Dorm resident assistant shall not provide first aid?

On Feb 2, 6:46 am, Ian Michael Gumby <im_gumbyN0S...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> The reason the OP is being told not to provide first aid is one of liability
> which would fall on his employer.

Agreed.

> This is of course a sad state of the world we live in. And people wonder why
> we need to reform our legal system.

I don't think that follows from the above fact.   As I and others have noted, the employer's rule does not bar OP from taking whatever emergency life-saving measures he may in good conscience feel are necessary before help arrives, if that is what it takes to keep someone from dying.   All it means is that, if he does so, he does it on his own and not as an employee of the University.   IOW, it's specifically not part of his job description.

Moreover, the clause keeps both OP _and_ his employer from being held liable if (for whatever reason) he chooses NOT to provide first aid.  Absent such a clause, the victim's advocate could argue that, unlike the bystander stranger who has no liability at law if he fails to provide aid and rescue to someone in need,  both the RA and the U had an implied contractual duty to affirmatively aid the dorm residents under their care and were negligent for failing to provide first aid.

 IMO this is a very elegant, sensible, and well-drafted clause in his contract of employment, in that it _does_ shield both OP and the employer from liability while at the same time placing no actual restriction on the OP's freedom of action in an emergency.

That's what good legal drafting is _supposed_ to do, reconcile apparently conflicting goals like that so it's a win-win for both parties.   I would hold it up as a shining example of good legal work, not a call for reform.

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