On Aug. 5, the state Supreme Court upheld a health club’s right to avoid negligence responsibility by requiring a customer to sign a waiver of liability. Gail Stelluti was injured when the handlebars fell off the stationary exercise bike she was riding. Prior to the accident, she had signed a waiver agreement (the signing of which was a condition of membership in the club) which among other things released the club from all liability for all injuries resulting from use of the equipment, irrespective of negligence.
Stelluti filed suit in the Law Division, which ultimately granted summary judgment to the defendant club. The trial court found that the waiver agreement was enforceable because the club was not under a specific legal duty imposed by statute or regulation, the waiver was not unconscionable (Stelluti had read and understood the agreement when she signed it) and the exculpatory language in the waiver would be applicable to claims both for negligence and gross negligence.
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