Vicarious Liability Flashcards
1
Q
Vicarious Liability
A
- Definition - Principle under which a person is liable for the torts committed by another
- Most common is employer and employee
- The employer does not commit the tort themselves but is a secondary liability from the tort committed by their employee.
2
Q
Requirements for vicarious liability
A
- Worker must be an employee
- Employee committed a tort
- Tort must have been committed in the course of employment
3
Q
Who is an employee
A
- Employers cannot be liable for acts of an indendet contractor
- Employee performs services for one person only (the employer)
4
Q
Criteria for a relationship of employment
A
- Employer likely to have means to compensate victim and expected to have insurance
- Tort was committed as result of activity of employee on behalf of employer
- Employee activity is part of business of employer
- Employer created risk
- Employee was under control of employer
5
Q
Tort must be committed in the course of employment
A
- Wrongful acts employer authorised
- Wrongful unauthorised modes of carrying out an authorised act in the benefit of the business activity. (Doing your job in a careless way)
6
Q
Intentional torts (Criminal acts e.g. Fraud)
A
- Unlikely an employer is vicariously liable for acts as they would be neither authorised or unauthorised ways of doing authorised acts.
- Exceptions - Lloyd v Grace - Conveyencer transferred property to himself, court found fraud stemmed from an act his employer authorised him to do so was course of employment.
- Lister principle - close connection between job and criminal act.
7
Q
Frolic cases ( on their own)
A
- Employee acting outside there course of employment when they commit a tort they are frolic/on their own.
- E.g. Drivers deviating from their route and then causing an accident are said to be on their own.
8
Q
Employers Indemnity
A
- Employer has the right to claim indemnity (full loss) from the employee who did the tort.
- Usually unlikely as covered by liability insurance.
