Two recent Ohio appellate opinions regarding express waivers may create conflict and end up before the Ohio Supreme Court.

There have been two influential cases regarding sporting releases in Ohio in the last several months. In June 2022, the 10th District Court of Appeals decided Al-Jahmi, where a boxer died as a result of blows to the head during a boxing match sanctioned by the defendant. The appellate court analyzed the release which waived any claim against the Ohio Athletic Commission and/or the state of Ohio resulting from injuries sustained during the bout and waived any claim or cause of action the boxer may have had as a result of the bout. The court found that the release waived the negligence claims as to the injury, but not as to the licensing of the referee or the appointment of the ring-side doctor, who were both alleged to have had a duty to stop the match and/or evaluate the boxer. In contrast, the 8th District Court of Appeal’s opinion in Goss found that a general release for a bicycle race that released all claims, including claims regarding the defendants’ own negligence, was sufficiently broad to release all claims held by the plaintiff. The facts of the cases have similarities. In Al-Jahmi, the plaintiff alleged that the match was not safe because the referee and ring-side doctor were not sufficiently knowledgeable about the risks associated with blows to the head to be in charge of the match. In Goss, the plaintiff alleged that the racetrack was improperly designed by the defendant and failed to comply with the defendant’s own standards. Although Al-Jahmi is highly fact specific, it may come to be that these two cases, decided only a month apart, result in a district split that could be brought before the Ohio Supreme Court.

^{Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2022 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2022 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}