You may hold on to the belief that a gym owner was responsible for your accident and subsequent injuries and damages. However, believing that a gym owner was at fault is different than actually proving that they were at fault. That is, as the defendant in your premises liability claim, a gym owner may do everything in their power to fight against such a statement. Continue reading to learn how a defendant might argue against your gym injury claim and how an experienced Washington, D.C. premises liability lawyer at Simeone & Miller, LLP can help you fight back.
In what ways might a defendant argue against my gym injury claim?
You must prepare for the defendant and their legal team to make several strong stances against your gym injury claim. Just some examples are as follows:
- A gym owner may argue that an implied assumption of risk existed, in which you should have been reasonably aware of the dangers associated with using the gym’s equipment and other facilities.
- A gym owner may argue that you accepted a gift (i.e., gift certificate, free month of membership, etc.) immediately after your accident, which ultimately symbolized a settlement agreement for your injury claim.
- A gym owner may argue that you signed a waiver upon joining the gym, which ultimately had you forfeit your right to hold them liable in a future gym injury claim.
How do I overcome these arguments?
It may be difficult to disprove the aforementioned arguments posed by the defendant, especially the one regarding your liability waiver. Nonetheless, it is doable. Without further ado, you may overcome this argument in the following ways:
- You may argue that it is in the best interest of your fellow gym guests’ health and safety to not enforce this liability waiver.
- You may argue that this liability waiver should be deemed ineffective because the gym owner displayed gross negligence.
- You may argue that this liability waiver should be inadmissible because it used vague and ambiguous language that a reasonable individual cannot follow.
Generally speaking, there is always the argument that the gym owner holds a duty of care in keeping their facility safe for guests. By angling your legal strategy in this way, you may argue that they ultimately breached this duty of care by failing to actively inspect their facility for potential safety hazards and promptly rectify them. Overall, you may state that a reasonable gym owner would have handled the potential safety hazards differently.
Evidently, you may require an abundant amount of evidence to back up your arguments. For these reasons alone, you must consult with a skilled Washington, D.C. injury lawyer immediately. Our team at Simeone & Miller, LLP is happy to advise you.