ST. LOUIS — Nathan Leming wants the world to know that his client, CrossFit Inc., takes the words and substance of its motto quite seriously.
“CrossFit Inc. literally stresses safety over everything else and has never stood for a one-size fits all approach to anything they do,” Leming, a member attorney with the St. Louis based firm of Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice LLC., told the St. Louis Record after the company was recently cleared of all liability in a suit where a woman alleged she suffered lingering back pain while powerlifting due to her coach’s insufficient training.
“Her argument was that CrossFit failed to develop an adequate regiment for one of its affiliates and thus was negligent in its supervision of the facility and its operations,” Leming added. “Anyone who knows CrossFit knows that’s not who they are and that’s not how they do business.”
Julia Kerr, a personal injury attorney by trade, claimed she suffered a herniated disc during a “deadlift” exercise at a gym where CrossFit regiments were being taught, and sought $3 million in damages.
Attorneys for Kerr contended that the coaches who had worked with encouraged her to move too quickly during the workout, putting her at greater risk for the mishap that occurred in her first time ever attempting such strenuous routines.
The weeklong trial took place before Judge Christopher McGraugh and the full proceedings were webcast gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network (CVN), and are available to subscribers as part of website’s online trial video archive.
“We were able to counter that position with extreme evidence proving that CrossFit’s programs are tailored to each individual after they walk through our doors,” Leming added. “The fact of the matter is that CrossFit is appropriate for all people interested in fitness on all levels, and instructors are capable of scaling down a routine to fit any one individual.”
Leming, who worked alongside Kevin Williams and Anna Indeleich from the firm of Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial LLC, said he hopes the jury’s verdict puts an end to all legal action, adding that Kerr went at least five weeks before seeking any medical attention and when she did, never mentioned her time at the gym to her doctor.
Leming and Co. later told the court Kerr has a history of back issues and if she had made her coaches aware of that they would have never allowed to work on any of the routines.
“Even the friend she went to the gym with sent out emails afterward saying what happened wasn’t the coach’s fault,” he said.
According to CVN, CrossFit’s regimen is employed in over 10,000 “affiliate” gyms across the globe. One of its few legal hiccups took place in Missouri in 2016 when a jury awarded $400,000 at a similar deadlift-related trial.
Over the years, Legal Newsline notes, St. Louis has become a favorite venue of trial lawyers across the country when it comes to filing massive suits against high-profile companies.
Back in July, a jury handed down a $4.69 billion verdict against Johnson & Johnson after the company was found to be liable in a suit filed by 22 women alleging that the company’s baby powder was tainted with asbestos that can cause ovarian cancer and the deadly disease mesothelioma.
Juries there have also handed down recent verdicts against Johnson & Johnson in the amounts of $72 million, $70 million and $55 million, prompting the Supreme Court to recently conclude more out-of-state cases should be shifted to federal court venues.
The $4.69 billion verdict involving Johnson included a payout of at least $4.1 billion in punitive damages.
In the CrossFit case, Kerr was represented by Rob Sullivan of Sullivan Law LLC.