Vicarious Liability

Abstract

We now come to one of the most important topics in this book, that of vicarious liability. An employer will be liable for the tortious ( = wrongful at civil law) acts of his employees committed by them in the course of their employment; hence ‘vicarious liability’. Thus, the employer himself need not have been ‘at fault’. The ‘fault’ is that of the employee. The justification for making the employer liable is largely social and economic. An employee who injures me is unlikely to be able to compensate me for any harm I might suffer. He has not got the money but his employer’s insurance company has. All employers are compelled by virtue of the Employer’s Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act, 1969, to insure against this form of liability. The premium is merely one of the costs of the enterprise; it is a reasonable cost for the enterprise to bear because, after all, the injured person is, in reality, complaining that he has been harmed by the activities of that enterprise.