Employer Liability For Negligent Hiring
In personal injury cases involving an injury caused by a person who is working at the time of the injury, the employer may sometimes be found liable for the employee’s conduct that causes injury to a third party. Employers can be held liable for the actions of their employees based on several different legal theories. In some cases, they can be held liable for not taking appropriate steps when hiring the employee based on actions the employee took in the past.
Hiring in some industries or businesses is looked at more closely than in others. For example, if a business works with children, it may be required to make some more extensive background investigations before hiring an employee. If the employer does not conduct a background check and the employee later abuses a child and it is discovered that the employee had an extensive criminal record involving child abuse, the employer may be held liable for the child’s injuries.
In Florida, an injured person seeking compensation on a negligent hiring theory for injuries caused by an employee has to prove certain things in order to be successful. The injured person has to show that the employer was required to investigate the employee’s background, that a reasonable inquiry into the employee’s background would have revealed information that would have shown the person to be unsuitable for the job and that in light of the background information, it was unreasonable for the employer to hire the employee. If an employer takes some steps to conduct a background check, there is a legal presumption that the hiring was not negligent and therefore the plaintiff has to make his case convincingly.
In Georgia, the injured party has to show that the employer failed to adequately conduct a background check before employing the employee. However, there are laws limiting the employer’s liability in some cases. For example, there is a presumption that the employer exercised due care by hiring a formerly convicted person without doing an extensive background check if the person has a particular certificate from the department of corrections.
Generally, a negligent hiring case also requires that the injuries caused by the employee have been reasonably foreseeable to the employer. If the criminal actions taken by the employee are far removed from his employment or hiring, the injured party is unlikely to succeed in a case for negligent hiring against the employer. Additionally, an injured person can also seek compensation from an employer for negligent retention of an employee when an employer fails to fire an employee after learning that an employee has a propensity to commit the kind the of acts that cause the plaintiff’s injuries.
Contact us for Legal Assistance
If you or your child are injured as a result of negligent or intentional actions of an employee, you may be eligible for compensation from the person’s employer. For more information, contact an experienced Jacksonville, Florida personal injury attorney at Gillette Law, P.A.
