Vicarious Liability and Co-Defendants Flashcards
Can an employer be held viacriously liable for torts committed by its employee?
Yes. The employer is passive party and is held vicariously liable if the employee was acting within the scope of employment. Intentional torts are generally not within the scope of employment, except:
- if force is part of the job and the employee loses his temper and hits someone, e.g. bouncer at a club;
- job generates friction, e.g. repo man;
- the intentional tort was designed to serve the employer’s purposes, e.g. overzealous security guard that holds a customer in a room, employer can be liable for false imprisonment.
Can a hiring party be held liable for the torts of an independent contractor?
Generally no vicarious liability here, but there is an exception for property owners if independent contractors injuries an invitee on your property that is within the scope of the contractor’s work.
Can a parent be held vicariously liable for torts committed by his child?
No vicarious liability.
Can an owner of a car be held vicariously liable for torts committed by a driver of her car?
Generally no vicarious liability, EXCEPT if car was lent so that driver could run an errand for the owner. Driver is now an agent of the owner of the car
If D is vicariously liable, can he recover from the actual tortfeasor?
if D is vicariously liable, can seek indemnification from the actual/active tortfeasor; in strict liability cases for products can shift liability up the chain. In other words, one who is held liable for damages caused by another simply because of his relationship to that person may seek indemnification from the person whose conduct actually caused the damage.
If the injured victim is married, can her uninjured spouse bring a claim against D?
If the victim is married, the uninjured spouse can have a cause of action against all Ds.
Special damages available to spouses:
- loss of services (consortium);
- loss of society (companionship);
- loss of sexual intimacy.
