Gym Injuries and Your Rights

By Hampton & Pigott
Posted on 1-10-2023

With the new year, many people have a renewed motivation to make lifestyle changes. Many people take advantage of this time of year to make fitness goals and hit the gym. If you are one of those people and one of your gym sessions has left you with an injury, what can you do? Is there any legal course you can take?

Getting injured at the gym can at the very least, be a major bummer and at the other end of the spectrum, it can leave you with medical bills and lasting bodily limitations. Many gyms make you sign a waiver to become a member, so it's not surprising that people often think that they have no legal course because of that. But the reality is that many of these waivers do not hold up in court. They are often too broad or do not cover your specific situation.

The first thing you should do if you have sustained an injury at the gym is to seek medical care. Not only is this important for your recovery, medical records are often the most important thing in a personal injury case. So, even if you do not think the injury is bad enough to warrant a trip to the doctor, you should still make sure to be seen by a medical professional.

Faulty gym equipment or unsafe gym conditions are the most common reasons to seek legal action in the event of an injury. If you have the wherewithal, it can be beneficial to take pictures of the equipment or the space that caused your injury.

Depending on the circumstances revolving around your injury, there are several different ways to pursue compensation. Say faulty equipment was the root of the injury, you could potentially sue the manufacturer of said equipment. Or maybe it was the gym’s fault because they failed to maintain safe surroundings or upkeep their equipment, so you could pursue the gym itself for compensation. Another instance could be that a fellow gym goer dropped a weight on you and caused your injury, in that case you could pursue that individual for compensation.

Whatever the case may be, a skilled legal team will help you determine who is at fault for your injury and advise you on what route to take. If you have been injured at the gym through no fault of your own, contact our team at Hampton & Pigott today. We will make sure that you get the care and compensation you deserve.