Whose Fault is it Anyway? If an agent-employee injures a third party during the

Question

Whose Fault is it Anyway?

If an agent-employee injures a third party during the course of employment, under the doctrine of respondeat superior, the employer may be held liable for the employee’s action even though the employer did not authorize the action and was not even aware of it. Is it fair to hold the employer liable in this situation? Would it be more equitable if the employee alone was held liable for his or her tortious (legally wrongful) actions to third parties, even when the actions were committed within the scope of employment?

Explanation / Answer

Agent is a person being employed by a person who gets authorization from the employer to do some tasks and to use some resources of the employer. The employer is known as principal.

If in such case of an agent does any wrongful act during his course of employment to third party that is being comitted under the scope of employment, then the employer(principal) may held responsible for the compensation of the injuries to the third party, according to dictrine of respondeat superior.

Butthe employee should have been acting within the scope of employment and the course of employment may depends from one case to other. A court may consider the employee's job description or assigned duties, thetime, place, and purpose of the employee's act, the extent to which the employee's actions conformed to what she washired to do,and whether such an occurrence could reasonably have been expected. acting within the scope of employment at the time of the eventdepends on the particular facts of the case.

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