Personal Trainer Liability

[carrierdome]

Good morning. Have a question about Liability and thought I may get more answers here than the business forum.

Well, I bought my Mom a group of Personal Training Sessions from a trainer at a Local Franchise Gym. Like 10 sessions for $400. The sessions were at her home and the trainer brought all the gadgets.

My Mom told the trainer she could not do anything high impact as she had her ACL surgery when she was younger. Trainer was like "no pain, no gain" we will just take it easy. Mom said Ok, your the pro.

Trainer had my Mom doing box jumps. 4th session she was in serious pain and could hardly walk on that leg. Went to Dr. and it turned out she tore her minscus (sp). She ended up having surgery and is currently going to Physical Therapy. After insurance deductable and all, my Mom is into this for over $3,000.

Main issue here, the trainer was not a friend but an aquantaince and we always saw her at the gym. She was very friendly. So, no contract was signed and the sessions were paid in cash which she paid for 10 but only got 3. Then we paid her another $500 for a holiday special she had going on for 20 sessions which never happened and never got the money back. She just said she would "apply" it to future sessions. Well, there will be no future sessions, my Mom is a mess, cannot do her low impact aerobic class, scuba dive, dance, etc. She is very active, divorced, and very bummed out.

We have no contract, no receipts for these sessions, basically nothing. Do we have any recourse? This is in New York. I do not want to bash her reputation but I can tend to get very revengeful when people do not to the right thing. Thanks for your help.

 

[Se]

I'm sorry to hear about your mothers misfortune. Hopefully she recovers well. My wife tore her meniscus too while she was doing squats and I know it was a very painful and long recovery process for her. She probably shouldn't have been doing some of the things she was. The trainer may not have not understood fully her concern...or the trainer was totally inept.

I don't feel that the trainer should be held responsible. I feel that your mother needed to take some responsibility of her own to just say no and what she was doing was too high of an impact. Unless a person is working out in a pool, many movements can be constituted as an impact/stress movement.

Granted, box jumps are very high impact which would be ridiculous for a trainer to even suggest for someone with knee/leg issues. On the other hand, anyone with knee/leg issues should also have a basic understanding of what would be a bad movement to consider even if they are not familiar with the exercise. My wife, once she heard the word, jump, would have said no way.

I'm sure there are many ambulance chasers out there that would be happy to take on her case. It's sort of how the world is becoming and one of the reasons why costs are going up for many services.

I do wish her luck. My wife still has not been the same since her surgery.

 

[ALLEX]

Sorry to hear, man...

Personally, I'd talk to the girl first and see what she thinks about the situation. She should promptly reimburse you for the rest of the classes.

See if she wants to have this fixed quietly and ask about her professional liability insurance. If she's a pro trainer, she should have it.

It might be resolvable easier than you thought. If things don't get settled on a personal meeting, consult a lawyer.

 

[bigsexy50]

Most personal trainers carry over $100K in liability insurance.

 

[AshopRep]

Most personal trainers carry over $100K in liability insurance.

Thats usually if they work in a large gym.

 

[AshopRep]

Most personal trainers carry over $100K in liability insurance.

Thats usually if they work in a large gym.

 

[Real Steele]

Good morning. Have a question about Liability and thought I may get more answers here than the business forum.

Well, I bought my Mom a group of Personal Training Sessions from a trainer at a Local Franchise Gym. Like 10 sessions for $400. The sessions were at her home and the trainer brought all the gadgets.

My Mom told the trainer she could not do anything high impact as she had her ACL surgery when she was younger. Trainer was like "no pain, no gain" we will just take it easy. Mom said Ok, your the pro.

Trainer had my Mom doing box jumps. 4th session she was in serious pain and could hardly walk on that leg. Went to Dr. and it turned out she tore her minscus (sp). She ended up having surgery and is currently going to Physical Therapy. After insurance deductable and all, my Mom is into this for over $3,000.

Main issue here, the trainer was not a friend but an aquantaince and we always saw her at the gym. She was very friendly. So, no contract was signed and the sessions were paid in cash which she paid for 10 but only got 3. Then we paid her another $500 for a holiday special she had going on for 20 sessions which never happened and never got the money back. She just said she would "apply" it to future sessions. Well, there will be no future sessions, my Mom is a mess, cannot do her low impact aerobic class, scuba dive, dance, etc. She is very active, divorced, and very bummed out.

We have no contract, no receipts for these sessions, basically nothing. Do we have any recourse? This is in New York. I do not want to bash her reputation but I can tend to get very revengeful when people do not to the right thing. Thanks for your help.

As I trainer I always gave receipts of payment. My contracts specifically said no refunds. But since you have neither, you really have no proof of anything.

I also carried a 3 million dollar liability policy for "just in case" situations. Unfortunately unless you have written docs then its your word versus theirs

 

[chinaboy]

I dont think you have a case because you have no receipt or paper trail. Also there is not way to prove the training session caused the injury.

 

[richiec]

Sorry to hear, man...

Personally, I'd talk to the girl first and see what she thinks about the situation. She should promptly reimburse you for the rest of the classes.

See if she wants to have this fixed quietly and ask about her professional liability insurance. If she's a pro trainer, she should have it.

It might be resolvable easier than you thought. If things don't get settled on a personal meeting, consult a lawyer.

She works for a franchise gym, she would/should fall under their professional liability. However, since this was done at the house, off the books, there probably isn't any

Most personal trainers carry over $100K in liability insurance.

