Summary judgment was properly entered in favor of fitness center in suit by member who slipped on shower room floor and broke his arm. The membership agreement contained a release of claims, protecting the fitness center from claims of ordinary negligence. Plaintiff did not plead or prove gross negligence. A slippery, slightly sloped floor in the shower room was mere failure to correct or warn of a dangerous condition and thus not gross negligence. There was no evidence that any conduct by defendant substantially or unreasonably increased the risk of harm or actively concealed a known risk of harm. Plaintiff’s evidence that he had notified desk attendants twice before about the shower floor’s slipperiness did not show gross negligence since plaintiff had no evidence to show the attendants had not checked out his complaints as per company policy.
California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7 (Garnett, J., sitting by assignation); October 27, 2016; 2016 WL 6302109