Have you been hurt attempting the milk crate challenge? Can you file a claim for damages?

I’m Attorney Marc Lopez, and I’ve been practicing law since 2006. I’ve recovered millions of dollars for injured people, and I’ve never seen anything like the milk crate challenge. It’s taken the internet by storm, and it seems like everyone is in on it—normal people, young people, old people, small people, big people.

You even have a police officer who thought this seemed like a good idea, and he didn’t have the sense to hand his weapon to his partner. He’s lucky the gun didn’t go off when he fell. The milk crate challenge is real and it is wild.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has even gotten involved, issuing a hilarious statement discouraging the challenge. Doctors are being interviewed on the news media, and they’re all saying the same thing: Do not do this.

People are getting seriously hurt—just look at some of these landings. Many of these folks are lucky to walk away from this, and most who do have the unmistakable look of regret on their face.

So back to the original question: Can a person who’s been hurt attempting the milk crate challenge sue the property owner for damages? The answer is no, and here’s why.

Indiana has something called the assumption of risk doctrine, which basically states that a person can’t recover for their injuries when they were aware of the danger involved in an activity and participated in that activity despite the risk. In other words, if you know something is dangerous and you still do it, you can’t sue someone else when you get hurt.

From a practical standpoint, it’s going to be tough for any attorney to convince a jury that their client wasn’t aware of the risk involved in stacking milk crates and climbing them like stairs—especially when videos of spectacular milk crate wipeouts have become a viral phenomenon on TikTok. Logically speaking, it’s hard to participate in a challenge without knowing what that challenge is.

This is not to say there could never be a valid personal injury claim. If, for example, an adult talked a child into climbing milk crates and the child took a tumble, the kid would likely have a case against that adult.

Or how about if someone kicks the crates out from under you? In that case, don’t have a case against the property owner, but might have a claim against the person who interfered. That’s because assumption of risk doesn’t apply when someone else intervenes with reckless or intentionally malicious conduct.

In closing, let me be clear: Unless you’re prepared to get hurt, do not attempt the milk crate challenge. If you’re under 25, this is almost certainly not your path to glory. If you’re over 25, there’s a good chance this will be the end of you. At the very least, you’re going to walk differently for a while.

If you have any questions about risky behavior, give the Marc Lopez Law Firm a call at 317-632-3642, and remember—always plead the 5th!