McCune v. Myrtle Beach Indoor Shooting Range, Inc.
South Carolina Court of Appeals
612 S.E.2d 462 (2005)
Christine McCune (plaintiff) signed a general waiver releasing the Myrtle Beach Indoor Shooting Range (defendant) from liability for all known and unknown dangers, absent gross negligence, before playing paintball there. The range gave her a loose-fitting mask; despite her complaint, an employee's attempt to fix it did not solve the problem. During the match, the mask caught on a tree branch in a blind spot and was knocked off her face, and she was struck in the eye by a paintball, causing legal blindness in that eye. McCune sued for negligence and strict liability; the trial court granted summary judgment for the shooting range based on the waiver, and McCune appealed.
Whether express assumption of the risk bars a plaintiff from recovering when she voluntarily and expressly agreed to relieve the defendant from liability for negligence.