Law Office of
STUART J. OBERMAN
Employer Liability for an Employee's Bad Act
By Stuart J. Oberman
In today’s business world, a business owner is being pulled in all directions: financial, marketing and customer demands. However, what many businesses fail to realize is that a bad employee or in action on the part of a business owner can devastate a business. I have outlined below some information that pertains to an employer’s liability for failing to hire competent employees, or fire problem employees.
Job-Related Accidents or Misconduct
Under the legal doctrine of "respondeat superior," an employer is generally responsible for the actions of its employees. However, this rule only applies if an employee is acting within the course and scope of their employment. In other words, an employer will generally be liable for an employee’s actions if the employee was doing his or her job, carrying out company business or otherwise acting on the employer's behalf.
The purpose of this rule is fairly simple: hold employers responsible for the costs of doing business, including the costs of employee carelessness or misconduct. However, if the employee commits an act outside of the scope of his or her employment, the employer may not be liable. [Example: A restaurant promises delivery in 30 minutes "or your next order is free." If a delivery person hits a pedestrian while driving frantically to beat the deadline, the company will probably be legally responsible for the pedestrian's injuries.]
If an employer is sued for the acts of its employees, an employer will generally be held liable, if the employee caused the injury while acting within the scope of his or her employment.
Careless Hiring and Retention Since an employer can be held liable for negligent hiring and negligent retention, here are a few tips in order to stay out of potential trouble: Perform background checks. Make it your policy to run a routine background check before you hire an applicant. Verify information on resumes, look for criminal convictions and check driving records. Use special care in hiring workers who will have a lot of public contact. You are more likely to be held liable for a worker's actions if the job involves working with the public, workers who go to a customer's home to make deliveries, perform home repairs or manage apartment buildings. Root out problem employees immediately. Under the theory of negligent retention, an employer can be responsible for keeping a worker on the payroll after they learn that the worker poses a potential danger. If an employee has made violent threats against customers, brings unauthorized weapons to work, or has a poor driving history, an employer must take immediate action. Stuart J. Oberman (Law Office of Stuart J. Oberman), an attorney in Loganville, Georgia, works with clients on a wide variety of transactional issues, including commercial, corporate and real estate law. For questions or comments regarding this article please call (770) 554-1400.
An employer can be held liable for failing to take reasonable care in hiring an employee, and for keeping a problem employee employed. This rule may even apply if the workers commit an act outside the scope of his or her employment. In fact, an employer may be held liable for a worker's violent criminal acts while working. In addition, an employer may be held liable if they knew or should have known that an applicant or employee was unfit for the job, and did nothing about it.
