employers liability - vicarious liability

When an employee of a company causes injury to or death of another person while acting within the scope of his or her employment, the employer can be held “vicariously liable” for the damages. The reason for this is that the average employee does not have sufficient money, insurance, or other financial resources to pay for the damages caused by his or her wrongful conduct, and the employer can pass the cost of insurance, etc. on to its customers as a cost of doing business.

The employer can be held vicariously liable only if the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment at the time of the injury, death, or property damage. It is no longer necessary for the employee to be acting “for the benefit of the employer” at the time of the incident. Rather, the question of vicarious liability turns on whether or not (1) the act was either required or incidental to the employee’s duties, or (2) the employer could have reasonably anticipated (“foreseen”) the employee’s misconduct arising out of the employee’s duties.

Under the “going and coming” rule, an employer generally cannot be held vicariously liable for accidents and injuries caused by its employees while commuting to and from work. The employer generally does not become liable until the employee crosses the “premises line” while coming to work, and its liability ends once the employer crosses the same line on the way home. There are, however, a number of exceptions to this rule. Obviously, if the employee’s job is to drive a truck and make deliveries—such as a UPS van or truck—the employer can be held vicariously liable for accidents the driver causes because of his or her carelessness (“negligence”). If the employee is required to use his or her car to travel between the employer’s stores or to run errands for the employer, then the employer can be held vicariously if the employee gets into an accident during his or her commute.

In some cases, the employer can be held directly responsible for its own negligence, such as negligence in hiring, training, supervising, or retaining an employee who causes an accident. For instance, if UPS did not do a background check on a potential driver to see his driving record, which would have revealed a couple of DUIs, accidents, speeding tickets, or other black marks, and the driver gets into an accident while on his route, it may be possible to hold UPS directly liable for its own negligence in hiring the driver, as well as being vicariously liable for its employee’s negligence.

If you have been injured or a loved one has been killed by another party’s employee’s wrongful conduct, you should promptly consult an experienced personal injury law firm. If the employee was working for the state, county, city, or other governmental entity, a claim must be made with the appropriate government agency within six months of the incident or you will lose your right to sue the government. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you obtain proper medical care for your physical and emotional injuries. The attorney may also want to send his or her investigator to the scene of the injury as soon as possible, and will want to get witnesses’ statements as soon as possible while the events are still fresh in their minds.