A Cleveland-area lawyer said Monday the new measures could increase OSU’s liability if a student gets injured.
“It sounds like they’re increasing their liability by regulating it,” said the lawyer, who has worked in insurance defense and personal injury plaintiff practice throughout his career and requested anonymity because of the ongoing nature of the university regulations and the short notice on which those regulations were released. “Basically, at the time that they permit something to occur on their property and especially since they’re monitoring the people going in and out, they would have moral responsibility.”
The event has never been sanctioned by the university, something OSU Student Life Vice President Javaune Adams-Gaston said isn’t going to change.
“It’s not a university-sanctioned event,” she told The Lantern Sunday. “We really aren’t focused on the sanctioning versus the not sanctioning, it’s really about how can we help our students be safe as possible.”
The lawyer said, though, the liability issues don’t change even if the event is not officially sanctioned.
“(The event) could conceivably be argued to be sanctioned, and when you sanction something and let people into the area and there’s a potential for injury or danger, you acquire a duty,” he said. “When you sanction something, the expectation is that if you’re going to the trouble to sanction it, you’re going to the trouble to regulate it and if you’re going to the trouble to regulate it, you’re presumably trying to make it safe.”
The attorney also said, however, there are multiple exceptions under the law that could potentially exempt OSU from being found guilty if a lawsuit were to be filed, but he added a case would have to go through the court system for a decision to be made on whether OSU is subject to those exceptions.
A request for comment from OSU’s legal counsel was forwarded to OSU spokesman Gary Lewis, who said liability issues are not at the forefront of OSU officials’ reasoning for the new safety measures.
“The well-being of Ohio State students is our top priority, and for that reason, we will take appropriate efforts to maintain safety and security. Liability concerns, while important, are secondary to our efforts to promote the safety of our students,” Lewis said in a Monday email.
ark Pantoni @markpantoni 
