Tim,
FWIW, I'm with those who suggest "if it's a rule, enforce it".
As to your question regarding liability, I believe BlueLawyer has correctly raised the "reasonable person(/umpire)" principle which, I understand, is well-accepted in civil liability/negligence actions. (Disclaimer: I am NOT an attorney, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.)
Purely for the edification and amusement of the readers, I thought I would post an excerpt from some correspondence I had with my brother (who IS an attorney) on a similar, though not identical, question regarding baseball rules which, I believe, both amplifies and clarifies BlueLawyer's cogent commentary.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by CoachJM's Lawyer Brother
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11. But I digress. The most cogent response to your question is that the law is an a$$.
12. Requiring you to follow suit.
13. Your correspondents’ warning is based on the basic principle that the sheep in the middle of the flock normally get killed last.
14. So if you follow the exact same rules as everyone else follows, how can you be criticized? Or sued?
15. Not to be misleading, of course. You can be sued for getting up in the morning. Also for not getting up in the morning. America is a great country.
16. But if you diverge from the pack, in a well intentioned attempt to protect the little dears and/or make their mothers go nuts trying to remove clay from uniforms, you will be deemed not to have behaved as a reasonable person. Most particularly by mothers.
17. Reasonable people stay in the middle of the flock, hence the appellation “reasonable”.
18. If you unreasonably increase the risk of harm to people, you may be liable.
19. This is no place for rugged individualism.
20. My Weltanschauung requires me to hope that there are no reported cases on this. What would it mean for humanity if there were???
21. Keeping in mind that only some—not all—appellate decisions are reported (not trial court cases). So humanity is likely worse off than we can know.
22. I haven’t researched it, and can’t think of anyone who would have.
23. Or at least no one whose opinion I’d be interested in.
24. Bottom line: life is full of risks.
25. Litigators are one of them.
26. In all things, do what you think best.
27. But since you’re human and might be wrong about that, carry a large insurance policy. My umbrella is $5MM, which would cover most broken legs.
28. If I had the time, inclination, and skill to be involved in things where legs could get broken.
29. Aside from representing lenders.
30. Uhhh, does that answer the question?
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JM