Arbitration & Mediation

Pre-Injury Waiver Bill (HB 363 / SB 886) Supported by Orlando Theme Parks

By Christopher B. Hopkins, Esq.

Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court decision in Scott Corey Kirton et al. v. Jordan Fields et al.; Dean Dyess v. Jordan Fields; and H. Spencer Kirton v. Fields confirmed a shift in Florida law where parents were unable to sign pre-injury waivers for children to participate in commercial activities. This not only exposed commercial activity providers to liability but also lead community activity providers to question whether they were exposed since there was some ambiguity as to what would be a "protected" community activity.

Central Florida theme parks and vacation activity providers -- everything from SeaWorld and Disney to Gatorland -- are concerned and are supporting two bills before the Florida legislature, according to this Orlando Sentinel article.

House Bill 363 and Senate Bill 886 propose to revise Florida Statute 744.301 to allow natural guardians/parents to "to waive and release, in advance, any claim or cause of action that would accrue to any of their minor children to the same extent that any adult may do so..."

Full post as published by Florida Arbitration Law on March 21, 2009 (boomark / email).