Expert Witness: Vicarious liability

How can you be liable when it isn't your fault?

Summary:

Employers can be ‘vicariously liable’ for the acts and omissions of their employees or agents through no fault of their own. Diana Kloss explains why this can be important in occupational health and the significance of recent Supreme Court decisions in clarifying the law.

As a general rule in both the legal and moral sphere we are only responsible for our own acts and omissions and not those of others. This article deals with those areas of the civil law of compensation where exceptionally the law imposes ‘vicarious liability’, or civil liability for the conduct… 

Diana Kloss is a barrister, former part-time employment judge, Acas arbitrator and author

Author: Kloss D

Tags case law discrimination equality act harassment injuries at work law Liability

Occupational Health at Work June/July 2016 (vol. 13/1) pp36-38

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