Employer Vicarious Liability in Personal Injury Cases: Claims, Defenses, ALI Special Rule for Sexual Assault

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.

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.