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When can you sue your gym for injuries you suffer there?

When asked to think of injuries someone may suffer at the gym, you may consider a barbell falling on top of someone or a muscle cramp. In most cases, the contract you sign to become a member of your gym protects them from being held liable for any injuries of the sort.

That agreement is far from airtight though. There are still some injuries you may suffer at the gym that you can still sue them for.

Whether you can sue your gym for injuries you receive on its premises greatly depends on the liability waiver contained in it. The three most common types of these include: a negligence, total liability and intentional acts liability waiver.

If your contract has a negligence type of waiver included in it, then it covers your gym and its employees from being sued for any accidents its members may endure because of staff neglect or oversight. Judges generally accept these agreements as written when challenged in court.

When a membership agreement contains a total liability waiver, it protects the gym's ownership and employees from all liability for injuries on its premises. Oftentimes, this type of waiver is not upheld in court mostly because judges see it as being too broad in scope.

The final type of liability waiver is an intentional acts one. According to legal experts, it would be very rare for any judge to uphold this as essentially, it would be giving the gym's ownership a right to intentionally hurt someone.

Much like any business, gyms are obligated to keep their facilities well-maintained and their equipment in good repair. This includes fixing dripping toilets or showers in the locker room so that water doesn't accumulate and lead to someone slipping and falling. This also includes keeping all gym equipment in good repair so that weight stacks don't fall on its members.

If you've been hurt at your gym, then a Los Lunas premises liability attorney can assess your membership agreement to see if you're allowed to sue them for damages you incurred as a result of your injury.

Source: Find Law, "If you're injured at the gym, can you sue?," Jenny Tsay, accessed Feb. 22, 2018

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