Establishing vicarious liability Flashcards
What is vicarious liability
-Where a third person has a legal responsibility for the unlawful actions of another
(where someone is responsible for the actions of another person, similarly in the workplace employees can be liable for the wrong act of an employee if it carried out in the cause of the work or employment)
Four points on why vicarious liability exist and what is its purpose
- An employer has a degree of control so if employees carried out employers instructions it’s fair the employer should bear the cost of any negligence
- Employers have responsibility for recruiting this stuff to make sure they’re suitable and trained
- Employer should supervise employees effectively
- Concern, will victim get compensation from the tort/negligence
Justification of vicarious liability
The victim of a tort is able to receive compensation for the injury/damage suffered
How do we establish vicarious liability
- X commit a tort and injures Y, Y can sue X
- BUT, X is employed by A, X is acting in the course of employment when they commit tort- so A is vicariously responsible for tort committed by X
Case to use for testing the employment status
Ready Mixed Concrete v MPNI
an employee is where they provide their service for a wage, they subject themselves to control of the employer
Three-part test for vicarious liability
- A person/servant agrees to provide work or skill in performance of a service for a company in exchange for wage
- He agrees, impliedly to subject himself to the control of the company to sufficient agree
- Other provisions of contract are consistent with it being a contract of employment
Other factors that could be considered when deciding if an employee is vicariously liable
- Ownership of any tools, method of payment, national insurance, job description
- so is it obvious they work for the employer?
structure
- prove they are an employee
2. was it committed in the course of their employment
