Miller as Next Friend of E.M. v. House of Boom Ky., LLC

• Decision Date: 13 June 2019
• Docket Number: 2018-SC-000625-CL
• Citation: 575 S.W.3d 656
• Parties: In re: Kathy MILLER, AS NEXT FRIEND OF Her Minor Child, E.M. v. HOUSE OF BOOM KENTUCKY, LLC
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

575 S.W.3d 656

In re: Kathy MILLER, AS NEXT FRIEND OF Her Minor Child, E.M.

v.HOUSE OF BOOM KENTUCKY, LLC

2018-SC-000625-CL

Supreme Court of Kentucky.

JUNE 13, 2019

COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT: Grover Simpson Cox, Louisville, Grover S. Cox Law Office, Vanessa Lynn Armstrong, U.S. District Court.

COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: Anthony M. Pernice, Lexington, Reminger Co., LPA.

COUNSEL FOR AMICUS CURIAE KENTUCKY JUSTICE ASSOCIATION: Kevin Crosby Burke, Louisville, Jamie Kristin Neal, Burke Neal PLLC.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VANMETER

By order entered February 14, 2019, this Court granted the United States District Court, Western District of Kentucky’s request for certification of law on the following issue:

Is a pre-injury liability waiver signed by a parent on behalf of a minor child enforceable under Kentucky law?

After careful consideration, we hold that such a waiver is unenforceable under the specific facts of this case.

I. Factual and Procedural Background.

House of Boom, LLC ("House of Boom") is a for-profit trampoline park located in Louisville, Kentucky. The park is a collection of trampoline and acrobatic stunt attractions. On August 6, 2015, Kathy Miller purchased tickets for her 11-year-old daughter, E.M., and her daughter’s friends to go play at House of Boom. Before purchasing the tickets, House of Boom required the purchaser to check a box indicating that the purchaser had read the waiver of liability. The waiver reads:

(1) RELEASE OF LIABILITY: Despite all known and unknown risks including b[u]t not limite[d] to serious bodily injury, permanent disability, paralysis and loss of life, I, on behalf of myself, and/or on behalf of my spouse, minor child(ren)/ward(s) hereby expressly and volun[ ]tarily remise, release, acquit, satisfy and forever discharge and agree not to sue HOUSE OF BOOM, including its suppliers, designers, installers, manufacturers of any trampoline equipment, foam pit material, or such other material and equipment in HOUSE OF BOOM'S facility (all hereinafter referred to as "EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS") and agree to hold said parties harmless of and from any and all manner of actions or omission(s), causes of action, suits, sums of money, controversies, damages, judgments, executions, claims and demands whatsoever, in law or in equity, including, but no[t] limited to, any and all claim[s] which allege negligent acts and/or omissions committed by HOUSE OF BOOM or any EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS, whether the action arises out of any damage, loss, personal injury, or death to me or my spouse, minor child(ren)/ward(s), while participating in or as a result of participating in any of the ACTIVITIES in or about the premises. This Release of Liability, is effective and valid regardless of whether the damage, loss or death is a result of any act or omission on the part of HOUSE OF BOOM and/or any EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS.

The agreement goes on to state:

1. By signing this document, I understand that I may be found by a court of law to have forever waived my and my spouse and/or child(ren)/ward(s) right to maintain any action against HOUSE OF BOOM on the basis of any claim from which I have released HOUSE OF BOOM and any released party herein and that I have assumed all risk of damage, loss, personal injury, or death to myself, my spouse and/or my minor child(ren)/wards(s) and agreed to indemnify and hold harmless HOUSE OF BOOM and all EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS from and against any and all losses, liabilities, claims, obligations, costs, damages and/or expenses whatsoever paid, incurred and/or suffered by HOUSE OF BOOM and all EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS as a result of the participation in ACTIVITIES in or about the facility by myself, my spouse and/or child(ren)/ward(s) and/or claims asserted by myself, my spouse and/or child(ren)/ward(s) against HOUSE OF BOOM and all EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS related to such participation in ACTIVITIES. I have had a reasonable and sufficient opportunity to read and understand this entire document and consult with legal counsel, or have voluntarily waived my right to do so. I knowingly and voluntarily agree to be bound by all terms and conditions set forth herein.

The above waiver includes language that, if enforceable, would release all claims by (1) the individual who checked the box, (2) her spouse, (3) her minor child, or (4) her ward against House of Boom. Once Miller checked the box, E.M. participated in activities at House of Boom. She was injured when another girl jumped off a three-foot ledge and landed on E.M’s ankle, causing it to break. Miller, as next friend of her daughter, sued House of Boom for the injury. House of Boom, relying on Miller’s legal power to waive the rights of her daughter via the release, moved for summary judgment. The Western District of Kentucky concluded that House of Boom’s motion for summary judgment involved a novel issue of state law and requested Certification from this Court which we granted. Both parties have briefed the issue and the matter is now ripe for Certification.

