If an employee driving
a company vehicle or his personal car to fulfill a task for the company gets
involved in an accident, the employer can be held liable for the injuries the
employee sustains. This also pertains to accidents where commercial drivers and
truck drivers are involved and the company employing them gets sued. However,
whether the employer can be held liable for the auto accident or not depend on certain legal issues.
Have you seen the movie
The Lincoln Lawyer? Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) had a driver named Earl (Laurence
Mason) who drove him around. Now if Earl rammed into someone while doing
something official for Haller, Haller would be liable. If Haller was not in the
car and Earl was just going to grab a Whopper from Burger King, for instance,
and this was not official and this food was not for Haller, and Earl gets into
an accident, then this situation is different. Earl would be the guilty party.
Haller may be somewhat tied in since it is his car and so on but Earl would
have to share much of the blame.
When can the employer be held liable?
Employer Negligence
Memphis, TN accident
lawyers know that employer
negligence happens when an employer indulges in negligent hiring or
provides negligent supervision to an employee. When an employer is aware that
he is hiring someone to operate a vehicle he must ensure that the control of
the vehicle is entrusted in safe hands. This can be done through background
checks by delving into driving records, performing drug tests, and whether the
driver has a valid commercial license with an unblemished record.
Certainly Haller did
this with Earl. A speeding ticket here and there is not too big of a deal.
Negligent Supervision
Negligent supervision
happens when the employer has all the required safety policies mandated by
state and federal laws but only on paper. If he does not take steps to
implement those polices by making the driver comply with the safety standards
then responsibility can be pinned on the employer.
According to accident
attorneys in Tennessee, if the company has several truck drivers working for
the organization then the management must make sure that they adhere to logging
rules mandated by state laws or that the cargo is weighted properly and then
loaded. If the employer does not have proper apparatus to supervise whether the
truckers are following the laws or not then they can be held accountable.
Vicarious Liability
Memphis, TN accident
lawyers clarify that Vicarious Liability is a legal term which means that an
agents (employees) action is similar to that of the principal that had provided
directions to the agent which in this case is the employer. So if an employer
has asked an agent to perform a task legally it means that the principal is the
one handling the job.
For instance, if an
employer has asked an employee to get copies of certain documents and the
employee gets injured in an accident while getting the copies then the employer can be held liable in an
accident claim. However, if the
employee on his way back after collecting the copies decides to have a coffee
break and gets hurt in an accident then the employer is free from charges
(Haller would be free, Earl would have to deal with it). Also if the worker
decides that he wants to intentionally run over a person then the company is
not responsible for his actions legally (Earl would be on his own on this one
but Earl was a reliable and honorable person it seemed so this scenario would seem
to be unlikely).
If you are injured while commuting for company work or while driving a
company vehicle to complete a job assignment you must immediately consult an accident lawyer in western Tennessee
who will initially conduct a free assessment to see if your employer is liable
in some way. Legal professionals will also take all the necessary steps to
protect you from retaliation and represent you effectively in court if your
case goes to trial.
If you need a Memphis
accident lawyer you need to go right here: Accident.USAttorneys.com.
Your mind may be racing and focusing on those same impact and accident images
in your head in the hours after the crash and perhaps a few days afterward but
you need to focus and click on that website the first chance you get. When you
get home, either with a friend, in a city bus, the tow truck driver, whatever,
you need to start the journey to obtain a legal representative. If you use that
website, finding that legal help is not a journey it is a short and simple
process.
The other insurance
company will be knocking on your door real soon.
Contact us if you have
to!
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