Richard Vega

A Texas man who killed himself after participating in an endurance contest extinguished any wrongful-death claim by signing a liability release, the sponsor of the contest argues in a motion for summary judgment.

Patterson Nissan of Longview, Texas, asserted the waiver defense to avoid getting to the merits of whether it caused Richard Vega's suicide by failing to protect him from the “bizarre and dangerous consequences” of its “Hands on a Hardbody” contest. Vega's family sued the auto dealership for wrongful death in January.

“[T]he contract signed by Vega prior to competing in the contest ... acts as an absolute bar to any right of action that plaintiffs may bring against Patterson,” the motion says.

By signing the release, contestants assumed “full and complete responsibility and liability for his or health and safety” and agreed to indemnify Patterson “against any demands, claims or liability.”

But the plaintiffs' attorney contends the release is unenforceable boilerplate.

“The contract ... was not a negotiated contract with parties of equal competence,” Blake Bailey of Tyler, Texas, says in a brief. “In fact the contestants were overwhelmed by advertisement and the chance to win a truck most could never hope to own.”

Vega, 24, competed in September 2005 to win a Nissan pickup, the prize going to the contestant who endured standing beside the truck with a hand on it longer than any other. After standing for 48 hours, he walked away, broke into a Kmart across the street and, with a shotgun taken from the store, shot himself in the head.

In their petition, his family alleged that the stress of the contest caused Vega “to become “temporarily insane and to take his own life” and Patterson was negligent in not providing psychiatric or medical monitoring to contestants.

The case is more of a stretch than that of a California woman who died in January after taking part in a radio show's water-drinking competition. But the plaintiffs should be able to defeat the waiver defense.

Under Texas law, a release from liability for negligence must be freely negotiated and “unambiguously and expressly” state that it applies to negligence claims. Patterson Nissan's waiver appears to fail the express-negligence test by referring generically to “demands, claims or liability.”

As for free negotiation, the plaintiffs dispute that the terms of the contract were explained to Vega. And the Texas Supreme Court found a similar boilerplate contract unenforceable in Exxon Corp. v Brecheen, 526 S.W.2d 519 (1975), saying that “the showing of disparity of bargaining power was such that it would be contrary to public policy to enforce the document.”

A hearing on the summary judgment motion has been set for May 17 in Gregg County District Court.