Ch5 Legal Responsibilities and Liabilities Flashcards
Rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority
Law
Body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political/judicial authority
Legal System
Branch of gov’t that creates laws
Legislative
Branch of gov’t that implements, administers and enforces laws
Executive
Branch of gov’t that interprets the laws
Judicial
Body of law that is based on tradition, custom, usage, and decisions of the judicial courts within a particular country, society or culture
Common Law (Case Law)
Laws created by government agencies and used to enforce and implement statutory laws
Administrative Law
Deals with actual issues by establishing principles, defining duties and obligations, and creating and defining the limitations of rights within a society
Substantive Law
Defines the judiciary rules or mechanisms used to enforce substantive laws
Procedural Law
Pertains to laws enacted by legislative bodies of government
Statutory Law
Protects society as a whole from wrongful actions
Criminal Law (Penal Law)
Defines relationships between individuals or groups and helps to resolve disputes between parties
Civil Law (Non-criminal Law)
A legal obligation or responsibility
Liability
Party who initiates a lawsuit before a court
Plaintiff
Any person or institution against whom and action is brought in a criminal or civil court of law; person being sued or accused
Defendant
Civil wrong or breach of duty to another person as defined by law
Tort
Effective or primary cause of loss or damage or an unbroken chain of events between the occurrence and the resulting damage
Proximate Cause
Failure to exercise the same care that a reasonable, prudent and careful person would under the same or similar circumstances
Negligence
Commission of an unlawful act; committed by a public official
Malfeasance
Improper performance of a legal or lawful act
Misfeasance
Failure to act when under an obligation to do so; refusal to do that which is a legal duty
Nonfeasance
Level of care a reasonable person would use under similar circumstances; standard of behavior upon which the theory of negligence is based
Standard of Care
Doctrine that the federal, state, or local government is immune to lawsuit unless it gives its consent
Sovereign Immunity
Situation that occurs when one person is held responsible for the actions or inaction of another individual; also applies to the liability incurred by an organization for the actions or inaction of an employee
Vicarious Liability
This doctrine holds that firefighters, rescuers, and other emergency responders know the risks involved and are trained to deal with those risks; therefore they are not entitled to redress from the property owner for injury suffered as a result of performing their duty
Fireman’s Rule
Actions to increase the number of women and minorities hired into jobs that were formerly occupied by white males exclusively
Affirmative Action
A class or group characteristic that may not be used as the sole reason for an employment decision unless it constitutes a bona fide occupational qualification
Protected Class
Protected Classes (11)
- Race
- Color
- Creed
- Religion
- Ancestry
- National Origin
- Sex
- Marital Status
- Age (over 40 and under 70)
- Disability
- Veteran Status
Treating an applicant or employee differently than those of another race, gender, religion, etc.
Disparate Treatment
Occurs when an employer uses a test or other screening device that initially is not intended to discriminate but adversely affects members of one of the protected classes more than other applicants or employees
Adverse Impact
Specifically prohibits gender based discrimination
Civil Rights Act Title VII
This form consists of any overt, unwanted, or unwelcome sexual behavior or advances toward a worker by someone who has the power to reward or punish the worker
Quid pro quo - Sexual Harassment
This form occurs when speech is severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile or abusive work environment
Hostile Work Environment - Sexual Harassment
Under EEOC regulations, employers are required to do what is reasonable to accommodate their employees’ differences
Reasonable Accommodation
Intended to reduce or eliminate discrimination based on physical or mental disabilities
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Employment regulations of ADA only apply to organizations with ___ or more full-time employees
15
Any business, regardless of size, that is considered to be a public accommodation must comply with ADA regulations. Unless…
Unless compliance is too expensive, disruptive, or difficult and reasonable efforts have been made to comply
Private sector employees make time and one half for hours worked over 40hrs per week. Due to atypical work schedules of police and fire, the FLSA work week was set at __ hrs for police and __ hrs for firefighters.
43; 53
Procedures and criteria recognized as acceptable practices by peer professional, credentialing or accrediting organizations
Industry Standard
Develops and publishes the majority of the national consensus standards that fire and emergency services organizations in the U.S. and Canada use
NFPA
National Fire Protection Association
Private, nonprofit organization that administers and coordinates the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system
ANSI
American National Standards Institute
A consensus-based standards writing and testing organization that develops testing processes that are used by other testing organizations in the development of safety products
ASTM International
American Society for Testing and Materials
An independent, not-for-profit product safety testing and certification organization. Products bearing this label have been tested for their intended use and have been certified as safe.
UL
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
Formed in 1994 by the merger of three building and fire code organizations
ICC
International Code Council
