Respondeat superior: the legal doctrine that holds the employer liable
for negligent torts committed by the employee within the scope of the
employee's duties or employment. Literal meaning is "let the master answer."
(The employer is not generally liable for the intentional torts of its employees.)
b. Defining the Term "Employer." The superior is not the employer. Since
the supervisor is an employee, respondeat superior does not impose liability on the
superior. Supervisors are liable only for the consequences of their own acts or
omissions. Of course, the employer can also be liable for those acts or omissions under
respondeat superior. The employer is the hospital (the body that hires, trains, and
assigns the employee).
c. Essential Conditions. Can the respondeat superior doctrine be applied to
the situation described on the next page, "The Case of the Incorrectly Labeled X-rays?"
The employer (the hospital) can be held liable if the following conditions are met: there
was employee negligence and the employee was acting within the scope of his or her
employment.
(1) Employee negligence. It must be shown that the employee was
negligent. In this case, the radiographer mislabeled for x-ray film.
(2) The scope of employment. The employee has to have been acting
within the scope of his or her job (to include any actions to further the employer's
business or incidental to performing daily work). This condition states that the
employee has to have been acting within the scope of employment. In this case, it was
a full-time x-ray technologist taking the x-ray. (The employee could also have been a
part-time employee hired to fill in for a full-time employee.)
d. Who Gets Sued and Who Pays Damages? Respondeat superior gives the
injured party the option of suing either the employee or the employer, or both. In the
last example, the hospital, the attending physician, and the radiographer were sued. If
the employee is individually sued and found liable, the employee must pay damages
(i.e., his or her malpractice insurance pays). If, as usually occurs, the employee is not
individually sued, then the employer's insurance must pay. In other fields, however, the
employer may well take damages out of the employee's wages. For example, a
mechanic messes up your car. His boss concedes that you are owed 0 in damages.
The boss may turn around and take money out of the employee's paycheck.
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