By Jeff D. Gorman
Courthouse News (www.courthousenews.com)
A New Jersey man who became
a quadriplegic while auditioning for an all-terrain vehicle stunt team cannot
collect damages from the ATV company, a Texas
appeals court ruled.
Polaris hired a professional stunt team called the Bomb
Squad in 2007 and gave the men nine vehicles with which to perform tricks and
promote the company through races, videos and live demonstrations.
Robert Nicholas Donahue flew from New
Jersey to Texas
for an audition to join the Bomb Squad. He was experienced at riding an ATV but
not at using them to perform stunts.
Bomb Squad member Caleb Moore told Donahue to perform a
backflip on the ATV. Though Donahue failed, he landed safely in a pit of foam
rubber.
After some instruction from Moore on how to flip the bike, Donahue tried
again. He failed, and the ATV fell onto him, breaking his neck.
Donahue sued Polaris, Moore, Bomb Squad and the group's film
division, H-Bomb Films, for negligence.
A Denton
County judge severed
Polaris from the case at summary judgment, leading Donahue to appeal.
But the Fort Worth-based second district appeals court
rejected Donahue's claim that Polaris was negligent in entrusting its vehicles
to Bomb Squad.
"The negligence that caused the accident was Moore's failure to
ascertain Donahue's skill level before allowing him to perform the dangerous
stunts," Justice Lee Gabriel wrote for a three-judge panel. "There
was no evidence that Polaris could reasonably predict that Bomb Squad members
would allow anyone wanting to audition to get on its ATV and attempt the
dangerous tricks that Bomb Squad performs as a profession."
