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In Florida, if you’ve suffered an injury due to another’s negligence — and the negligent person has an employer for whom they were performing various job responsibilities at the time of the accident —you may be able to sue the employer and recover damages under a theory of a vicarious liability.  Those unfamiliar with the law of vicarious liability may not realize that they are actually entitled to sue the employer.  One might wrongly assume that the negligent acts of an individual cannot be attributed to some other entity.

Florida plaintiffs benefit a great deal from the ability to bring a claim against a negligent person’s employer.  Vicarious liability opens up opportunities for damage recovery that might not otherwise be available.  For example, an individual defendant may have no liability insurance and few assets, limiting your potential recovery.  Their employer, on the other hand, is much more likely to have liability insurance coverage and more significant assets with which to pay your damages.

Vicarious liability is a fundamentally basic concept, but its application can be complicated by the circumstances of your case.  For now, let’s run through the basics of vicarious liability and how to go about successfully proving it.

The Fundamentals of Vicarious Liability

What is vicarious liability, exactly?

In Florida, the doctrine of vicarious liability (otherwise known as respondeat superior) lets you sue the employer for the negligent acts committed by their employee.  Importantly, a claim brought against the employer under vicarious liability is not separate or independent.  It is simply holding the employer responsible for the negligent acts of their employee.

For example, if a pizza delivery driver is speeding and collides with you as you’re walking through a marked crosswalk, you may be able to bring the pedestrian accident claim against the pizzeria employer under vicarious liability, even if the employer was not directly involved in causing the accident.

To hold the employer responsible under vicarious liability, the plaintiff must show that:

1. The negligent party was an employee and their actions were subject to the employer’s right of control; and
2. The employee was acting within the course and scope of his or her employment.

These legal elements are not as complicated as they initially appear.  Let’s examine them in turn.

Establishing “Course and Scope”

An employer can only be held responsible for the negligence of an employee who is acting within the course and scope of their employment.  The course and scope of employment is a range that depends on a number of factors, such as the industry, the employee’s position at the company, the particular circumstances at the time of the accident, and more.  Florida civil jury instructions deem this element satisfied if the employee was acting in the interests of their employer and was doing something that was reasonably incidental to their employment.

For example, suppose that you are a pedestrian who is injured by a speeding pizza delivery driver.  At the time, the pizza delivery driver wasn’t delivering pizza.  Instead, they were transporting cardboard boxes from their supplier back to the pizzeria, as they’d prematurely run out of their existing box supply.  Normally, one might expect that the course and scope of their employment entails pizza delivery and not much else.  It could be reasonably argued, however, that the delivery driver was doing something that was reasonably incidental to their employment, and that was done in the interest of serving their employer.  In all likelihood, vicarious liability would apply.

Contact Randall Spivey today to speak with an experienced attorney at the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., a Fort Myers injury law firm.  We will provide a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights.