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Employees Causing Injury

Much like the law that requires that parents supervise and be responsible for minors, employers are also responsible for their employees during the "course and scope" of employment. Accordingly, when someone is at work and injures a third party (who is not a co-employee because that would be worker's compensation), the employer of the person who caused the damages may be liable for the damages as well as the employee who caused the damages.

This theory of the law is called respondeat superior. Under that theory, the law envisions that the employer should be supervising the employee. If the employee is out and about, driving around in a company or personal vehicle on a company mission, the company that the employee works for can be liable for any injuries caused by the employee in an accident.

This is a very important aspect of the law, because oftentimes the employee who caused the accident, as an individual, may not have adequate assets or insurance to pay all of the damages sustained by the victim. But, if the employee was in the course and scope of their employment when the accident happened, oftentimes an employer will have an insurance policy or assets that are adequate enough to fully compensate the injured victim.

In those cases, the injured party can sue the employer as well. A lawyer can help you determine whether or not your injuries were caused by an employee such that you can recover from the employee's employer as well.