For most people who come to Las Vegas, seeing a performance or other live show is high on the list of “things to do.” But a night on the town can quickly turn into a night of pain under the wrong circumstances. This has left some people wondering: who’s responsible if audience members get hurt during a show?
The answer is that it depends—mainly on negligence and who was actually at fault for the accident. If you get hurt during a show, up to three parties may be legally responsible: the injured person, the performer, and the venue.
The Injured Person
A person will be responsible for his or her own injuries, at least partially, if he or she in any way contributed to those injuries. For instance, if a person is very drunk and falls down a flight of stairs, he will most likely be held responsible for his injuries. This is especially true if other sober audience members made it down or up that same flight of stairs without incident. In these cases, the drunk individual can even be held liable if he injured anyone else while falling.
The Performer
In other cases, the performer may be held liable for injuries if he or she did not take reasonable care to keep audience members safe. The Blue Man Group, one of the most popular Las Vegas acts, often throws objects out into the crowd; but these objects shouldn’t hurt anyone (marshmallows, for example).
Let’s look at another example: musical artists may choose to give a guitar away, and the nature in which they do this could make them liable. If they were to simply hand it to someone, they probably wouldn’t be responsible for damages. But if they threw it out blindly into the crowd, they could hurt someone and have to compensate for those injuries.
The Venue
However, most of the time, it’s the venue that’s at fault when audience members are injured while watching a show. The venue may have lighting equipment that is not properly secured, or areas of disrepair, such as broken or loose stairs that need fixing. If someone were to trip, the venue could likely be found negligent and be responsible for paying medical expenses, lost wages, and possibly more.
If you have been injured while watching a Las Vegas show, contact the Breyer Law Offices, P.C. today. Most incidents involve premises liability, and we have the experience needed to successfully deal with these kinds of cases.