In the wake of Wisconsin’s tort reform bill, additional proposals have been floated to make it more difficult for citizens to file lawsuits to recover financial compensation when they sustain personal injuries.
The recently filed Senate Bill 388, for example, would protect ski resorts from liability should a skier or snowboarder suffer an accident that causes injury or wrongful death. Known as the Skier Safety Act, the bill would require skiers and snowboarders to sign documents releasing resort operators from all liability should they be injured or killed while recreating at state resorts.
The Wisconsin Association for Justice (WAJ) has lobbied against the bill. According to a Jan. 30 article in The Cap City Times, WAJ President Ed Vopal said the bill “shifts responsibility for safety of the ski hill to the skier, rather than the people who own and maintain it.” The bill, Vopal added, “was not written to make ski areas safer.”
Indeed, while some resort accidents are caused by skier or snowboarder carelessness, other incidents may be the result of negligent maintenance or operator errors.
Similar in tone to Senate Bill 388 is Senate Bill 382, which would free school districts and charter schools from liability if an individual who is part of a group that arranged to use school property is hurt or killed. Senate Bill 382 explicitly excuses schools from having to keep school grounds safe for a non-school group’s cleared activity, including recusing schools from having to inspect the facilities prior to use by approved outside groups or warning these groups about potentially unsafe conditions.
If you suffered an injury that you believe was caused by the negligence of another, please contact the Madison, Wisconsin, personal injury attorneys at Boller & Vaughn LLC for your free case evaluation.
