Pearce v. Utah Athletic Foundation

• Decision Date: 12 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. 20061030.,20061030.
• Citation: 179 P.3d 760,2008 UT 13
• Parties: James PEARCE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. UTAH ATHLETIC FOUNDATION, dba Utah Winter Sports Park, and Oscar Podar, a foreign individual or company, Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

179 P.3d 760

2008 UT 13

James PEARCE, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. UTAH ATHLETIC FOUNDATION, dba Utah Winter Sports Park, and Oscar Podar, a foreign individual or company, Defendants and Appellees.

No. 20061030.

Supreme Court of Utah.

February 12, 2008.

Fred R. Silvester, Spencer C. Siebers, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Phillip S. Ferguson, Karra J. Porter, Ruth A. Shapiro, Salt Lake City, for defendants.

PARRISH, Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 In 2003, James Pearce suffered a back injury while riding a bobsled at the Utah Winter Sports Park in Park City, Utah. Pearce brought ordinary negligence and gross negligence claims against the Utah Athletic Foundation ("UAF"), which owns and operates the bobsled track. The district court granted summary judgment to UAF on the ordinary negligence claim because Pearce, prior to riding the bobsled, had signed a liability waiver in which he released any negligence claim against UAF. The district court also granted summary judgment to UAF on the gross negligence claim, holding that Pearce had not presented sufficient evidence to show that UAF's conduct rose to the level of gross negligence. Pearce appeals both holdings. We affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment on the ordinary negligence claim but reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment on the gross negligence claim.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

¶ 2 UAF oversees the Olympic legacy venues used during the 2002 Winter Olympics, including the Utah Winter Sports Park ("Sports Park") in Park City, Utah. The Sports Park includes a bobsled track, which is owned and operated by UAF. The bobsled track, which was built by the state of Utah for the 2002 Olympics, was completed in 1996, and ownership and operations were then transferred to the Salt Lake Organizing Committee ("SLOC"). In 1997, the track was opened to the public through the Public Ride Program ("PRP"). UAF took over the ownership and operation of the bobsled track following the 2002 Olympics and continues to offer the PRP. Besides the Park City track, only two other bobsled tracks are located in North America: one in Lake Placid, New York, and the other in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Lake Placid and Calgary tracks also operate a PRP.

¶ 3 To be qualified and approved for Olympic use, a bobsled track has to be designed to specific international standards. One design criterion limits the amount of time that a bobsled athlete can be subjected to more than five Gs. The Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing ("FIBT") is the international organization which ensures that a bobsled track's design and construction meet the criteria. The FIBT conducts various measurements and tests to ensure that the standards are met. The Park City bobsled track met the FIBT standards and was used in the 2002 Winter Olympics. When UAF took over ownership and operation of the track following the Olympics, it did not do any testing independent of the testing conducted by the FIBT and the other entities involved with the construction, design, engineering, and certification of the track.

¶ 4 The bobsleds used in the PRP are configured for a driver and three passengers. UAF employs professional, World Cup-level bobsled drivers for its PRP. The PRP sleds are modified from competition sleds. One modification is that the PRP sleds allow the driver to control the braking; in competition sleds, the fourth-seat rider controls the braking. Another modification is that the PRP sleds have handles for the passengers to hold during the bobsled ride.

¶ 5 On February 27, 2003, Pearce went with his son to the Sports Park to ride the bobsled. Pearce was fifty-nine years old at the time. Before riding the bobsled, Pearce signed a release of liability form.¹ According to Pearce, he was not told what the document was, nor was he told that by signing it he was releasing the Sports Park from liability for injuries caused by its own negligence. Pearce understood that it was a release but did not fully understand the extent of the release. Pearce and the other patrons were given an orientation lasting approximately fifteen minutes. During the orientation, the patrons were told that they would experience four Gs during the ride. Pearce, a mechanical engineer by trade, understood what a G was but did not fully understand the effect that four Gs could have on his body.

