Colorado Court Rules Parents Can Not Waive Liability for Minors
Posted: 06/25/2002
By: Jason Robertson
June 24, 2002: The Colorado Supreme Court has issued a decision that parents of minors have
no right to sign liability waivers for their children under 18. This decision will affect all
recreation liability waivers throughout the state, including those used by the commercial rafting
industry.
The ruling reports that the case stems from an accident in 1995, when David Cooper, then seventeen, suffered injuries, including blindness, when he lost control and crashed into a tree while training on a ski race course. Both David and his mother had signed a release of liability prior to the injury. The trial court held that David's mother's signature on the release bound David to the terms of the agreement and barred his claims against Defendants. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the release signed by David's mother was enforceable against David, even though he was a minor both when the release was signed and when the accident occurred.
In the latest decision the supreme court reversed the lower court's findings and held that "the public policy of Colorado affords minors significant protections that preclude a parent or guardian from releasing a minor's own prospective claims for negligence."
At a more arcane level, the ruling also held that an indemnity provision that shifts the source of compensation for negligence from the tortfeasor to the minor's parent or guardian creates an unacceptable conflict of interest between a parent/guardian and a minor and violates Colorado's public policy to protect minors. Accordingly, it reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and remanded the case to the lower court with instructions to return it to the trial court.
The Nando Times reported in an Associated Press story that "While the case involved a ski company, attorneys said it would also apply to horseback riding, rafting, mountain climbing and any other sport involving children."
The ruling reports that the case stems from an accident in 1995, when David Cooper, then seventeen, suffered injuries, including blindness, when he lost control and crashed into a tree while training on a ski race course. Both David and his mother had signed a release of liability prior to the injury. The trial court held that David's mother's signature on the release bound David to the terms of the agreement and barred his claims against Defendants. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the release signed by David's mother was enforceable against David, even though he was a minor both when the release was signed and when the accident occurred.
In the latest decision the supreme court reversed the lower court's findings and held that "the public policy of Colorado affords minors significant protections that preclude a parent or guardian from releasing a minor's own prospective claims for negligence."
At a more arcane level, the ruling also held that an indemnity provision that shifts the source of compensation for negligence from the tortfeasor to the minor's parent or guardian creates an unacceptable conflict of interest between a parent/guardian and a minor and violates Colorado's public policy to protect minors. Accordingly, it reversed the judgment of the court of appeals and remanded the case to the lower court with instructions to return it to the trial court.
The Nando Times reported in an Associated Press story that "While the case involved a ski company, attorneys said it would also apply to horseback riding, rafting, mountain climbing and any other sport involving children."