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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    Live Online with Live Q&A

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Personal Injury and Med Mal

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, October 28, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

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MSRP
$197.00
$167.45
Save $29.55

Discount expires 10/8/25

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will discuss recent trends and developments on how an employer can be held civilly liable for wrongful death or personal injury caused by its employees, agents, or even independent contractors. The panel will discuss the trend toward expanded theories of liability, potential defendants, proving breach of applicable duties of care, and common defenses. The presenters will also discuss the American Law Institute's (ALI) controversial approval of the "Special Rule on Vicarious Liability for Sexual Assault" that would impose strict liability against employers for certain sexual assaults committed by employees against third parties.

Faculty

Betsy Brown Burgess
Partner
Tyson & Mendes LLP

Ms. Burgess is a Partner at Tyson & Mendes’ Tallahassee office. Her practice focuses on personal injury defense and employment practices litigation defense. Ms. Burgess has extensive litigation experience, including representing individuals and businesses in state courts throughout Florida and in federal district courts. She works to find winning arguments through vigorous investigation of facts and thorough legal research. Ms. Burgess has published multiple articles sharing successful and novel legal strategies.

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Description

Civil liability for personal injury or wrongful death is generally premised on negligence and vicarious liability and requires proving duty, breach, and damages. Employers cannot assume that liability ends at the business premises, nor are they always absolved if the injury is an intentional or criminal act. Employers have been found vicariously liable for even offsite intentional or criminal acts traced to negligent hiring, including the failure to perform background checks, failure to follow up on prior reports of misconduct, negligent training, and negligent supervision.

Consent and lack of foreseeability are common defenses, but plaintiffs have strategies for piercing them. Counsel for both parties must also be careful not to void insurance coverage. Virginia has recently enacted a statute, based on the ALI Restatement, that allows "vulnerable victims," as defined in the statute, to bring personal injury and wrongful death claims against employers for the acts of their employees that occurred while the employee was reasonably likely to be in contact with the vulnerable victim.

Listen as this esteemed panel of attorneys reviews traditional theories of employer vicarious liability and common defenses, and then explores the trend of expanding employer liability for personal injuries and wrongful death caused by employees. 

Outline

I. Causes of action

II. Common defenses and their continued effectiveness

III. ALI Special Rule on Vicarious Liability for Sexual Assault

IV. Insurance considerations

V. Recent cases

Benefits

The panel will discuss these and other critical issues:

  • Can employers be liable if they did not know of prior bad acts or propensities?
  • When is harm foreseeable?
  • Who are vulnerable victims and how does that affect liability? 
  • What is the expected impact of the ALI Special Rule?