...Employer’s Duty of Care Anthony Fowler Norfolk State University Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance-LEG 500 September 11, 2012 Professor Robert Moore, J.D. Employer’s Duty of Care Explain whether Jake’s actions are in or out of “his scope of employment”? Scope of employment are the activities of an employee that are in furtherance of the duties that are owed to an employer, where the employer is or could be, the existence of some control wither directly or indirectly, over the activities of the employee. The scope of employee includes all acts reasonably necessary or incident to the performance of work. This includes matters of personal convenience and comfort that will not conflict with specific instructions. ("Scope of Employment," 2011) In the case of whether Jake’s action are in or out of his scope of employment, it appears while performing the oil changes on customer cars that Jake is indeed within the scope of his employment. However, when it comes to Jake checking the brakes, tires, transmissions and other fluids on each customer’s car Herman may argue that Jake is no longer working within his scope of employment. Herman’s argument may be valid as Jake was not instructed nor obligated to check those items of the car, Jake has violated the limits of his employment. On the other hand as a certified mechanic, Jake states in the video he has certain standards...
Words: 745 - Pages: 3
...1 Assignment #3-Employer’s Duty of Care Andrea Williams-Weston Strayer University LEG500-Business Law, Ethics & Legal Governance Dr. Boneita Campbell, Professor May 15, 2011 2 1. Explain whether Jake’s actions are in or out of “his scope of employment.” “Scope of employment is defined as actions of an employee which further the business of the employer and are not personal business, which becomes the test as to whether an employer is liable for damages due to such actions under the doctrine of respondent superior (make the master answer),” (LAW.COM, 2011). In this video, Jake is the service manager of the Rally Management Team. The company currently is advertising a special for free oil change. Jake is providing his customers with a basic inspection as well as the free oil change. Herman (employer) does not require Jake (employee) to do these inspections; however, Jake is a certified mechanic and must provide a duty of loyalty and care to his customers and to the business. In addition, once Jake has inspected these cars, he may find issues that may bring revenue to the business. 2. Explain whether or not Herman is responsible for Jake’s injury. Yes, Herman is responsible for Jake’s injury. “With the adoption of the Occupational Safety...
Words: 685 - Pages: 3
...ASSIGNMENT #3 – EMPLOYER’S DUTY OF CARE ALICE F. EDDINGTON PROFESSOR RHONDA J. WILLIAMS EVANS LAW, ETHICS, AND GOVERANCE LEG 500 February 11, 2012 Explain whether Jake’s actions are in or out of “his scope of employment.” The relationship between the employer and employees determines the success of a business. The employee should show that he is loyal to his employer. His work ethic should show the integrity and honesty in fulfilling his duties. He should be bound to fulfill the obligations entrusted in him upon being hired. The employee should follow all rules and regulations that have been set forth by the employer. If the employer finds the employee in dereliction of his duties, he may penalize or fire him. On the other hand, the employer is to provide a safe work environment for his employees. He is to inform them of what is expected from them. In doing so, he needs to make sure that his instructions are clearly communicated to the employees. If he fails to communicate effectively, there is a possibility that the employees may make mistakes in their work. During the promotional, Herman has instructed Jake to change the oil. Jake being a certified mechanic, he is not only changing the oil, but he is also checking the brakes, tires, transmission etc. Herman doesn’t seem to thrill about this, he only want him to change the oil. But Jake argues that he is supposed to keep up his standards as a certified mechanic. With the promotion going on, he is...
Words: 854 - Pages: 4
...LEG 500: Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance | Assignment 3-Employers Duty of Care | 8/14/2011 | 1. Explain whether Jake’s actions are “in or out of his scope of employment.” The definition of “Scope of Employment” according to Oklahoma States Risk Management and Environmental Health and Safety is, “Scope of employment: means performance by an employee acting in good faith within the duties of his office of employment or of tasks lawfully assigned by a competent authority including the operation or use of an agency vehicle or equipment with actual or implied consent of the supervisor of the employee, but shall not include corruption or fraud.” Whether Jake is acting in or out of his scope of employment depends on Jakes job description. Jake has recently been promoted to Service Manager and receives salary pay, Jake stated that he still does the same job, even with a new job title and salary pay. The question that one would need to ask is, what is Jake supposed to be doing? Should he be working on cars or supervising his employees? If Jake is not to work on cars he is acting out of the scope of his employment and vice versa. Herman didn’t mind Jake doing the oil changes; Jake was given permission to change oil for the customers, therefore when Jake cut his thumb he was acting in the scope of his employment. Jake was acting in good faith when he decided to go the extra mile to make sure the customer’s cars were thoroughly checked. 2. Explain whether or...
