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But a Google search to any law site regarding this would say, as long as it's drafted properly, it's enforceable.
Hint: anything illegal is not enforceable no matter how it is "drafted." If I didn't own a house and "sold" it to you with a perfectly drafted contract, the judge is still going to award the house to its real owner, and you are out the money. The contract is illegal and null and void.
Hopefully the OP will speak to an attorney and report back on what he finds out. I actually think the OP should think twice about doing any independent contracting if this is the kind of stuff he is being duped into signing. Perhaps the job he was doing doesn't even qualify under IRS rules to be an independent contractor position and he is being ripped all around.
Hint: anything illegal is not enforceable no matter how it is "drafted." If I didn't own a house and "sold" it to you with a perfectly drafted contract, the judge is still going to award the house to its real owner, and you are out the money. The contract is illegal and null and void.
Apples and oranges.
The below link outlines this exact thing playing out in the court case of Vinikoor v. Pedal Pennsylvania Inc...
The following are the general rules on Liability Waivers:
The Waiver must be clearly worded and unambiguous in its intent to relieve any and all legal liability, even liability for negligence.
The Waiver should be prominent and not hidden in the fine print of a long contract.
The Waiver must be signed by the person who it is being used against.
The other exception is if there is gross negligence on behalf of the defending party, as the court case Furlani v. Town of East Lyme outlines in the below link...
The other exception is if there is gross negligence on behalf of the defending party, as the court case Furlani v. Town of East Lyme outlines in the below link...
Very interesting! The cases you are citing are for participants in leisure activities where they can harm themselves and are very common when you go to a place to do such activities, not people who are signing a contract agreeing to work for someone as an independent contractor outlining working conditions, but it still shares general principles of course. The employer in question in this thread is attempting to get around the "exceptions" such as gross negligence by including the wording "irrespective of the cause."
Another crazy thing about this is now that I look at the phrase in the light of you post I also notice the wording "related to my presence at or participation in an activity sponsored by X-Mart Stores, Inc." So perhaps this paragraph was only included in the contract for the purpose of the OP attending a special event, outing or activity with the company and not as a general working condition? We would really need to see the whole contract. Usually this type of thing is not put in an employment or IC contract. What happens is when the worker actually goes on an activity with a company, they sign this kind of waiver at the time of each activity for that particular activity.
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