Product Liability Alert: Team Weightlifting Injury Justifies Application of Primary Assumption of Risk Doctrine

On June 24, 2013, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District released its opinion in Cann v. Stefanec, holding that an athlete injured by a weight dropped by a teammate during mandatory weight training assumes the risk of injury from the dropped weight.

Plaintiff Scarlett Cann was injured when her teammate, Defendant Annie Stefanec, dropped a weight while performing step-ups during a mandatory team workout session for the UCLA swim team. Cann and Stefanec both testified during their respective depositions that their coach instructed them to drop the weight bar if the weight was too heavy and/or the teammate lost her balance. Prior to the incident involved in the case, other team members had dropped weights pursuant to these instructions.

Cann filed suit, alleging negligence against Stefanec. Stefanec was thereafter granted summary judgment on the basis of the doctrine of primary assumption of risk. Cann appealed, claiming that the trial court erred in applying the doctrine of primary assumption of the risk for three reasons: (1) Cann and Stefanec were not interacting; (2) Cann and Stefanec were not coparticipants in a sport; and (3) Stefanec recklessly positioned herself too close to where Cann was doing pushups when the weight was dropped.

Affirming the summary judgment ruling, the Court of Appeal explained that the primary assumption of risk doctrine is not limited to sports, “but applies as well to other recreational activities ‘involving an inherent risk of injury to voluntary participants….'” Further, it is not necessary that the parties be engaged in the exact same activity. The Court noted that Cann and Stefanec, though not performing the same exercise, were in the weight room at the same time as teammates performing the same set of exercises. Further, the evidentiary record rejected any argument that Stefanec acted recklessly (i.e., did anything to increase the risk of harm inherent in the activity). The Court concluded that team weightlifting involves inherent risks, justifying the application of the primary assumption of risk doctrine.

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June 28, 2013