Jason Deitch, an attorney in Boca Raton, Florida, launched I-Need-a-Personal-Injury-Lawyer.com in September 2009, hoping to make a difference for people injured by the negligence of others by using his experience to direct them to a qualified lawyer. Here, he explains how your employer could be held accountable if you injure somebody.
Most states have so-called vicarious liability laws. This means that your employer could be legally held responsible if you injure another person, even if the incident occurs outside of your place of work. For example: If you are talking on your cell phone while driving (regardless of whether this is legal in your state or municipality) and you cause an accident that injures another person, your employer could be held responsible if the person you are talking to on the phone is from your place of employment.
A vicarious liability law states that if you were in the course and scope of your employment when you injure or kill another person, your employer is responsible, because you are an agent of your employer. And if you are employed by a huge corporation such as IBM, the plaintiff would rather collect an amount in the millions from somebody like that than collect just thousands from an individual’s insurance.
A savvy attorney — and this is why it is important who your lawyer is — will ask for an affidavit from every defendant in cases such as these. We will make sure we know exactly to whom the defendant was talking to on the phone and at what time.
Speaking of driving while talking on a cell phone, several municipalities in south Florida (and many areas across the country) have created ordinances that prohibit talking while driving.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
