Liability on the Court

[Ref Daddy]

Wow. Enjoyed the Tongue Stud (?) thread all the way into federal case law.

Question: If we (officials) carry a liability onto the court and are deemed responsible for injury or harm based on our interpretations .....

... where are WE protected?

- What if we "break an ankle"?
- get threatened by a parent?
- are slandered verbally?
- are injured by a player committing a violation?
- Loose our job rushing out to a 5:30 game?
- Have a wreck leaving the gym?
- fall in the shower?
- have our gym bag pilfered and stolen from lockerroom?
- slip on the ice coming off the court?

Is the law blind to stripped shirts?

[firedoc]

I am not an attorney but my feeling is that anyone can sue anyone else for any reason. Winning, of course, is another matter. The real problem is the expense involved in defending a case, even to the point of it being dismissed down the road if it is frivolous. Perhaps every official should carry some form of insurance which would at least cover legal fees to defend against lawsuits.

As far as preventing lawsuits, the official should always be aware of safety issues both before and during a game. If the problem can't be rectified, the best course of action might just be to postpone any further play making note of score, time left, etc. and allowing the league todetermine if the game will be continued in the future or cancelled.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by Ref Daddy
Is the law blind to stripped shirts?

I'm not sure about "stripped" shirts, but for me that's not an issue. However, my S-T-R-I-P-E-S, which I always wear when I work, are a major concern!!

[RookieDude]

Originally posted by rainmaker

I'm not sure about "stripped" shirts, but for me that's not an issue. However, my S-T-R-I-P-E-S, which I always wear when I work, are a major concern!!

That's good rainmaker....

But ya know...my girlfriend had a "major concern" with the "law"...yeah, she had a "stripped" shirt at our Rodeo's beer garden.

Dude
(I guess it didn't help that she was swinging it above her head)

[Kelvin green]

Ref Daddy asks?
where are WE protected?

Just because we put on the stripes does not mean we forfeit our rights to have laws enforced. We do not sign away our rights not to sue when we step out on the court.

So depending on jurisdiction you could sue for negligence if you broke ankle.. ( of course there are only 10,000 variables here, including possible governmental immunity issues) You could sue parents who threaten for assault ( of course there are tons of variables here as well but it can be a remedy) If you were injured by a player on the floor, My guess that you are out of luck because we assume the risk of being on the floor ( unless of course the player took intentional action against us like taking a swing... or connecting)

The law is blind to the color of shirt we wear... Although a lot of referees are more blind than the law

The above is not intended as legal advice. Seek professional legal help in your jurisdiction...

[hawkk]

I can't give legal advice either -- but be wary of generalized legal advice because laws may vary state to state, sometimes dramatically . . .