Court Opinion

ID: 9884052
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:32:47.333914+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:34.679124
License: Public Domain

RANDALL, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. Like the dissent in Schlobohm v. Spa Petite, Inc., 326 N.W.2d 920 at 927 (Minn.1982), I would call this contract between the parties a contract of adhesion and thus unenforceable.
It was a pre-printed contract given to appellant to sign on a “take it or leave it” basis. No evidence in the record indicates that the various clauses, including the exculpatory clause, were offered to appellant on a negotiable basis. He did not have a chance to offer to pay more money for instructions if the exculpatory clause would be removed. It would be foolish to ever expect that to be the case. Common sense and business experience tells us different.
When pre-printed forms such as those used in Schlobohm and this case are offered by companies, they have been drafted and typed up in final form to be used as is, with the only blank spaces being for date and signature. This fact situation does not represent arm’s-length bargaining. It begs the question to state that if appellant did not want to sign away his right to sue for negligence, he need not have purchased the services respondent offered. The issue still remains. If there is no public policy to be served, and the contract has the indicia of a contract of adhesion, why should purveyors of services have the benefit of exculpatory clauses?
The majority opinion discusses the likelihood that there were other skydiving clubs in the general area, and thus appellant had parity of bargaining power because he could take his business elsewhere. Although the record is not clear as to whether there were other businesses and, if so, how close, and whether they offered exactly the same services for the same price, I think the issue is a red herring. Even if there, were one or two businesses in the same area, all each would have to do is use the same type of exculpatory clause and there would be no chance for anyone wishing to negotiate to shop around. If this exculpatory clause is countenanced for one skydiving club, it will be used by all.
Another issue raised by the majority is whether or not skydiving is subject to public regulation or, at least, is of the type of service which is normally subject to public regulation. I do not see that as the controlling issue. There is some public regulation of skydiving to the extent that parachuting, by definition, involves the use of planes, and the federal government has pre-empted the field in certain areas and maintains concurrent jurisdiction in other areas over all light aircraft and airports.
The real issue is, why do courts go out of their way to support exculpatory contracts. It is conceded that they are not favored in the law and must be strictly construed against the party wishing their benefit. See Schlobohm, 326 N.W.2d at 923. Much of the precedent on exculpatory clauses comes from considering construction contract indemnity clauses and those in commercial leases. Indemnity clauses are different. They do not necessarily leave an injured party without recourse. What they generally do is allow two or more entities a legitimate avenue to negotiate to shift the burden if there is a lawsuit. They are not generally used to deny an injured party the right to sue at all. However, pure exculpatory clauses do just that. They leave injured parties without any recourse.
In the few areas of the law where a plaintiffs right to sue has been abrogated, some type of compensation system has been substituted as a matter of public policy. Workers compensation insurance and no-fault benefits (when the plaintiff cannot reach the tort threshold) are clear examples of the carefulness in which an injured par*733ties’ right to recover something is protected when a plaintiff’s common-law right to sue a tortfeasor is limited.
Allowing a trial on the merits in this lawsuit does not prejudice respondent. Respondent would still have available the two standard defenses that are available to all entities when sued. The first of the two is the claim that there is no negligence or causation, and the second is the claim that if there is negligence, the plaintiffs own negligence is greater than the defendant’s.
I see no public policy to be maintained by not labeling the contract in question for what it is, a contract of adhesion. I would have reversed the grant of summary judgment and remanded for trial on the merits.