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Imagine you brought your Hermès bag to a clubhouse and the waiter spilled red wine on it, ruining your $240,000 bag. Can you sue the clubhouse, and on what basis? The basis of this example
is vicarious liability, and it is the real-life subject of an on-going legal battle in the US . The lawyer for the lady with the handbag argued: _“She didn’t wear it apple picking. She wore
it to a very expensive country club where she was a member. If you bring your car to a country club and it gets scratched up, you expect the club to pay for it.”_ While we await the court’s
decision, here’s more about vicarious liability: WHAT IS VICARIOUS LIABILITY? Vicarious liability is the liability of one person for the acts of another. And the most commonly found category
of vicarious liability is within the employer-employee relationship, where the employer is vicariously liable for the employee. The rationale for this is when a claimant has suffered damage
as a result of a tortious act, his concern is to obtain compensation. He will wish to seek relief from a party who has the resources to pay this. Often the individual whose wrongful act has
caused the damage does not have the means to compensate the victim. In these circumstances , the victim, with the aid of his lawyer, looks for someone with deep pockets to sue. In the
Hermes bag situation, the lady is suing the clubhouse, because the clubhouse can afford the compensation, while the waiter cannot. VICARIOUS LIABILITY IS A STRICT LIABILITY. THIS MEANS THE
EMPLOYER IS STILL LIABLE EVEN THOUGH HE OR SHE IS NOT AT FAULT. FOR EXAMPLE * A creditor being vicariously liable for intimidation and assault committed by the debt collectors she employed .
* A hospital being vicariously liable for a nurse’s negligent way in handling a mentally unbalanced patient. There are two main types of vicarious liability. The first is employer-employee,
where the employer is vicariously liable for the employee’s wrongdoing committed “in the course of employment”. The second kind is where the wrongdoing results in the breach of what has
been described as a non-delegable duty owed by the defendant to the claimant , for example licensees owing a non-delegable duty to their clients. A non-delegable duty usually arises out of a
pre-existing relationship between the claimant and the defendant. As a result of that relationship the defendant owes the claimant a duty to take reasonable care to see that he, or his
property, is not harmed. That duty cannot be delegated. The performance of the duty may be delegated to another. But if he is negligent in performing the duty the defendant will remain
personally liable for the negligence. TO ESTABLISH VICARIOUS LIABILITY FOR EMPLOYERS: * An employer-employe e relationship must be established * The employee’s tort must be referable in
particular way to that relationship. Hence, there is a need to distinguish from situations where only the employee is personally liable. _Originally published at __https://zegal.com__ on
November 27, 2019._