Words: 669 - Pages: 3
... It ranges from unreasonably high productivity standards and hazardous working environment that make worker to become vulnerable to risk to t heir mental and physical health. The ultimate outcome is unhealthy workforce that is relatively less productive than the relaxed and contented workforce. The business entrepreneurs and the workers alike are faced with the problem of continuous work related stress and thus the policies and decisions are hence regulated by the law. To this end, the common law duty of care is a provision that was designed to hold employers liable for psychiatric related illness that employees suffer and more specifically illness arising because employees are made to work under stressful conditions. This paper is aimed to critically evaluate the common law duty of care and its effectiveness with respect to psychiatric related illness as a result of working under stressful condition. The establishment of the common law of duty towards workers has enhanced employers to provide good working conditions to lower psychiatric related illness due to workers stress. The claims in the psychiatric injury bin the work place context have not been restricted to involvement of the plaintiff being injured or witnessed the death injury of another. These claims include to circumstances such as less traumatic but still damaging and stressor that arise in the workplace like bullying and work stress (Butler, 2006). The work place stress is perceived as problematic due to issues...
Words: 1219 - Pages: 5
...This includes acts that were both known and unknown by the employer. Vicarious liability and respondeat superior are two large factors in businesses being liable for their employees, and it is vital to understand what does and doesn’t fall under these doctrines. Businesses have a duty of care to hire, train, supervise, and retain employees that are responsible and ethical members of society; if an employee commits a criminal act while representing the business, then the employer has breached its duty of care. Employees represent the business they work for, and a business reaps benefits of its employees as far as sales and goodwill are considered, therefore the business should be held responsible for its employee’s acts because the employee is acting on behalf of the business (“Defining an employer’s duty of care,” n.d.). There are a few key reasons that a business should have civil liability for the criminal acts of its employees. Imposing liability on a business may give it an incentive to invest in higher standards for hiring, supervision, and retention of its employees to prevent these crimes from occurring. From a firm’s standpoint, it is much more favorable investing in the hiring and training of employees rather than paying for legal fees resulting from a lawsuit. Additionally, liability on a business-level has an added benefit of allowing the government to simply penalize the firm for breach of duty of care instead of investing its resources into monitoring every company’s...
Words: 1308 - Pages: 6
...Employer’s Duty of Care Jamie Martinez Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance Professor Boneita Campbell August 7, 2011 Introduction As employees, we are held to the same standard to act in good faith in whatever position we hold. Employers also have that same duty to take care of the employees that perform the day to day tasks to make the company successful. Whether it is through extra time off, increase in pay, or better benefits employers have an obligation to their employees. Both the employer and employee have a common law duty of care to each other and to other employees. The relationship that employers have with their employee requires that duty of care is displayed by both parties. In addition the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers and employees to take reasonable care for the health and safety of everyone at work, including visitors and other non-employees who use the premises. Explain whether Jake’s actions are in or out of his “scope of employment” Accepting a position in an organization means that you have signed an agreement to form a relationship with your employer. The employee is expected to be loyal, obedient, and carry out the duties that he has agreed to perform as stated a contract that would have been signed at the time of hiring. Employees are required to be honest to their employers and must work to the best of their abilities. The employee is supposed to be following all lawful and clearly given command of his employer...
Words: 1422 - Pages: 6
...Employer's Duty of Care and Issues of Compensation August 9, 2010 Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance LEG-500 Abstract For the purposes of this assignment we independently viewed a video entitled “Employer's Duty of Care and Issues of Compensation.” In the video, the car dealership is running a special promotion offering free oil changes in order to get existing customers back into the showroom. An employee notices a backlog of customers waiting in line for their oil changes and notifies the owner of the dealership, Herman. Herman calls his newly promoted service manage, Jake, to explain the backlog. Jake emerges from the service bay holding his bloody thumb in a rag. He explains as certified auto mechanic, he is doing a thorough job on each car en though he is working overtime without overtime pay. The manager tells him to do a quick, “lousy” job of the oil changes just to get them done. He doesn't care about Jake's mechanics standards. Jake retaliates by complaining he's hurt his thumb due to his long hours and threatens a worker’s compensation claim if he isn't compensated fairly for his work. The video give rise to a number of ethical questions. The purpose of this paper is to address these questions as detailed in the assignment using readings on employee and consumer privacy law, as well as business ethics and corporate policy. Answers to Assignment #3 Questions The questions (in bold type face) follow as detailed in our assignment. 1. Explain...
