## Facts

- Merav Sharon, a 16-year-old student at Newton North High School, was injured during a cheerleading practice when she fell from a teammate’s shoulders while rehearsing a pyramid formation, suffering a serious arm fracture requiring surgery.
- Sharon had approximately four seasons of high school-level cheerleading experience.
- As a condition of participation, Sharon and her father signed a “Parental Consent, Release from Liability and Indemnity Agreement” releasing the City of Newton from all known and unknown injury claims arising from participation, including claims the minor might later assert after reaching majority.
- After Sharon reached majority, she sued the City for negligence and negligent hiring/retention of the cheerleading coach.
- The City initially answered without pleading the release as an affirmative defense, later discovered the signed release during discovery, moved to amend its answer to add the defense, and sought summary judgment based on the release.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by allowing the City to amend its answer to assert the release as an affirmative defense after it was not pleaded initially.
2. Whether a parent may validly execute a pre-injury exculpatory release on behalf of a minor as a condition of participation in a voluntary, nonessential, public school extracurricular athletic program, thereby barring the child’s later negligence claims.
3. Whether enforcing such a release is inconsistent with public policy, including the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, or fails for lack of consideration.

## Decision

- The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts affirmed.
- The trial judge acted within her discretion in permitting the City to amend its answer to add the release defense because the amendment was not unduly prejudicial and was not futile.
- The parental release was valid and enforceable and barred Sharon’s negligence-based claims.
- Enforcement of the release was consistent with Massachusetts public policy and not contrary to the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act.
- Participation in the extracurricular program constituted adequate consideration for the release.

## Legal Principles

- A trial court may allow amendment of an answer to add an affirmative defense when the amendment does not unduly prejudice the opposing party and is not futile.
- A parent may bind a minor to a pre-injury exculpatory release as a condition of the minor’s participation in voluntary, nonessential public school extracurricular athletics.
- The infancy doctrine does not necessarily permit a later disaffirmance of a parent-executed release in this context, where the parent exercised judgment on the child’s behalf for participation in a voluntary activity.
- The Massachusetts Tort Claims Act does not prohibit a municipality from using releases to limit liability for voluntary extracurricular programs.
- Access to participation in the voluntary program can serve as sufficient consideration to support the release.

## Conclusion

Massachusetts upheld a municipality’s use of a parent-signed pre-injury release to bar a former minor’s negligence claims arising from injuries in voluntary public school athletics and held that the city could add the release as an affirmative defense by amendment and obtain summary judgment.


Sharon v. City of Newton, 769 N.E.2d 738 (Mass. 2002)