Wycoff v. Grace Community Church of the Assemblies of God

251 P.3d 1260, 2010 Colo. App. LEXIS 1832, 2010 WL 5054410
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 9, 2010
Docket09CA1151, 09CA1200, 09CA1222
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 251 P.3d 1260 (Wycoff v. Grace Community Church of the Assemblies of God) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wycoff v. Grace Community Church of the Assemblies of God, 251 P.3d 1260, 2010 Colo. App. LEXIS 1832, 2010 WL 5054410 (Colo. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

Opinion by

Judge CONNELLY.

Plaintiff, Taylor Wyeoff, was seriously injured at a winter event held by defendant, Grace Community Church (Grace). Plaintiff and her insurer, intervenor American Medical Security Life Insurance Company (insurer), sued Grace and another defendant. Claims against that other defendant are addressed in Wycoff v. Seventh Day Adventist Ass'n, 251 P.3d 1258 (Colo.App.2010).

The jury returned verdicts against Grace totaling more than $4 million. The court reduced the total to $2 million (the limits of Grace's insurance), awarding some $1.775 million to plaintiff and $225,000 to insurer. After prejudgment interest and costs, the court entered judgment of $2.6 million for plaintiff and $324,000 for insurer. We generally affirm but vacate the judgment, and we order the trial court to enter judgment in the higher amounts unreduced by any insurance limits.

I. Background

Plaintiff was seventeen years old at the time of the accident. Though not a church member, she was one of sixty youths to [1263]*1263attend a three-day, two-night event that Grace called "Winterama 2005."

Grace contracted with Seventh Day Adventist Association of Colorado (SDA) to hold the event at Glacier View Ranch, in Ward, Colorado. Grace paid SDA for rooms, meals, and use of the ranch.

Plaintiff's father paid Grace $40 for plaintiff to attend the event. Grace states that plaintiff did not pay more because it awarded her a "partial scholarship." Plaintiff and her mother signed Grace's one-page "Registration and information" form, which Grace contends released the personal injury claims now at issue.

After arriving and checking in at the ranch, plaintiff participated in church-sponsored activities. One activity was riding an inner tube tied to an all terrain vehicle (ATV) driven around a frozen lake. This activity had been conducted in past years by Grace, and also by SDA, without incident.

A large boulder was embedded in the lake some thirty-five feet from shore. A Grace chaperone, accompanied by another man, drove the ATV towing youth participants around the frozen lake. Plaintiff got on an inner tube, and the chaperone began towing her. On plaintiffs second loop around the lake, the Grace chaperone drove the ATV between the boulder and shoreline. Plaintiff's inner tube, still tied to the ATV, veered off and crashed into the boulder.

The crash broke plaintiff's back. She was rushed to intensive care and was hospitalized for several weeks. She suffered loss of bowel and bladder control, loss of vaginal sensation, and numbness in both legs making it difficult for her to walk and unable to run, bend, or squat.

II. Enforeeability of the Alleged Release

A. Background

The purported release was in a one-page "Registration and information" form. It consisted of the third sentence (emphasis not in the original) in the following paragraph:

I give permission for my child to participate in [Grace's] Winterama 2005 and all activities associated with it. I further give consent for any medical treatment necessary to be given to my child in case of injury or sickness. I will not hold Grace Community Church or it's [sic] participants responsible for any liability which may result from participation. I also agree to come and pick up my child should they not obey camp rules.

The form was the subject of trial testimony after the court denied Grace's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff testified that she knew the activities would include riding on an ATV-towed inner tube but that her mother did not know this. The trial court denied Grace's C.R.C.P. 50 motion for directed verdict at the close of plaintiff's case-in-chief, ruling that the jury could find either that plaintiff's mother had not made an informed release or alternatively that Grace had acted in a reckless manner not covered by any release.

Grace did not call plaintiffs mother to testify in the defense case. At the close of all the evidence, and outside the jury's presence, the parties discussed whether and how the jury should be instructed on the purported release. The trial court, for reasons not reflected in the record, ruled as a matter of law that the permission slip did not release Grace. It instructed the jury that the purported release was out of the case and should no longer be considered.

B. Overview of Exeulpatory Clauses Affecting Minors

The validity of exculpatory clauses purporting to release or waive future negligence claims is governed by four factors set out in Jones v. Dressel, 623 P.2d 370, 376 (Colo.1981). Usually, the issue turns on the final factor: "whether the intention of the parties is expressed in clear and unambiguous language." Id.

In 2002, our supreme court held as a matter of public policy that parents cannot prospectively waive liability on behalf of minor children. Cooper v. Aspen Skiing Co., 48 P.3d 1229 (Colo.2002). The next year, the General Assembly superseded Cooper by enacting a statute allowing parents to "release or waive the child's prospective claim for negligence." § 13-22-107(8), C.R.9.2010.

[1264]*1264The statute superseding Cooper declared that parents have a fundamental right to make decisions on behalf of their children, including deciding whether the children should participate in risky activities. § 13-22-107(1)(a)(I)-(V), C.R.S.2010. It added that "[slo long as the decision is voluntary and informed, the decision should be given the same dignity as decisions regarding schooling, medical treatment, and religious education." § 18-22-107(1)(a)(V). But it further provided that the statute does not permit a parent to waive a child's prospective claim for "willful and wanton, ... reckless, ... [or] grossly negligent" acts or omissions. § 18-22-107(4).

C. Standard of Review

The relevant facts are undisputed, and our review is de novo. See Wolf Ranch, LLC v. City of Colorado Springs, 220 P.3d 559, 563 (Colo.2009) (de novo review of statutory issues); Jones, 623 P.2d at 376 (de novo review of validity of exculpatory clause prospectively releasing liability claims). Thus, while the record does not reflect the trial court's reasoning, we are able independently to review the form to determine whether it was a legally effective release.

D. Analysis

The statute does not elucidate what is necessary to render a parent's decision to release a child's prospective claims "voluntary and informed," § 18-22-107(1)(a)(V). Grace contends this statutory language simply adopts the Jones standards for adults' prospective releases of their own claims. We disagree.

The statute uses language not found in Jones or its progeny. The supreme court in Jones noted that the release there did not "fall within the category of agreements affecting the public interest." 623 P.2d at 377. The inquiry relevant to this case-"whether the intention of the parties is expressed in clear and unambiguous language," id. at 376-does not expressly require that the decision to release one's own prospective claims be an "informed" one.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
251 P.3d 1260, 2010 Colo. App. LEXIS 1832, 2010 WL 5054410, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wycoff-v-grace-community-church-of-the-assemblies-of-god-coloctapp-2010.