Are Businesses Liable When Employees Cause Injuries?

A grocery store employee mops an aisle without putting out cones or warning signs, and a customer slips and falls. An anesthesiologist's medical malpractice causes a patient serious harm. In these situations (and countless others), even though the worker caused the injury, their employer will almost certainly be on the legal hook.

Let's look at how this fault concept (known as respondeat superior) works, and why it matters in an injury case.

What Does Respondeat Superior Mean?

Respondeat superior is a Latin term meaning "let the master answer." In personal injury cases, it comes into play most often when the actions of an employee cause injury to someone else. The worker's employer can usually be held liable for the injury under the respondeat superior rule if, at a time of the underlying accident or incident, the employee:

• was "on the clock"
• was acting within the scope of their job, and
• didn't act to intentionally cause the injury.

That's all on top of proving that the employee was negligent; learn more about negligence in an injury case.

How Does Respondeat Superior Work in a Personal Injury Case?

Let's start with a hypothetical: You've suffered injuries in a car accident that (according to you and several eyewitnesses) was caused by a driver who was on a delivery for an auto parts store. The delivery driver rear-ended you while you sat at a stop light. The police investigation revealed—and the police report filed over the crash concluded—that the driver was momentarily distracted when his phone slipped out of his hand and fell to the truck's floorboards.

Further investigation discloses that the driver personally carries only the state's minimum required liability car insurance, which won't cover your injuries, lost earnings, and other losses. You've discussed the matter with a car accident lawyer, who has advised you that the best course of action is to sue the delivery driver's employer (the auto parts store) as well as the driver individually. When you bring an action of this type, you are seeking to hold the employer responsible for the employee's conduct under a respondeat superior theory of liability.

(Get the basics on fault for an accident or injury.)

Was the Employee "on the Clock"?

As a general rule, if the employee was not "on the clock" at the time of the accident, or if their conduct was outside the scope of their job duties and responsibilities, the employer won't be found liable for the employee's wrongdoing, at least not under the doctrine of respondeat superior. A few examples will be helpful to get an understanding of the rule.

First, take the case described above, of the company driver whose negligence causes an accident while he is in the middle of a scheduled work shift, and engaged in the duties of his job for the employer's benefit. In these circumstances, the employer is almost certainly liable for the employee's negligence, and a claim based on respondeat superior against the employer will likely succeed.

Next, take the case of a store security guard who, while investigating an alleged shoplifting incident, commits an unprovoked and violent assault on a store patron. Here, it can't be reasonably argued that the assault was within the scope of the security guard's defined job duties and responsibilities, or that it was for his employer's benefit. So an injury claim against the store based on respondeat superior almost certainly won't work.

(Note that negligent hiring or some similar argument might be one avenue for suing the store in this kind of situation, and there might be a civil assault and battery claim against the guard.)

How Can I Tell If the Person Who Caused My Injury Was an Employee or an Independent Contractor?

These days, it's not so easy to know whether a worker is actually employed by a business, or if they're acting as an independent contractor. That's especially true given how commonplace "gig" work has become. The "employee or independent contractor" question can come up most often when an injury might have been caused by a:

• doctor or other health care professionals
• commercial truck driver
• construction worker
• Uber or Lyft driver
• app-based food or grocery delivery driver, or
• Amazon delivery drivers

The distinction matters because, while a business can be held liable for the negligence of an employee, they're typically not responsible for the actions of independent contractors (although the business's insurance might still cover situations where an independent contractor injures someone). Learn more about employees versus independent contractors.

What Are "Deep Pockets" in an Injury Case?

A big reason why respondeat superior matters in a personal injury case is that, in most situations, you'll want to sue a business (whether it's a partnership or a corporate entity) rather than an individual. That's because businesses typically carry much greater amounts of liability insurance coverage. So, it's a common tactic for personal injury lawyers to go after the defendant with the "deepest pockets."

Getting Help With an Injury Case Against a Business

If your injury was caused by an employee who was acting on behalf of an employer—or if there's some other connection between your injury and the potential liability of a business—this isn't the kind of claim you want to try handling on your own.

As we've discussed, suing a business is a better option for injury claimants because of the company's "deep pockets." But those same deep pockets also tend to come with seemingly endless resources, including teams of attorneys and investigators who are ready to fight your injury claim with everything they have. You'll need an experienced attorney on your side when you're going up against that kind of defendant.

Learn more about when you might need a personal injury lawyer and get tips on finding the right injury lawyer for you and your case.