm

Unintentional torts

negligence

Unintentional tort

negligence- person committing neg fails to exercise the degree of care required to protect another from unreasonable harm

Us olympic committee

not state actor

ncaa naia njcaa

not state actor

Pro sport leagues and teams

not state actors

Rec clubs and facilities

not state actors

Plaintiff

one who files lawsuit

Corporate entity/ employer or governing body may be liable under respondeat superior for injury resulting from:

ordinary negligence of employee, IF the employee was acting within the scope of their employment

Lease agreements

owners of sport/rec facilities that lease out facility are usually still liable for negligence injuries resulting from the facility, but not liable for activities that are under control of group leasing facility

Intentional tort

person committing the IT intends to do something law says is wrong

Voluntary assumption

person does not owe a legal duty to another but voluntarily assumes one

Motions

requests by plaintiff or defendant for court to take action in the case

Forseeability

risk must be foreseeable by a reasonable person (professional) in order for there to be a duty to protect against it

Consent

sport participants accept inherent risks but sport participants can be liable for battery for events during the course of the game if the Defendant's actions are: intentional and cause injury beyond what is normally permitted

hs athl assoc

state actor

Volunteer immunity statutes

state laws to protect those who volunteer for non profit or government organizations from negligence lawsuits, if the negligence occurred while preforming duties for the organization

Implied assumption of risk

the plaintiff voluntarily proceeds to encounter a known danger

Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity

the universally accepted principle that each nation has the right to manage its own government and develop its own laws.

Statute of limitations

time limit in which lawsuit can be filed

Ordinary negligence

unintentional breach of legal unreasonable risk of injury, which results in damages

Involved employee or service personnel

usually the person who commits the negligent act through direct contact with the plaintiff (teacher, coach, etc.)

Administrative agency or supervisory personnel

usually the person who supervises the negligent employee

Civil rights violation

violation of bill of rights

Proprietary function

when sovereign immunity exists, it may not provide protection if the state entity performs for-profit activities that a private entity could do

Government function

where sovereign immunity exists, it usually applies when a state entity is carrying out its govt duties for the benefit of the gen public