Under certain circumstances an employer may be held liable for the torts of its employees, including car accidents. In order for an employer to be liable for the acts of an employee, the employee’s act must have been committed within the scope of his or her employment. Employees act within the scope of their employment when the employee is acting at the direction of the employer or while acting in furtherance of the employer. In other words, an employer will be held liable for the acts of its employees if it retains the right to control the employee.
In a recent case, Dykes v Singh, the Michigan Court of Appeals had to determine whether the defendant employer could be held liable for a car accident caused by the negligence of one of its employees. In Dykes, the employee was driving home after completing work for the day. The employee conducted procedures at a medical office. The employee received a weekly salary. The salary was based on 32 hours of work per week at an hourly wage of $25.50. The employee was paid the salary regardless of how many hours the employee actually worked.
On the day of the accident, the employee left early in the day because there were no procedures scheduled. The weather outside was frightful. There was snow and slush on the ground, which caused the roads to be slippery. The employee lost control of his vehicle and it slid into the plaintiff’s car, causing an accident.
Typically, an employer is not liable for the torts of an employee who is traveling to and from work. The plaintiff argued that this rule did not apply because the employer gained a benefit from the employee leaving early. The plaintiff also argued that the employer paid the employee hourly and that the employee was being paid at the time of the accident. Finally, the plaintiff argued that the employee’s early departure benefitted the employee and the employer. The Court of Appeals rejected those arguments because the undisputed evidenced showed that the employee was paid based on a salary, regardless of how many hours he worked. Additionally, his work was completed when he left to go home for the day.
Only under limited and specific circumstances will an employee be liable for the torts of one of its employees. The rules requiring control over the employee and the employee acting within the scope of his or her employment are critical. The rules help protect employers from liability over accidents they could neither foresee nor protect against.
