Joe Roper, Joe Krispin, and Christine Lesicko obtained a win in the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on a unique case applying the Equine Liability Act. A volunteer at our client’s Equine center sued our client, a horse rescue operation, where volunteers can assist with the daily chores of keeping horses. The volunteer was seriously injured when she was kicked in the head by a horse when she walked to the rear of the horse while volunteering. Joe Roper successfully argued in a summary judgment motion in the Circuit Court of Platte County that the volunteer’s claims were barred by both a non-liability waiver she signed and the Equine Liability Act, which prevents liability related to the inherent dangers of keeping and working with horses. The volunteer appealed, claiming that the waiver was unenforceable and that the Equine Liability Act did not apply because she was a volunteer and the work she was doing at the time of her injury was beyond the scope of what she was told she would be doing as a volunteer. The Western District affirmed the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment in our client’s favor, agreeing with our argument that the Equine Liability Act applied to the activities the volunteer was doing at the time of her injury precluding all liability. Joe Roper, Joe Krispin, and Christine briefed the case, and Christine argued the case at a special docket at the University of Missouri School of Law.