¶ 6 The Sports Park managers knew that the g-forces were more pronounced for passengers in the fourth seat of the bobsled than for those in the other seats. Pearce, who was assigned to sit in the fourth seat, was instructed to sit back away from his son — who was seated in the third seat — and to lean forward and grab the handles installed in the modified sled. The Sports Park's general manager testified that these instructions were given to fourth-seat riders to minimize their risk of injury, though he admitted that he did not know how such positioning minimized the risk. One of Pearce's expert witnesses, Dr. Paul France, testified by affidavit that the Sports Park's positioning actually increased the risk of spinal injury to fourth-seat riders. Dr. France opined that the risk of spinal injury could have been reduced by having fourth-seat riders sit more upright, push off the handles, and not flex the spine. During Pearce's ride, the g-forces caused the LI vertebrae of his spine to shatter, propelling a bone fragment toward his spinal column.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 7 Pearce brought suit against UAF in 2004. He originally claimed ordinary negligence but later amended his complaint to include gross negligence. During the course of the litigation, Pearce presented several allegations to support his negligence claims, including (1) the Sports Park did not obtain or review any of SLOC's accident reports for the years of 1997 through 2002; (2) the Sports Park knew that the fourth seat exposed the rider to the greatest risk of injury but did not warn fourth-seat riders of the increased danger or undertake any measures to mitigate the risks of the fourth seat; (3) the Sports Park instructed fourth-seat riders to sit in a position that increased the risk of spinal injury; (4) the Sports Park failed to warn Pearce that three riders had suffered serious spinal injuries — including compression fractures — during the prior three months; (5) the Sports Park knew that riders had suffered back injuries but never attempted to find out how these back injuries were being caused or what could be done to minimize the risk of back injury; (6) the Sports Park never measured the g-forces on the fourth rider and never did any evaluation of the effect of the g-forces on public riders; (7) Sports Park management reviewed injury reports only at the end of the season and were therefore unaware of the reported spinal injuries contained in the injury reports; and (8) the Sports Park did not conduct any of its own testing to determine the inherent dangers of the ride and how to minimize those dangers.

¶ 8 Following some discovery, UAF moved for summary judgment. UAF argued that the liability release protected it from any action for ordinary negligence and that, in view of the undisputed facts of the case, its conduct did not rise to the level of gross negligence. After briefing and oral argument on the motion, the district court issued its ruling and order.

¶ 9 The district court first ruled in favor of UAF on the gross negligence claim, stating that "the court does not believe plaintiff has set forth sufficient evidence of gross negligence" and that "[t]here is no credible evidence of gross negligence as a matter of law." The court held that the Sports Park's conduct would, at most, amount to ordinary negligence.

¶ 10 The court then ruled that Pearce had waived any ordinary negligence claim by signing the liability release. The court held that the release was valid, enforceable, and not against public policy. Thus, the court ultimately granted UAF's motion for summary judgment on Pearce's ordinary negligence claim because he had assumed the risks of the bobsled ride, including any negligent conduct of the Sports Park.

¶ 11 Pearce now appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment on both negligence claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Utah Code section 78-2-2(3)(j) (2002).

ISSUES AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 12 There are two issues on appeal in this case: (1) whether the district court correctly held that the release of liability signed by Pearce barred his ordinary negligence claim against UAF, and (2) whether the district court correctly granted summary judgment to UAF on Pearce's gross negligence claim.

¶ 13 "`[S]ummary judgment is appropriate only when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.'" Swan Creek Vill. Homeowners Ass'n v. Warne, 2006 UT 22, ¶ 16, 134 P.3d 1122 (quoting Norman v. Arnold, 2002 UT 81, ¶ 15, 57 P.3d 997). A district court's decision to grant summary judgment is reviewed for correctness, with no deference afforded to the district court. Crestwood Cove Apts. Bus. Trust v. Turner, 2007 UT 48, ¶ 10, 164 P.3d 1247. "When we review a district court's grant of summary judgment, `we view the facts and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.'" Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. v. Ewart, 2007 UT 52, ¶ 2, 167 P.3d 1011 (quoting Carrier v. Salt Lake County, 2004 UT 98, ¶ 3, 104 P.3d 1208).

ANALYSIS

I. ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE

¶ 14 In two recent cases, we reaffirmed our position with the majority of states that people may contract away their rights to recover in tort for damages caused by the ordinary negligence of others. See Rothstein v. Snowbird Corp., 2007 UT 96, ¶ 6, 175 P.3d 560; Berry v. Greater Park City Co., 2007 UT 87, ¶ 15, 171 P.3d 442 ("[Utah's] public policy does not foreclose the opportunity of parties to bargain for the waiver of tort claims based on ordinary negligence."). We also...