When a claimant suffers personal injury because of someone else’s negligence, they can claim compensation for the injuries and harm suffered as a result of that negligence. But what happens when someone is injured by someone acting in the course of their duty on behalf of a company? i.e. like an employee acting in the course of their employment?
Vicarious liability is a way where an individual’s responsibility and liability can be transferred to their employer if the accident happened during the individual’s course of employment. The defendant’s employer should be insured and have the finances to compensate the claimant, and they can essentially cover the negligence of an employee.
Under various employment and health and safety laws, employers are under a duty to provide a safe work place and a safe place for lawful visitors to their premises. This includes the training and instruction of employees to ensure they behave and work in a safe and responsible way as to not harm the people they work with or the people they interact with.
Vicarious liability can therefore apply when an employee’s negligence can lawfully become the responsibility of their employer.
How does it work?
Under the guise of vicarious liability, an employer can be found liable for the wrongful actions of their employees. However, there is a certain test to see whether the actions of the employee was closely connected to their employment / employer in order for the employer to be vicariously liable.
As one judge put it:
“…the fundamental question is whether the wrongful act is sufficiently related to conduct authorised by the employer to justify the imposition of vicarious”
[The Children’s Foundation v Bazley in 1999]
Many claims have been put forward where one employee who was injured by another employee can lead to the employer being vicariously liable for the negligent employee’s actions. If the employee’s negligent actions were conducted during the course of their employment – such as being in the work place and related to the work that they were doing – vicarious liability could apply.
A lot of the times, claims have been brought due to the wrongdoer being careless. Even though there may be no intention to harm another person at all, the victims of such accidents can still end up injured.
If you have been injured by an individual and you think their employer is responsible for the injuries you have suffered, get in touch with us here at The Injury Lawyers as we can help you figure out if you have a claim to make; who you should claim against; and what compensation you could be eligible for.
We are personal injury experts with a huge history of loads of experience in bringing and winning claims like these.
For help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch… Call now on 0800 634 7575 – its free from a landline or mobile and completely confidential!