II. Analysis.

The question before this Court is whether a parent has the authority to sign a pre-injury exculpatory agreement on behalf of her child, thus terminating the child’s potential right to compensation for an injury occurring while participating in activities sponsored by a for-profit company. Although an issue of first impression in the Commonwealth, the enforceability of a preinjury waiver signed by a parent on behalf of a child has been heavily litigated in a multitude of jurisdictions. House of Boom categorizes these decisions in as those that enforced the waiver and those that did not, but the decisions of those jurisdictions more accurately fall into four distinct categories: (1) jurisdictions that have enforced a waiver between a parent and a for-profit entity;¹ (2) jurisdictions that have enforced waivers between a parent and a non-profit entity;² (3) jurisdictions that have declared a waiver between a parent and a for-profit entity unenforceable;³ and (4) jurisdictions that have declared a waiver between a parent and a non-profit entity unenforceable.⁴ House of Boom is a for-profit trampoline park, and eleven out of twelve jurisdictions that have analyzed similar waivers between parents and for-profit entities have adhered to the common law and held such waivers to be unenforceable.⁵

Pre-injury release waivers are not per se invalid in the Commonwealth but are generally "disfavored and are strictly construed against the parties relying on them." Hargis v. Baize, 168 S.W.3d 36, 47 (Ky. 2005) (citation omitted). We analyze these agreements for violations of public policy. See Cobb v. Gulf Refining Co., 284 Ky. 523, 528, 145 S.W.2d 96, 99 (1940) (citing RESTATEMENT OF CONTRACTS § 575 ). The relevant public policy here is whether a parent has the authority to enter into an exculpatory agreement on their child’s behalf, negating any opportunity for a tort claim—a child’s property right—if House of Boom’s negligence causes injury to the child.

The general common law rule in Kentucky is that "parents ha[ve] no right to compromise or settle" their child’s cause of action as that "right exist[s] in the child alone," and parents have no right to enter into contracts on behalf of their children absent special circumstances. Meyer’s Adm'r v. Zoll, 119 Ky. 480, 486, 84 S.W. 543, 544 (1905) ; see also Wilson v. Wilson, 251 Ky. 522, 525, 65 S.W.2d 694, 695 (1933) ("[W]hile the mother might enter into a contract regarding her rights, she could not contract away the rights of her unborn child[ ]"); GGNSC Stanford, LLC v. Rowe, 388 S.W.3d 117, 123 (Ky. App. 2012) ("In light of the limited authority granted to custodians by KRS⁶ 405.020

and KRS 387.280, we cannot conclude they are permitted to contractually bind their wards without formal appointment as guardians[ ]"). Thus, we must determine whether Kentucky public policy supports a change in the common law that would protect for-profit entities from liability by enforcing pre-injury liability waivers signed by parents on behalf of their children. First, KRS 405.020 provides that "[t]he father and mother shall have the joint custody, nurture, and education of their children who are under the age of eighteen (18)." However, this grant of custody and a parent’s right to raise their child, choose the child’s educational path, and make healthcare decisions on a child’s behalf has never abrogated the traditional common law view that parents have no authority to enter into contracts on behalf of their child when dealing with a child’s property rights, prior to being appointed guardian by a district court. Scott v. Montgomery Traders Bank & Trust Co., 956 S.W.2d 902, 904 (Ky. 1997).

In Scott, the parent at issue attempted to settle her child’s tort claim and fund a trust with the settlement funds without being appointed guardian by a district court. Id. This Court held that

[i]t is fundamental legal knowledge in this state that District Court has exclusive jurisdiction "... for the appointment and removal of guardians ... and for the management and settlement of their accounts" and that a person must be appointed as guardian by the Court in order to legally receive settlements in excess of $ 10,000.00.

Id. (quoting KRS 387.020(1), KRS 387.125(b) ) (emphasis added). Additionally, our precedent dictates that even when acting as next friend, a minor’s parent has no right to compromise or settle a minor’s claim without court approval or collect the proceeds of a minor’s claim.⁷ Metzger Bros. v. Watson's Guardian, 251 Ky. 446, 450, 65 S.W.2d 460, 462 (1933). Thus, finding no inherent right on the part of a parent to contract on behalf of their child, the remaining question is whether public policy demands enforcement of these contracts within the Commonwealth.

House of Boom’s initial public policy argument is that a parent’s fundamental liberty interest "in the care and custody of their children" supports enforcing a for-profit entity’s pre-injury liability waiver...