Nevada Attorneys Secure Dismissal of Wrongful Death Action for Fitness Club Client

Las Vegas Partner Marisa A. Pocci Carney and Attorney Lilith V. Xara recently secured dismissal on behalf of our fitness club client in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. The federal ruling brought the case to a close after two rounds of pleadings and two successful defense motions.

Plaintiff filed the wrongful death and survival lawsuit following a medical emergency involving a 24-year-old fitness club member who collapsed while playing tennis at the club and later passed away. The estate administrator alleged that conditions inside the facility delayed emergency responders from removing and transporting the club member, and that facility employees did not provide adequate assistance. The amended Complaint pursued six causes of action ranging from premises and operational negligence to alleged failures in emergency care and employee training, together with wrongful death and survival claims.

Our defense attorneys had prevailed previously on behalf of our fitness club client in Nevada’s state court. When the initial case was heard, Marisa and Lilith obtained judgment from the lower courts on the pleadings after presenting that the original Complaint challenging the facility’s fixed design and layout and was barred by Nevada’s 10-year construction defect statute of repose. That ruling dismissed the claims as pleaded but allowed Plaintiff to seek leave to amend.

Plaintiff returned with an amended Complaint that shifted the focus to facility operations, emergency response and employee training. Although the claims for relief changed, Plaintiff’s signed membership agreement with the club did not. After removing the case to federal court, Marisa and Lilith filed a new Motion to Dismiss, arguing that the membership agreement could be considered at the pleading stage because Plaintiff had acknowledged it and placed the scope of its waiver squarely at issue. They then showed, provision by provision, how the agreement addressed every theory pleaded by Plaintiff.

In September 2026, the Court agreed with our attorneys, describing the agreement as “extensive and specific,” and concluded that the estate’s claims mapped directly onto the agreement’s terms. The liability waiver that the deceased facility member signed covered topics such as alleged negligence involving the premises, facility operations, emergency care, and employee hiring, training, supervision and retention. The assumption-of-risk provisions separately reached the wrongful death and survival claims. As Plaintiff offered no alternative factual or legal theory that could avoid the terms of the agreement, the Court found that another amendment to Plaintiff’s pleadings would be futile and dismissed the amended Complaint with prejudice.

Marisa A. Pocci Carney handles insurance defense matters and complex, high-value civil litigation matters in areas of law that include a variety of general liability cases, as well as construction defect and product liability matters.

Lilith V. Xara focuses her practice on civil litigation and insurance defense. Her practice encompasses a wide array of areas, including general liability, product liability and other civil matters.