Will Tough Mudder Death Lead to a Lawsuit?
One can never be sure whether an incident will lead to a lawsuit, but my speculation in this case is yes, there will be a lawsuit against Tough Mudder.
Tough Mudder is a company creating races that involve obstacles. At a race this past weekend in West Virginia, a 28 year-old Ellicott Coty man jumped into a pool of muddy water. He did not surface immediately. He was pulled out by a diver on site, but later succumbed to his injuries at a Virginia hospital.
The competitor almost certainly signed a release. However, no release can work to eliminate all of a potential defendant’s duties. In this case, for example, there may still have been a duty on the part if Tough Mudder to provide adequate supervision to assure death from an obstacle could not happen. A tort is duty – breach – causation – damages. Here, the damages are clear. The man died. The others aren’t quite as obvious, but likely present nonetheless.
What is the duty? Is the duty to make sure no one dies? Probably not. People die? What if the man had an asthma attack and died? Did Tough Mudder have a duty to provide inhalers with every kind of asthma medicine in existence? No. However, there was a diver on site. What if the diver was on a lunch break and that caused the delay? Obviously the company felt they had some kind of duty – there was a diver present. Presumably,
I think, if Tough Mudder was going to produce an obstacle with muddy water that couldn’t be seen through, they had a duty to make sure no one doesn’t surface. That won’t exactly be the language in the complaint, but I’d be shocked if there is no lawsuit or settlement.
The decedent’s estate can sue. Can family members seek an Ellicott City injury lawyer? Is it okay for a Maryland lawyer to handle the case despite the incident taking place in West VA? Yes, though if tried in a West Virginia court, local counsel might need to be obtained.
Update: Information in this post came from original reporting in the Baltimore Sun.
Sadly this accident occured sympathy goes out to the family. I have completed a tm and we all sign the waiver knowing the extreme of risk we are under taking. its part if it. All the best tm
Jude,
Thanks for the comment. No question Tough Mudder is dangerous and there is a certain amount of risk inherent in the activity, from a liability standpoint the question becomes one of law. I’m not sure the Tough Mudder release will hold up. Just because there is a release doesn’t mean there is no duty owed by the Tough Mudder organization to its participants. Even if the Tough Mudder release speaks freely of possible death, that remains true. For example, if Tough Mudder used faulty equipment in obstacles or used quicksand from the Amazon that kills seven out of ten people who touch it, their release doesn’t cover it. I’m not suggesting that’s what happened. I’m suggesting that’s what the questions of fact and law are going to be about.
It is plain assumption of risk. He signed the waiver and the duty owed is to all competitors and they had a diver on site. Sympathies to the family but he knew the risk. Go to a baseball or hockey game and if the ball or a puck strikes someone is the player, team or facility responsible ? Read the back of the ticket.
Knowing the risk and the applicability of the waiver is likely a question of fact. For instance, in your hockey example, you might willingly sit right behind the glass because you know that the glass is made of a certain material and that material stops pucks. But what if that particular piece of glass was defective? You assumed a different risk than the one you were prevented with.
You are right, there was a diver. I personally would only assume the risk for a water obstacle in which it was a virtual certainty that a diver could easily pull me out of. I think the diver works against the company.
Update. Yes, this did lead to a lawsuit. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/ellicott-city/bs-md-ho-mudder-lawsuit-20140506,0,6018767.story