Legal experts say Texas law prevents parents from waiving their children’s injury claims, so liability waivers at Kerr County camps and businesses likely will not shield them from lawsuits over deaths in the Texas Hill Country flooding.
The legal principle, established in multiple Texas Court of Appeals cases, could leave businesses facing significant liability, even if customers signed standard waivers before participating inactivities or staying at facilities in the flood zone, said Rogge Dunn, a Dallas attorney with Rogge Dunn Group, PC, who specializes in liability waivers.
“Parents cannot release their kids’ claims,” Dunn said. “So in this case, if the children were killed or injured, they can sue, and even if their parents signed a release, it’s no good.” Lawsuits are anticipated as attorneys forecast an increase in litigation targeting businesses located in flood-prone areas along the Guadalupe River. This follows the Fourth of July early morning flash flood, which resulted in more than 100 deaths so far in Kerr County, including 27 at Camp Mystic, a girls’ summer camp.
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