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Connecticut Water Trails
Program
Paddling and Liability
Liability Waivers 101
Where there are recreation activities,
there are injuries! Unfortunately, where there are injuries, there are
lawsuits! Providers of these activities must take care to manage risk in
two ways. First, you should take steps to reduce the likelihood of
injury as much as possible. Secondly, you should do everything
possible to protect yourselves afrom the risks of financial loss. A
major financial risk is that of lawsuits by parties injured while
participating in recreation activities.
Liability waivers, contrary to misconceptions of providers in the
past, can be effective in protecting providers from liability for injuries
resulting from the negligence of the provider. Waivers are
inexpensive to obtain, easy to administer and store, and can help protect
providers from the consequences of their own mistakes.
What Is A Waiver?
Legal terminology can sometimes be confusing. A waiver
is a contract between the service provider and the participant signed
prior to participation by which the participant agrees to absolve the
provider of any fault or liability for injuries resulting from the
ordinary negligence of the provider, its employees or its agents. The
agreement relieves the provider of liability for injuries resulting from
mistakes, errors, or faults of the provider and, in effect, relieves the
provider of the duty to use ordinary care in providing for the participant
The reader, however, will often encounter other terms such as
release, disclaimer, and exculpatory
agreement. These terms are usually used synonymously with
waiver and while there are minor differences, they are usually referring
to the same type of agreement. Another common document is the
informed consent agreement. Although some erroneously use it
instead of a waiver, the informed consent is a different type of
agreement. It is used to protect the provider from liability for the
informed treatment risks of a treatment or program to which the individual
agrees to be subjected (e.g., medical treatment, therapy, experiment,
training program). In general, they are used when something is “done to”
the individual. These are used in medicine and research and have
recently been used by personal trainers.
Does A Waiver Work?
The answer to this is Yes and No.
Waivers do work in most states, but not all. In states where they
work, they usually work under certain circumstance, but not all. A
number of factors can cause a waiver to fail. Some of these include: 1)
When the service is an essential service or of public interest (e.g.,
medical care, electric or water service); 2) When one party has superior
bargaining power over the other (e.g., teacher-student,
employer-employee); 3) When the conduct is beyond ordinary negligence
(e.g., gross negligence, reckless conduct, intentional acts); 4) When the
waiver is to relieve one of a statutory duty; 5) When the waiver is not
clear and unambiguous in its intent; 6) When fraud or misrepresentation is
involved.
Waiver law is state law and, as
such, differs greatly among states.
Below are links to information about Liability and what the courts in
Connecticut have ruled in some cases.
Remember: It is best to consult
an attorney when designing your liability waiver to make sure that all
bases are covered.
Connecticut Court Rulings
 Connecticut
Supreme Court Rules Liability Waiver Is Unenforceable
Connecticut
Court Invalidates Gym's Liability Waiver
Links
The
ABCs of Liability Waivers 
Liability/Waiver
Form
Liability
Waiver Article
Sierra
Club
Q&A Chapter and Group - Outings – Liability
Waviers
Liability
Waiver 101 PowerPoint
Waiver
of Liability Alert
Risk
Management
Waivers
Information Provided By SporstWaiver.com
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