[wlug_org] Individual liability from not being incorporated.

[Chris Hodgetts]

Just on the cycle race incident, it was her as a person that was sued,
not the rest of the race officials...

Someone standing in a White Coat directing spectators didn't get sued...
Ok Unnamed person put extra  plug in , fire ensures -- we find that
person and kick their <censored>........ - 

Similar situation??


On Tue, 2004-08-10 at 08:49, Carl Klitscher wrote:
> I was thinking more along the lines of:
> 
> Wellylug holds an installfest, which everyone in the room agrees is 'A Good
> Thing(tm)', and finds a venue. We plug various bits of equipment into the
> power sockets, perhaps even daisy chaining them. Someone (unidentified)
> puts just one more wafer on the pile and something goes bang causing a
> fire. Building owner claims insurance. Insurance company reviews events and
> determines cause is improper use of electrical system. Looks to recoup loss
> from person or persons concerned. Wellylug (Inc.) limits loss to the Inc.
> Soc. assets ($425 as I recall...). Wellylug as individual members? I'd be
> willing to bet that an Insurance company would be prepared to go after some
> if not all. How successful would they be? Don't know. Would it be an
> unmitigated pain in the butt to defend? You bet. Could I personally do
> without the hassle? Absolutely.
> 
> The green belt argument doesn't stand up because as ratepayers we already
> implicitly belong to an organisation that controls those assets on our
> behalf. We don't need to run out individually and bulldoze it because we
> vote in a City Council (who bulldoze it for us).
> 
> A small group of like minded individuals with a common goal is a different
> proposition. And some very weird things do happen. A few years ago some
> officials of the Motorsport Association were targetted because some
> spectators died after a crash at a race down south. MANZ are very strict
> about their safety policies and insurance coverage etc. and they still had
> to spend a LOT of cash defending themselves (paid in part by their
> affiliated clubs). That, and the actions of the organiser of a bicycle race
> in Christchurch where a cyclist got killed, caused so much trouble in the
> automobile club game that a number of clubs just stopped operating rather
> than run the risk of prosecution. While the club I'm in continues to
> operate and hold events we no longer run timed events of any sort as that
> implies speed... which automatically voids our public liability insurance.
> 
> At the end of the day it comes down to risk analysis. How likely is it that
> a loose organisation of identifiable individuals with a fairly benign goal
> will be targetted by the forces of evil? Not very. Can I see a sitaution
> where we could be? Maybe. Am I worried about it? No.
> 
> Carl
>