What Is Vicarious Liability?

It is not always easy to assign liability, or legal responsibility, for an accident. An injured party might assume the person directly involved in the accident could be the only one liable, but a legal doctrine might change things. The doctrine of respondeat superior, or vicarious liability, has the power to hold a third party responsible for the acts of its agents. Respondeat superior is Latin for ‘let the master answer.’ Before an injured person assumes he or she knows the identity of the defendant in a case, the victim should speak to a lawyer about vicarious liability.

Vicarious liability in personal injury law holds that a superior will be responsible for the actions of its agents. The most common situation in which vicarious liability applies is a case involving an employee and employer. If an on-duty employee causes someone’s injuries or damages, the employer will be vicariously liable, meaning the victim could hold the employer accountable instead of the individual employee. Vicarious liability can apply to any party that oversees agents, even if those agents are not employees. If the agents are the superior’s responsibility, the superior can absorb liability.

Vicarious liability is important because in many cases, an individual will not have the income or assets to satisfy a settlement agreement or judgment award. The company the individual worked for, however, will be much more likely to carry adequate insurance to pay out a large sum. Holding the enterprise responsible, therefore, could result in better compensation for the injured victim. It is also important because the superior may have the power to prevent accidents in the future. Holding the company accountable could enact institutional change that may prevent other personal injuries.

The rule of vicarious liability will not apply to every case – not even to every case involving an employee. It will only apply to a personal injury case if the superior has a legal relationship to the party at fault for the damages. The superior must have also had some level of control over the agent’s actions, such as through employee training or workplace protocols. The two most common relationships that enact the doctrine of respondeat superior are employer-employee and parent-child.

The employer-employee relationship will only evoke vicarious liability if the employee was performing job-related duties at the time of the accident. If an employee had clocked out for the night and was on his or her way home when the employee hit a pedestrian, for example, the employer would not be vicariously liable. If the employee was delivering a pizza for work at the time of the crash, however, the employer would be vicariously liable. The employee does not necessarily have to be in the workplace, but he or she must be performing an occupational duty at the time of the incident for the employer to absorb liability.

A parent could be vicariously liable for the actions of his or her minor child if the child caused someone’s injuries through willful misconduct, a motor vehicle accident or a firearm the parent let the child use. If the parent reasonably knew about a child’s dangerous tendencies but negligently failed to prevent an injury, the parent could also be vicariously liable. It may take a review of a case by a law firm to determine a parent’s liability or vicarious liability for a serious accident.

If the courts agree that a party is vicariously liable for the actions of its agent, the party could owe the plaintiff money for his or her damages. A personal injury settlement or judgment award could include compensation for damages such as medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, punitive damages, property damages, legal fees, emotional distress, and more. The doctrine of vicarious liability can make it more likely for a plaintiff to recover the full amount of his or her damages.

The post What Is Vicarious Liability? appeared first on GES Injury Attorneys.