How Does Vicarious Liability Work in Cases of Sexual Abuse?

When someone is deemed responsible for a plaintiff’s injuries in a civil lawsuit, they may be held liable for damages. Under certain circumstances, people or parties not directly involved in the incident may be held vicariously liable. A defendant may be held vicariously liable in a civil lawsuit for sexual abuse if they are legally responsible for the person who abused the plaintiff.

Sometimes, employers may be held vicariously liable for sexual abuse perpetrated by employees. Some employers may be held liable simply because they hired the negligent employee. In other cases, employers are not responsible for abusive employees. If an employer is a governmental entity, vicariously liable might be possible, but it tends to be more challenging because the government often enjoys a certain degree of immunity.

Speak to our sexual abuse lawyers at The Law Office of Andrew Shubin by calling (814) 826-3586 and ask for a free initial case review.

Can an Employer Be Held Vicariously Liable for Sexual Abuse?

Employers may be held vicariously liable for sexual abuse under certain circumstances. However, the principles that govern vicarious liability might not apply in every case. Reviewing your case with our sexual abuse lawyers is important to determine if other people, in addition to the person who abused you, can be held vicariously liable.

Vicarious liability should apply if someone is legally responsible for the actions and behavior of the person who caused you harm. This relationship often comes up in cases involving a defendant who is an employee of another.

Under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer may be held vicariously liable for injuries caused by a negligent employee. For this rule to apply, the employee must have acted within the scope of their typical job duties when they caused the injuries in question.

This type of vicarious liability is not necessarily impossible in sexual abuse cases, but it is unusual. The doctrine of respondeat superior usually applies when the defendant employee acted in the course of their normal job functions when they caused injuries. This often does not include sexual abuse, as there are likely very few ways in which sexual abuse might occur in the normal course of someone’s work. Intentional and criminal acts of harm like sexual abuse are usually not covered by this doctrine.

Even so, check with a lawyer about the rules in your state. Some states allow respondeat superior to apply in cases where employees commit intentional torts, like sexual abuse, that are clearly not within their normal duties.

When Vicarious Liability Does Not Work in Sexual Abuse Claims

In some cases, employers cannot be held vicariously liable, but they might be held directly liable instead. You might have the defendant’s employer held directly liable for negligent hiring or entrustment. This legal theory might apply in cases where an employer hired someone they should have known was unfit for the job.

For example, suppose the plaintiff in a sexual abuse case wants to sue a private daycare center for sexual abuse perpetrated by a former employee when the plaintiff was a child at the daycare center. Next, suppose the defendant employee had a criminal record involving sexual crimes against minors, and the daycare employer hired them anyway.

The employer in this scenario might be held liable for negligent hiring because they hired someone who was dangerous around children. A single background check would have turned this information up, and the employer should have known better.

An employer might also be directly liable if they know about sexual abuse but fail to intervene. Suppose the plaintiff is repeatedly sexually abused by a supervisor at work. The plaintiff might file numerous complaints with HR to no avail. The plaintiff might be encouraged to ignore the problem, or HR might cover up evidence to protect the company. If the abuse happens in the workplace, during work hours, or is somehow connected to the abuser’s job, the employer might be obligated to do something or face legal penalties.

If an employer fails to stop or remove a known sexual abuser, not only can current victims sue, but future victims might have legal claims, too. A future victim of the same abuser can argue that if the employer had intervened before, the abuser would not have been able to continue abusing others.

Can Government Entities Be Vicariously Liable for Sexual Abuse?

Governmental entities are sometimes implicated in sexual abuse claims. For example, a student sexually abused by a teacher might sue the public school that employed the abusive teacher. Since public schools are governmental entities, holding them vicariously liable can be tricky.

Generally, governmental entities and agencies enjoy some level of immunity. However, different jurisdictions might have laws that waive this immunity under specific circumstances. Some states waive this immunity in cases specifically involving public schools and sexual abuse. A lawyer can help you check your state’s laws.

Many governmental entities can be held liable under the “state-created danger doctrine.” This theory comes from the U.S. Supreme Court case of Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services in 1989.

This case is interesting because it did not exactly establish a hard rule for holding states and governmental entities vicariously liable for harm. However, it did imply a rule about how governmental entities might be vicariously liable.

The state-created danger doctrine, sometimes known as the snake pit rule, holds that a governmental entity (e.g., a public school) may be liable if they created the environment that fostered the abuse (i.e., the snake pit).

Essentially, if a governmental entity creates an environment that allows abuse, enforces policies that allow abuse, or tacitly permits abuse to continue, it may be held liable.

Why is Vicarious Liability Important in Sexual Abuse Claims?

What if the abuser is no longer around? People often wait years, sometimes decades, before coming forward about the abuse. By the time reports are filed, abusers might be long gone. They might have relocated and cannot be found. They might have passed away. In such cases, the only person or party left might be the abuser’s employer.

Holding employers vicariously liable is sometimes a plaintiff’s only way of achieving justice and closure. Vicarious liability also incentivizes employers to correct their behavior. It may also deter other similarly situated employers from engaging in the same conduct.

Vicarious liability might also be extremely helpful for plaintiffs when it comes to financial compensation. For example, an abusive priest or religious leader might be unable to pay for damages, but the church behind them likely can.

Get in Touch with Our Sexual Abuse Lawyers for Help

Speak to our sexual abuse lawyers at The Law Office of Andrew Shubin by calling (814) 826-3586 and ask for a free initial case review.