Merged: Liability Releases - shop sued diver's death, Catalina Island 2005

[k ellis]

as a lawyer once told me himself waivers are only partially effective as you cant write off complete liability. as he put it if you say your not responsible for ones death it can come back and bite you if there was negligence in maintaining equipment despite the fact you have a waiver.

the truth is about waivers though is its not how well they are written its how you convince the jury. just because one signed a waiver doesnt mean that they cant sue

 

[Sas]

as a lawyer once told me himself waivers are only partially effective as you cant write off complete liability. as he put it if you say your not responsible for ones death it can come back and bite you if there was negligence in maintaining equipment despite the fact you have a waiver.

True. Here I believe they can only protect against things that are beyond your control - like someone trips in your backyard and gets injured. They don't protect against gross negligence...

 

[k ellis]

Well I don't know if I would take the lawyer's word on that, especially as they have coupled it with complaining about the weight given and there not being 'enough air in the rental tank'. If I get a bad fill, I just do a shorter dive...

If the gauge ran high, it's also going to depend how in error it was as to if it is the shop's fault or not.

well it could go either way and thats the way american courts are but if it was substantially over pressured then it should have been caught. If it ran say 25 or 50 lbs heavy it may have been a little more difficult to catch. But you rent things in good faith and expect them to work. Sure most of us dont check gear when we rent and that as is obvious here can be a real disaster.

 

[k ellis]

True. Here I believe they can only protect against things that are beyond your control - like someone trips in your backyard and gets injured. They don't protect against gross negligence...

exactly.

 

[vladimir]

well it could go either way and thats the way american courts are but if it was substantially over pressured then it should have been caught. If it ran say 25 or 50 lbs heavy it may have been a little more difficult to catch. But you rent things in good faith and expect them to work. Sure most of us dont check gear when we rent and that as is obvious here can be a real disaster.

I would have caught a gauge that didn't show zero as part of my normal pre-dive routine. My pre-dive check is less elaborate than what many here profess to do, but it does include checking the gauge before and after pressurizing the regulator and while taking a few breaths off of it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

We live in a time where it's sue or be sued, someone needs to be blamed, and a law suit is a quick buck....it's pretty sad!

The problem is that litigation has become a huge industry worth billions of dollars.
People have made vast fortunes on nothing more than parasitic exploits.
They serve no other purpose but to bleed society of it's life blood and produce nothing of real value.

 

[tfsails]

He ran out of air--reason immaterial. He and his son made a normal ascent using son's octo, AS THEY WERE TRAINED TO DO. AFTER the dive he had the heart attack. I predict (I know I shouldn't do this but I just can't help myself) that the family will lose the lawsuit. I know, based on the facts presented here, that I would vote against the family were I on the jury.

 

[deepwater]

The problem is that litigation has become a huge industry worth billions of dollars.
People have made vast fortunes on nothing more than parasitic expoits.
They serve no other purpose but to bleed society of it's life blood and they produce nothing of real value.

I think he said we now have bottom feeders above and below the white caps..

 

[oldnotdead]

Unfortunately, now instead of learning from the mistakes made here, we will pay more, learn less, and have fewer qualified people willing to provide for the sport that we enjoy. I personally don't dive often, but I choose to review all of my training, checks, and boundaries before each dive. It is proven again: Sense is not common.

 

[k ellis]

Unfortunately, now instead of learning from the mistakes made here, we will pay more, learn less, and have fewer qualified people willing to provide for the sport that we enjoy. I personally don't dive often, but I choose to review all of my training, checks, and boundaries before each dive. It is proven again: Sense is not common.

Sadly the end result of a lawsuit of any kind is it drives up the cost of everything associated with the party being suied. This is why healthcare is so high these days. Having been in the employ of a hospital I saw the docket of law suits and it shocked me how many people in just one day were on the docket to sue the hospital.

in a few cases I can see people being awarded large settlements but all too often its usually someone asking for millions and the only real damage was a bruised ego.