Opinion ID: 2633615
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Inasmuch As The Presence Or Absence Of An Unfair Or Deceptive Trade Practice Is For The Trier Of Fact To Determine, The Circuit Court Erroneously Granted Summary Judgment In Favor Of The Ranch And Against The Courbats.

Text: The Courbats do not dispute that they both signed the Ranch's waiver form, see supra note 3, prior to their ride. Nor do they dispute that waivers are an accepted method by which businesses may limit their liability. Rather, they assert that the Ranch's practice of booking ride reservations through an activity company, receiving payment prior to the arrival of the guest, and then, upon the guest's arrival at the Ranch, requiring the guest to sign a liability waiver as a precondition to horseback riding is an unfair and deceptive business practice to which the remedies of HRS ch. 480 apply. The Courbats maintain, inter alia, that the practice of withholding the waiver had the capacity or tendency to mislead customers, thereby satisfying this court's test for a deceptive trade practice as articulated in State ex rel. Bronster v. United States Steel Corp., 82 Hawai`i 32, 50, 919 P.2d 294, 312 (1996). The Intermediate Court of Appeals held in Beerman v. Toro, 1 Haw.App. 111, 118, 615 P.2d 749, 754-55 (1980), that the remedies afforded by HRS ch. 480 are not available for personal injury claims. See also Blowers v. Eli Lilly & Co., 100 F.Supp.2d 1265, 1269-70 (D.Haw.2000). The Courbats, however, assert that they are not invoking HRS ch. 480 for the purpose of establishing personal injury damages, but rather because the lack of notice as to the waiver requirement injured them economically, by way of the $116 cost of the tour, giving rise to a valid claim under HRS § 480-13, see supra note 1. As a deceptive trade practice, the Courbats maintain, the waiver is void under HRS § 480-12, see supra note 1.