## Facts

- John Cutchin, an experienced recreational scuba diver, traveled to Habitat Curacao, a dive resort in Curaçao.
- Before participating in diving activities, Cutchin signed a written “Liability Release and Express Assumption of the Risk” that stated he waived the right to sue the resort.
- Cutchin was injured during a dive associated with the resort’s operations.
- Cutchin filed a tort action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida seeking damages for his injuries.
- Habitat Curacao moved for summary judgment, asserting the signed release barred Cutchin’s claims.

## Issues

1. Whether a pre-injury “Liability Release and Express Assumption of the Risk” signed for recreational scuba diving is enforceable to bar the participant’s negligence claims.
2. Whether 46 U.S.C. § 183c(a), restricting contractual limits on negligence liability by certain passenger vessel operators, invalidates a stand-alone scuba-diving liability release used by a dive resort.

## Decision

- The court granted Habitat Curacao’s motion for summary judgment.
- The court enforced the liability release and assumption-of-risk agreement as barring Cutchin’s claims for ordinary negligence.
- The court concluded that 46 U.S.C. § 183c(a) did not apply to invalidate the scuba-diving release in these circumstances.

## Legal Principles

- Clear, pre-injury exculpatory agreements for voluntary recreational activities may be enforceable to waive claims for ordinary negligence, absent overriding public-policy concerns.
- Assumption-of-risk language may support enforcement where the agreement unambiguously allocates the risks of an inherently dangerous recreational activity to the participant.
- 46 U.S.C. § 183c(a) is construed narrowly in this context and does not automatically void a separate recreational scuba-diving release merely because the activity is connected to maritime travel or operations.
- Even when enforced, recreational releases generally do not bar claims based on conduct beyond ordinary negligence (such as gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing), though the court treated this case as governed by the ordinary-negligence waiver.

## Conclusion

The court held that Cutchin’s pre-dive liability release and express assumption of risk was enforceable and entitled Habitat Curacao to summary judgment, and it rejected the argument that 46 U.S.C. § 183c(a) rendered the scuba-diving waiver invalid.


Cutchin v. Habitat Curacao, 1999 A.M.C. 1377 (S.D. Fla. 1999)