INTRODUCTION
Vicarious liability is when one person or entity is held legally responsible for the actions or omissions of another person or entity. It does not indicate a distinct tort, but rather a process by which one person can be held liable for a recognized tort committed by another. It mainly arises in employer/employee and master & servant, relationships.
MEANING OF VICARIOUS LIABILITY
The term Vicarious liability is defined as follows
Liability that is incurred for or instead of another is called Vicarious Liability.
DEFINITION OF VICARIOUS LIABILITY
Vicarious liability is the liability that a supervisory party, such as an employer, bears for the actionable conduct of a subordinate or associate, such as an employee, because of the relationship between the two parties.
BASIS OF VICARIOUS LIABILITY
The principle of vicarious liability is based on the following two Latin Maxims;
Respondeat Superior: It means “Let the superior be responsible.”
Qui Facit Per Alium Facit Per Se: It means “He who does an act through another is deemed to be doing the act himself.”
KINDS OF VICARIOUS LIABILITIES
Liability for another’s wrongful acts or omission arises in the following three ways.
A) LIABILITY BY RATIFICATION
Any person who authorizes a tort to be committed by another is responsible for that tort as if he had committed it himself. The person authorizing such an act is liable not only for the tort actually authorized but also for its direct consequences.
Similarly, if one person commits a tort assuming to act on behalf of another but without his authority, and that other subsequently ratifies and assents to that act, he thereby becomes responsible for it.
Example: An act done for B by A, not for A himself but for B, without the authority of B, becomes the act of the principal B if subsequently ratified by B.
B) LIABILITY BY ABETMENT
In actions of torts, the abettors of the tortuous acts are as much liable as the tort-feasers themselves.
C) LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
Every person is responsible for his own acts, but there are circumstances where liability attaches to him for the wrongs committed by others.
EXAMPLE:
The most common instances are the liability of the master for wrongs committed by his servant. In these cases, the liability is joint as well as several. The wrong-doer himself is liable, be he a servant or an agent, as much as his principal.
MASTER’S LIABILITY
The master is responsible for the acts of the servant and is answered for every such wrong of the servant as is committed in the course of service through no express command or privities of the master be provided, for legal presumption are done by his master’s express or implied authority and are in truth the acts of the master.
MASTER’S LIABILITIES TO SERVANT:
The master’s liability to his servant for injuries caused to the servant during service arises in the following two ways.
Liability at Common Law: At Common Law, a master is not liable to his servant for injuries received from any risk which is an ordinary incident to the service.
Liability under the Workmen’s Compensation Acts: The Workmen’s Compensation Acts provide for compensation to workmen by employers, for accidental death and injuries. Under the Acts, if personal injury is caused to a workman by accident arising out of any work in the course of his employment, his employer is liable to pay compensation.
MASTER’S LIABILITY TO THIRD PERSONS FOR SERVANT’S TORTS:
A master is liable to the third person for every such wrong of his servant as is committed in the course of his employment.
During Employment: It means the circumstances that exist as a part of one’s employment, especially the time during which an employee furthers an employer’s goals through employer-mandated directives. A wrongful act is said to be done in the course of employment if it is either authorized by the master or a wrongful and unauthorized mode of doing some act authorized by the master.
Explanation: The defendant, on alighting from his car, ordered his chauffer defendant was held liable for damages for, at the time of the accident, the chauffer was in the course of his employment.
SIX WAYS OF MASTER’S LIABILITY
A master becomes liable for the wrong done by a servant in the course of employment in the following six ways
(i) The wrong may be the natural consequence of something done by a servant with ordinary care in the execution of the master’s specific order.
(ii) The wrong may be due to the servant’s want of care or negligence in the work or business in which he is employed.
(iii) The servant’s wrong may consist of excess or mistaken execution of lawful authority.
(iv) A master is responsible for the act of servant, even if it be willful reckless, or improper, provided that the act is the act of servant done within the scope of the employment.
(v) A master is liable, not only for the wrongful acts of the servant, whether done carefully, bonafide, negligently, intentionally, willfully, or even contrary to express orders but also fraudulently.
(vi) A master is liable, though not in criminal proceedings, yet in a civil action even in respect of criminal acts of his servant provided they are committed in the course of his employment.
WHEN MASTER IS NOT LIABLE?
In the following cases, a master will not be liable for the torts of his servant.
- When he has temporarily lent his servant to another person.
- Where he has been obliged by law to employ a particular person, eg, a compulsory pilot.
- Where the relationship between the parties is that of a head of a Government department and an employee in the department.
CONCLUSION
Vicarious liability is when one person or entity is held legally responsible for the actions or omissions of another person or entity. We can say that every person is responsible for his own acts, but there are some circumstances where liability attaches to him for the wrongs committed by others. The most common instances are the liability of the master for wrongs committed by his servant.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is vicarious liability? How a master can be a servant’s wrongful act. Illustrate with case law.
(2019-A)
Elaborate on the concept of vicarious liability arising by relation with a particular focus on various tests devised in this area.
(2019-A 5 years)
When and how does the vicarious liability of an employer arise for the acts of his employee? Should one person be responsible for the acts of another?
(2017-S)
When is an employer liable for the torts of his employee? Answer with reference to different tests applied by courts in order to determine liability.
(2016-A)
An employer is only held vicariously liable for torts of his employee.
(2015-A)
