Exercise Leads to Personal Injury Case

A man in Louisiana is suing his fitness center for damages after allegedly suffering an injury while using a piece of gym equipment. According to the Louisiana Record, the man was using a particular piece of exercise equipment when a part of the equipment malfunctioned. This caused part of the machine to fall on the man’s legs and injure his Achilles’ tendon, according to the suit. The suit alleges that the fitness center failed to maintain the exercise equipment in good working order and that, if they had performed routine maintenance on the piece of equipment, they would have either recognized a defect and removed the equipment from service or have been able to repair the equipment.

Where Premises Liability and Product Liability Cases Intersect

What the man is alleging is a type of premises liability claim. Property owners who invite others onto their property for personal or business reasons have an obligation to ensure the premises are in a reasonably safe condition and that any known dangers are communicated to guests. In this case, the gym might be liable if they failed to take reasonable measures to make sure the property and the equipment were safe and in good working order and/or to warn the gym member about the dangerous nature of any broken equipment.

Assuming the allegations of the injured gym member are true, there may be another entity responsible for the accident – the manufacturer of the equipment. When a product manufacturer produces a product in a defective or unreasonably dangerous condition, that manufacturer may be liable for any deaths or injuries that result from the product. For example, the manufacturer of the exercise equipment here may be liable if:

• The product was produced with a design defect. This means that the product was conceived and plans and blueprints produced that resulted in a product that would be unreasonably dangerous to the consumer. For instance, if the engineers and product designers did not plan for a sufficiently-strong cable to support the weights, then the product would be considered to have a design defect.
• The product was designed in a safe manner but a manufacturing defect occurred when the particular piece of equipment was made. For instance, if a pulley is supposed to be of a particular diameter but this piece of equipment has a smaller or larger pulley, and this variation contributed to the machine’s failure, then the manufacturer may be liable.
• The product did not have enough warnings or instructions that would permit a consumer or user to operate the equipment in safe manner, in which case a warning or labeling defect is present.

How Hampton Injury Law Can Help

If you or a loved one is injured by a product and/or while visiting the property of a friend, acquaintance, or business, you may be entitled to a monetary damages award to compensate you for your expenses, losses, and pain. The experienced legal team at Hampton Injury Law can help you. Contact us at (757) 838-1136 or through our firm’s website to learn what compensation you may be entitled to and how we can help you obtain this compensation.