GALLOWAY v. STATE

GALLOWAY v. STATE
TANEIA GALLOWAY, Appellant, v. STATE OF IOWA, Appellee.
No. 08-0776.

Supreme Court of Iowa. Filed November 5, 2010. Ryan T. Beattie of Beattie Law Firm, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Joanne Moeller, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

HECHT, Justice.

A parent signed release forms waiving her minor child’s personal injury claims as a condition of the child’s participation in an educational field trip. This action was filed against the State after the child was injured during the trip. The district court granted the State’s motion for summary judgment, concluding the releases signed by the parent resulted in an enforceable waiver of the child’s personal injury claim. On appeal from the summary judgment ruling, we conclude the releases violate public policy and are therefore unenforceable.

GALLOWAY v. STATE