LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) - A collegiate soccer player will not be able to sue over eye injuries he sustained when a resistance band slipped and hit him in the face during a team workout.
The Nebraska Supreme Court reached that decision Jan. 13 in Konrad Sinu's lawsuit against Concordia University, finding a liability waiver signed by Sinu and his mother when he was 18 years old enforceable.
The injury occurred during a "face pull" exercise in which Sinu pulled resistance bands with his hands toward his face. The bands were attached to a J-hook on a squat rack.
The waiver at issue instructed athletes with concerns to visit with an attorney before signing, defeating the plaintiffs' argument it failed to express clear and unequivocal language that released the university from liability for its own negligence.
Though the word "negligence" wasn't a part of the waiver, it was clear that's what it meant, the court ruled.
"The language of the release clearly demonstrates an intent to eliminate the university's liability, particularly when protecting the university from negligence claims is the only reasonable construction," the court held.
As to the argument the waiver was against public policy, the court found "there was no disparity in bargaining power." Sinu had the waiver for a month before he moved to Nebraska.
"He could have gone elsewhere to play soccer and attend college," the decision says.
Concordia recruited Sinu, who lived in England, for its men's soccer team. After five months at Concordia, he was injured during a mandatory strength and conditioning workout.
The base of the band attached to the J-hook slipped off and struck him in his eyes.