Most personal trainers don't carry any insurance. Most trainers fall under the gyms liability, but training this lady at home would require her own, which most wouldn't purchase

Thats usually if they work in a large gym.

And they're under the gyms liability

As I trainer I always gave receipts of payment. My contracts specifically said no refunds. But since you have neither, you really have no proof of anything.

I also carried a 3 million dollar liability policy for "just in case" situations. Unfortunately unless you have written docs then its your word versus theirs

You sire are what we like to call responsible!!! Most trainers don't carry their own insurance because it cuts into the bottom line

 

[pesty4077]

No offense here, but most of these so called gym trainers are worthless.

Your mistakes:

1. You pay in cash, no proof in court.

2. You didn't do a background check or ask for several references.

3. Always check BBB

4. Big one here: You didn't ask to see a copy of her liability or make a copy for your records.

5. If she doesn't work for a gym, you have no case

6. If she is sued and you win, doesn't mean you will get paid anyways. She doesn't have a regular job for you to get a judgement to garnish wages. If she did, she can just file BK and stiff you anyways.

I been to court many times with my businesses to sue people for money owed. trust me, big waste of time. I learn to think more in the beginning.

After all said and done, chalk it up for experience. I wish your Mom a speedy recovery.

 

[lesserevil665]

if she is a real trainer then she should have insurance. i carried a million dollar policy for around 200 bucks a yr or something...also - trainers CAN and SHOULD be held accountable. What sort of moron tells an older out of shape person"no pain, no gain"!!?? "How about we incorporate some high impact plyometric shit into your fourth workout, should do wonders for that fucked up knee of yours"....GROSSLY irresponsible.

People like that are why trainers arent taken seriously by many people. Too many chicks with nice asses in stretchpants and upperbodybuilder bros paying 100 buck for an internet certification. Then they are happy to work for a big box gym doing nothing for 15 bucks an hour. Hell, better than burgers-

I hold a bachelors in EHS and am a certified oly coach. I make a pretty decent living doing something entirely unrelated. Did private sessions in a private gym and made OK money but honestly wasn't willing to scrape and market and deal with my overprivileged and under motivated clients and dipshit "trainers" willing to work for peanuts made working for golds or something not feasible at all.
/rant/

 

[GymDudeVA]

I'm surprised a trainer would not have a client at least sign a liability waiver. That is totally apart from the financial stuff. When I did at-home training, that is the #1 thing I did, before I even had them stand up LOL.

 

[thebigguy84]

Most personal trainers carry over $100K in liability insurance.

I carry a 1.2 million dollar liability insurance where I work.

 

[readyset]

Work it out with her peacefully. Tell her if she wasn't comfortable, or didn't understand what "no high impact/torn ACL" meant then she shouldn't have taken on the client.

You should have gotten a receipt. She SHOULD have insurance. Any real trainer who does work outside of a gym should have insurance. If she didn't have insurance she's a moron.

That being said, if you can't come to a peaceful resolution, a nice letter from a lawyer can do wonders. For some people the sight of the a lawyers letterhead is enough to make them shit.

I wouldn't try to take it to court to get reimbursed for her medical bills. I just don't see that playing out well with no paper trail, but hopefully you can get the money back from the sessions.

This is just my .02 I like to give people time to come to their senses, but if it was my mother I know I wouldn't be as calm as you seem to be.

I hope all goes well with her recovery. I had meniscus (double tear on one side) surgery about a year ago, still not 100%. She should be able to walk and do low impact exercises soon.

 

[Turkishexpress]

As a fitness professional for a long time specializing in large gym chains and having been exposed to numerous lawsuits of this sort (and many ridiculous ones) I'll put in my 2 cents...

Unless she is personally wealthy, there won't be much you can get out of her if it goes to court. And may just cause for you guys to spend more $$ with an uncertain outcome. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this route (if the last paragraph does not work first) as you can probably get a judgement for her to pay if you can produce emails, text messages etc... showing some kind of regularity of your mother meeting with her. A witness would help as well.

Your other option: If she does work for a large gym chain, you can technically bring up your concerns with them and possibly take them to court. HOWEVER, large gym chains will have you sign a slew of liabilities ranging from their memberships to their PT agreements under a normal situation. Does this absolve them of all responsibility? Absolutely not. I have seen many cases just settled. Now, I know you said she didn't make you sign anything, there are no contracts, no receipts which brings me to the fact that either... a) she is an independent contractor or b) she pocketed the cash and went outside company policy. Either way you're probably out of luck considering this give the gym a good defense in either situation.

I hope this comes to a quick and positive resolution for you. The best course of action is to contact her and get the rest of your money back first. Then contact the gym and see if you can get high enough to get them to pay for the medical bills. You never know.

 

[olazabal]

The trainer is not liable, especially because your mom had a previous injury.

 

[Pressing]

What does a previous ACL problem have to do with a torn meniscus?

I don't see any liability on the trainers part based on a previous ACL problem/surgery.

 

[ThinkTank]

Thats usually if they work in a large gym.

If not, you can go after her personally. Possibly even her home owners insurance.

Your mistakes:

1. You pay in cash, no proof in court.


4. Big one here: You didn't ask to see a copy of her liability or make a copy for your records.

5. If she doesn't work for a gym, you have no case

Disagree completely. Consult a lawyer about your options. You can go after her personally and possibly the gym she is employed at. Especially if the deal for training was made inside the gym.

The trainers actions are most certainly liable in this case. I would get a lawyer involved immediately and then 'work it out peacefully'.