Employer Liability
November 19, 2010 | in Helping You Drive SafelyIf you have drivers that use their personal vehicles and personal insurance to drive for work related purposes, you could be liable for an accidents that occur while your employee is driving for work related purposes.
There is a legal doctrine called Respondeat Superior, which holds that an employer, officer, manager, supervisor, or other individual or group superior to an employee or subordinate may be legally liable for the acts of that employee or subordinate.
Boch v. New York Life Insurance Co., 175 Ohio St. 458, 196 N.E.2d 90 (1964), is a case in which help that an employer is not liable for the negligence of his employee while driving to work at a fixed place of employment, where such driving involves no special benefit to the employer other than the making of the employee’s services available to the employer at the place where they are needed.
In that case the following test for Vicarious Liability was set forth in the syllabus:
1. An employer is liable for the negligence of his employee in operating the employee’s own automobile only where it is established by a preponderance of the evidence
(1) that the employer had expressly or implied authorized the employee to use his own automobile in doing the work he was employed to do,
(2) that the employee was at the time of such negligence doing work that he was employed to do, and
(3) that the employee was subject to the direction and control of the employer in the operation of the employee’s automobile while using it in doing the work he was employed to do.
Offering DefensiveDriving.com as your driver safety training course is the first step to reducing your liability and limiting your risks as an employer. Additionally, you’ll be offering a benefit to your employees because they can receive personal discounts for auto insurance.
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