2024 Wilderness Risk Management Conference

Attorneys Leah Corrigan and Kristen Burke will discuss how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to recreation and adventure organizations with respect to program participants and organization employees. After first describing what qualifies as a “Disability” under the ADA, the presenters will discuss how creating Essential Eligibility Criteria (for participants), Essential Functions of a position (for employees), and reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities can mitigate risk and improve an organization’s programs and employment practices. The presentation will conclude with breakout sessions in which attendees will apply the presentation’s concepts to employment and participant scenarios.

How well do you understand the myriad legal issues that outdoor recreation organizations face? This presentation provides an overview of the fundamental legal issues all owners and program managers need to understand: The do's and don't of collecting medical information, how to satisfy your duty to appropriately inform and warn participants, common errors in marketing materials, important considerations with waiver and assumption of risk forms, contract basics (including indemnity), insurance, and critical incident response.

More and more programs are dealing with misconduct in the field including drug use, sexual activity, and inappropriate language. If students are expelled, administrators often have to respond to angry parents. This presentation discusses what you should say in your enrollment materials and how to manage these kinds of incidents in the field. How much proof do you need? Can you search students’ bags? Can you or should you confiscate drugs and other contraband? Are you required to contact the police? Come hear answers to these questions and how to communicate with parents.

This session will cover the basic employment law issues that will help you further refine or strengthen the foundation of your business' employment practices. We will review legal topics such as at-will employment, policies reflecting workplace harassment and discrimination laws, and the essential policies to include in your employee manual. The goal of this session is to give you enough information to guide your questions and review of your employee manual when you get back home.

Annually, your organization enters a wide range of relationships for services and products. You have a contract that reflects accurately what you have to pay (or be paid), a description of the services or products that will be provided, and a time-frame or duration of the services provided. What else is there and what’s the deal with all of those other terms and conditions you never talked or even thought about? In addition to the essential terms, a primary purpose of any contract is to spell-out risk allocation, or put another way: “who is responsible for the ‘what ifs.’” This presentation will review the important risk allocation terms to ensure that the most significant parts of the relationship have been considered and align with what you thought you were agreeing to.

Stop drinking from the fire hose and learn how to develop a workable child safety policy in 4-5 months.