Understanding Vicarious Liability: How You Can Be Responsible for the Acts of Others

It seems fair in the eyes of the law that you are responsible for your own actions. That is, of course, unless you are mentally incapable of deciding between right and wrong.

However, what you might not realize is that there are times when you are subject to vicarious liability. This is when you are responsible for the actions of others. This can be a difficult concept to grasp as you may feel that you have no control over how another person behaves.

In fact this is an area of law that is often associated with companies. There are even cases where the company has been made the responsible party, not an individual person.

But, it is possible to have vicarious liability just because you are a parent. If you find yourself in this situation then it will be important to get a Jackson criminal attorney immediately. They can help to guide you through the right steps to proving your innocence.

Examples of Vicarious Liability

To help you understand this concept there are two scenarios that could easily occur to anyone:

1. Your Gun Is Used

As a US citizen you’re entitled to own a gun, according to the specific laws of your state. You are also entitled to use this in self defense if your life is threatened.

However, if you’re a parent and your child takes your gun, goes out and shoots someone then you may find yourself guilty through vicarious liability.

The reason is simple; the court will assume that your child does not have the capability to comprehend their own actions. You are responsible for guiding them and looking after them; as such your gun should have been kept safely locked away.

Allowing them access to it makes you responsible for the crime.

The problem is if you fight this vicarious liability you’ll leave your child vulnerable to prosecution and what parent wants to do that? Professional help will be essential to resolve this.

2. Employee Theft

If you are the manager of the store then you are in charge of the staff. It is your job to ensure they are properly trained and supervised.

If one of your staff is deliberately overcharging people and pocketing the extra money then you would assume they are guilty of theft or fraud.

However, if the victim or victims choose to they may pursue a case against you. By not having the appropriate checks in place you have allowed the incident to happen. Worse, you may even be aware of it and chosen to turn a blind eye; making you an accomplice to the act.

Either way, you can end up liable jointly or instead of your employee.

This is why it is so important to have strict training procedures in place and to ensure that you can prove all staff has been trained to your standards.

Being blamed for the actions of someone else is not a nice feeling. By understanding how this can happen you can dramatically reduce the chances of it happening to you.