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Respondeat
Superior
What is a Respondeat Superior?
The respondeat superior law in California allows employers to be vicariously liable for the actions of their employees. Under California law, Respondeat superior applies when: An employee is acting in the course of his employment, and a person is injured as a result of the employee's actions.
Respondeat Superior Law
In California, the courts have determined that employers are to be held responsible for the acts of their employees for three policy reasons: To prevent the recurrence of the wrongful conduct; To ensure greater compensation for the victim; and To ensure that the victim's losses will be borne by those who benefit from the enterprise causing the injury.
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Therefore, employers are liable not because they have control over the employee or are at fault. It is a risk of doing business for an employer that employees will cause injuries. It is even possible for employers to be liable for the employee's car accident if it occurs while the employee is driving for work purposes.
Ordinary Scope Of Employment
Employees act within the normal scope of their employment if they conduct themselves in a way that would be expected of them in the employer's enterprise. There is no question as to whether an employee's conduct falls under his or her job description, but instead whether the employee's conduct is not so unexpected or startling that it would be unfair to hold the employer liable for any harm the employee causes.
Employee’s Actions
A person who engages in malicious or tortious conduct for a personal purpose or deviates substantially from their duties will not be acting within the scope of their employment.
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An employer can reasonably expect a worker to behave in the workplace based on the circumstances of a case. Waiters who assault customers at restaurants, for example, would normally be acting outside the scope of their jobs. In the same way that a spilled drink isn't an inherent risk of the restaurant business, beating up customers isn't.
The employee beating up the customer would be predictable and expected if he or she was a security guard. As a result, an employer may be held liable if a security guard wrongfully assaults a customer, even in circumstances in which the employer would not be liable if the employee was a waiter.
Ordinary Course Of Employment
Assault, battery, whistleblower retaliation, and other intentional torts unrelated to an employee's job are examples of situations that courts have considered outside the normal course of employment, including sexual misconduct (including sexual assault and sexual harassment).
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However, there are exceptions to these rules, particularly for law enforcement officers and other public employees.
Respondeat Superior Law
Respondeat superior law in California defines the term "employee" fairly broadly. This includes not only payroll employees but also independent contractors, seasonal workers, temporary workers, drivers, agents, representatives, partners, and third parties such as security personnel, maintenance personnel, etc.