The Huntsville Curling Club may have lost one of its longest-standing members due to its liability waiver requirements.
Tim Green has been a member of the club for the past 50 years. He’s been involved in all major building events related to the club since 1969 and in 1972 he was part of the executive when the club’s roof caved in.
He said about seven or eight years ago the club started asking its members to sign a release of liability. The waiver includes slips and falls on the ice as well as any cases of gross negligence on the part of the club.
Green refused to sign-off on the gross negligence part of the waiver.
“This means that the club is not responsible for any decisions that the executive makes even though it may threaten the safety of its members. There are a number of safety issues that need to be addressed at the club that makes it difficult for me to sign their waiver. Therefore I have been denied membership this year,” stated Green in an email to Doppler.
Green said he’s always been able to send in the hard copy of the registration without signing the waiver and it was always accepted without any issues. But this year, due to precautions related to COVID-19, registrations are required to be submitted online and the applicant must check off the waiver box in order to submit the registration.
“If I don’t sign I don’t get to curl this year. Curling has been a huge part of my life for the last 50 years. I believe that other members have similar concerns but have decided to forsake them so they can continue to curl. I have curled competitively with and against curling legends like Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Eddie Werenich, Paul Savage and other greats,” stated Green.
The board of directors for the Huntsville Curling Club issued the following statement when contacted by Doppler:
The Huntsville Curling Club (HCC) values Tim Green’s long standing membership and his contribution to the HCC as a community business sponsor. Tim is also a loyal volunteer and friend to all at HCC. We have spoken to Tim as well as sought legal advice, with the objective of finding a way to have Tim curl with us.
As part of the membership application for the Huntsville Curling Club (HCC), we ask all members to agree to a standard waiver developed by Curling Canada which details the Release of Liability, Waiver of Claims and Indemnity Agreement relating to any curling club activity.
Curling Canada encourages all curling clubs in Canada to use their standard waiver, which was updated this season with provisions to cover Covid-19. As a volunteer BOD our role is to protect the best interest of the HCC and its Members and we depend on the guidance and standard tools provided by our Sports’ governing organizations: Curling Canada and CurlON to help us in that regard.
This waiver is built into our new curling club member management software application. It is our understanding that this same system, with this same waiver is in use in over 100 curling clubs across Canada.
In our discussions with Tim, we provided him an explanation of why HCC needs all members to accept the standard Curling Canada waiver in order to curl this season. From the HCC perspective, we hope that Tim will reconsider his position, accept the waiver and join us for the upcoming curling season.
Green insists the club should be held responsible for its decisions and maintains that he will not sign off on any waiver that releases the club from responsibility related to gross negligence.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
The current waiver on the club’s website registration app is far more “bulletproof” than the waiver previously used on the paper hard copy registration form. It starts with an acceptance of risk statement and a promise not to sue the club under any circumstances. It then carries on for several screens in greater detail…..very much like a software EULA, and even shows a clause where the applicant agrees to abide by the legal procedures of the Province of Ontario if legal proceedings are initiated. [Hmmm..didn’t I just agree to not suing three screens back???]
One annoying feature of this waiver is that it is placed way down in the application process, after one has spent time filling in all the necessary information, rather than right up front at the start of the process. And, very much like the software EULA, it’s accept or exit.
I do not believe all curling clubs in the area use this “automated” registration app, nor such an elaborate waiver, which then creates another issue for the club..mostly relating to members of other clubs curling here in Huntsville during bonspiels and other curling events. Would they be required to sign off on Huntsville’s waiver? If not then I would suggest that Huntsville members are then second class members with more restrictions than the visitors sharing the ice surface.
The current wording of the waiver amounts to an abrogation of personal rights to pursue legal action in the event of gross negligence, and I would agree with Tim Green on that issue. My lawyer friends also indicate that these waivers essentially mean nothing, having been “signed” under duress. They are insurance company scare tactics to reduce or eliminate frivolous lawsuits.
In short, the current waiver being used by Huntsville is overkill. Might as well dress up in bubblewrap before going out on the ice.
Ahh, the internet!
Every time one wants to buy or use a new piece of software, for example, even if it is just an update for your phone, you have to check off the box that says you have “read and accepted the conditions of use of that product”. You cannot proceed until you check the box!
But if you are fool enough to actually try to read the “conditions” you will find that they are often many pages long, all in fine print, refer to legal terms and items you know nothing about and it may take weeks and thousands of dollars for you to find out. So what to do? Well everybody I know just ticks the silly little magic box and proceeds as they have no time or knowledge to really let them do anything else.
The company asking you to “accept” the conditions does not offer a choice. You cannot say you “don’t accept and here is why”. You cannot even ask them what some item in the conditions actually might mean to your situation as there is simply no way to do this. They have set things up so that unless you have a good corporate lawyer on your staff with a secretary and office to support them (and most people don’t have this little asset waiting for that little check box to appear) you really can do nothing but check the box and proceed no matter what the conditions might say. It is that or just close the window and don’t use that application.
Hardly a fair situation.
The Assumption of Risk/Release of Liability Agreement on the Huntsville Curling Club membership registration form has been in place since 2012. When it was first recommended Tim Green spoke to me indicating he was not going to sign the waiver. This is the first time that his membership has been denied since refusing to sign the waiver in the last 8 years. So what has changed? Membership has not been denied without signature on the waiver in the past. If the covid-19 risks have changed the need for a signature then there should be an additional covid-19 risk waiver placed on the registration form. Denying outstanding longtime members to join the club simply due to missing signature is dictatorial. CurlON states: “As part of a solid re-opening plan, clubs must be prepared to accept some of
the risk associated with operating a sporting venue. Some of this risk can be transferred to the
participant in the form of Waivers and Declarations of Compliance.” The Curling Canada Release of Liability and Disclaimer states: “In consideration of the Organization allowing me to participate, I agree:
a) That the sole responsibility for my safety remains with me.” That is precisely what Tim Green has agreed to over the last 8 years.
If the club carries liability insurance why would the members be forced to sign a waiver? If a member sues the club then the insurance pays. If the liability insurance does not cover gross negligence then add it. Add the cost of increasing the insurance on to the members. It sèems simple. Am I missing something?
Tim, you are not alone. I encountered the same situation white water rafting in Ottawa. I was to waive the same, including duty of care under the Occupier’s Liability Act (OLA) The manager was sympathetic when I was reluctant to sign and said that her waiver forms had to cede gross negligence or their insurance company would not insure them. So, all paid up and standing in a wetsuit with an ultimatum. Sign or don’t go.
I requested help from MPP (Norm Miller) without success then the Attorney General’s Office (as they oversee the OLA) and noted that Ministry officials are not permitted to provide legal advice or opinions, interpret the law or conduct legal research for members of the public. They were unable to comment on my question re: surrendering rights, and suggested I seek independent legal advice on the issue of waiver of liability. The legal advice I received was don’t sign and if you do, it will be for the courts to decide. The only way (I guess) that this issue will get resolved is if people refuse to sign, leaving businesses and organizations to apply pressure on insurance companies to change their unreasonable expectations for Liability Waivers.
Giant Corporate Insurance companies are determined to reduce payouts outs as much as possible all the while increasing premiums sky high. If You can’t pursue activities in the Community You have enjoyed in the past look to the costs of insurance for Municipalities and private companies and individuals. They are profit driven ,as most financial institutions are , and the higher their profits , the less Your enjoyment . For lack of a better phrase , ” It is what it is ” !