Supreme Court Revives Lawsuit Over Oakland County Backyard Zip Line Injury
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A dispute between siblings over a zip line injury returns to court in suburban Detroit.
On Friday, July 30, the Michigan Supreme Court revived a lawsuit by Doreen Rott, who had knee surgery after zip lining in brother Arthur Rott's yard in Oakland County.
The court said zip lines aren't covered by a Michigan recreation law that gives some legal protection to property owners if someone is injured.
A person on a zip line wears a harness and flies through the air on a cable. Doreen Rott touched the ground before the end of her ride, injuring her knee.
She argued that she was at her brother's house for a family gathering and was pressured into riding the zip line.
A state recreation law can limit liability in injuries that occur from fishing, hunting, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, motorcycling, snowmobiling, or "any other outdoor recreational use."
But a zip line, the court said, doesn't fit that broad phrase.
The law "was not intended to shield landowners from all liability from every form of recreation that could conceivably occur outdoors," Justice Elizabeth Welch wrote for the majority.
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