Robert David Hiett v. Lake Barcroft Community Association, Inc., et al., 244 Va. 191

Summary

The swimmer's colleague invited him to participate in the swimming portion of the triathlon and gave him the entry form, containing the release from liability for injury, to sign. The court stated that it had long held that a release from liability for personal injury that might be caused by future acts of negligence was void as against public policy, writing that this principle had not been altered by cases upholding the right to contract for the release of liability for property damage. Stating that whether the colleague was acting as an agent of the homeowners' association agent in procuring the swimmer's signature was therefore not at issue, it rejected the swimmer's alternative argument that she was liable because she had a common-law duty to warn the swimmer of the dangerous condition of the uneven lake bottom. It wrote that individual homeowners, such as the colleague, had no ownership interest in or control over the lake. Thus, it held, she had no duty to warn the swimmer of ...