Words: 3068 - Pages: 13
...responsible for the agent's actions. For example, an employer of an employee who injures someone through negligence while in the scope of employment is vicariously liable for damages to the injured person. In contrast, a defendant who engages an independent contractor is not liable to others for the acts or omissions of the independent contractor. An independent contractor is a person who performs services for another person under an express or implied agreement and who is not subject to the other's control, or right to control, over the manner and means of performing the services. Various Liability Vicarious liability is a legal doctrine that assigns liability for an injury to a person who did not cause the injury but who has a particular legal relationship to the person who did act negligently. It is also referred to as imputed Negligence. Legal relationships that can lead to imputed negligence include the relationship between parent and child, Husband and Wife, owner of a vehicle and driver, and employer and employee. Ordinarily the independent negligence of one person is not imputable to another person. Other theories of liability that are premised on imputed negligence include the Respondeat Superior doctrine and the family car doctrine. The doctrine of respondeat superior (Latin for "let the master answer") is based on the employer-employee relationship. The doctrine makes the employer responsible for a lack of care on the part of an employee in...
Words: 1248 - Pages: 5
...Case 1 Q1 1. Tort indicates the defendant who undertakes the wrong behavior and not fulfill the duty of care which regulated by the legislation. 2 the plaintiff will be suffered from damage to property and even the personal damage if the duty regulated by the law not be performed. 3 the employer has a duty to take responsibility to employee’s duty of care in the security. If the employer provides the unsafe or defective equipment to the employee on purpose, apparently there would be someone suffered from loss. 4 just because employer’s faults which provide the dangerous or defective equipment caused the injury of the staff. 5 the employer must afford the properly, functionally equipment to the employee unconditionally which is the law expect the employer to do so. 6 there is distinctive difference between tort and the duty of contract, in the contract, the parties can enter agreement freely while the law of the tort prescribed that we have the obligation to anybody and we have to abide it whereas we must take the liability to the victim. 7 in this case, Danny should realize his behavior or we should say his failure to act would bring a serious consequence to M. the owner of the car tied his security to Danny, so Danny should pay attention to this. 8 When Danny mends the car, he takes the responsibility on the duty of care and he should make sure Mrs.M can drive her car safely. 9 case: Bourhill v Young (1943) The defender drove a motorcycle negligently past the inside of a parked...
Words: 1544 - Pages: 7
...Professional Responsibility Mulligan versus Friedman perspectives on moral business decisions * Mulligan: Execs have most knowledge and will be better at at analyzing problems and implementing solutions * Friedman: Execs are not competent to solve moral problems – should be left to governemtn Director/Officer “Duty of Due Care Standard” in the Business Judgment Rule Statutory duty to act: 1. “In Good Faith” – NO SELF INTEREST 2. “With Care of an ordinarly prudent person” BE INFORMED 3. “In manner reasonably believed to be in best interest of corporation” Comparison to a Professional’s “Duty of Due Care”: 1. Duty of Care 2. Breach of duty of care by a reasonably prudent professional 3. breach causes damages that were foreseeable. 4. Negligence Theory: , Can negligence be criminal—US v Parks case Yes! If informed of an issue, should follow through and ensure action was taken (supermarket example) States’ Differing Public Policy on role of stakeholders in making a decision that is in the best interests of the company * Half of the states say the officers and directors can take into account stockholders and other stakeholders (employees, customers, supplies, communities). * Pennsylvania and Indiana allow officers to place the interests of stakeholders above stockholders Why most companies choose Delaware to incorporate Management friendly. Example: business judgement rule Drucker’s Aristotelian...
Words: 2010 - Pages: 9
...Employer’s Duty of Care To what extent are employees required to perform their job with a duty of care? We all know that corporate officers have a duty of care to the corporation that they are employed by. They have an obligation to perform their duties with the care that a person in a like position would reasonably exercise under similar circumstances (Halbert & Ingulli, 2010, p 52). As a fellow employee down on the totem pole, we are held to the same standard to act in good faith in whatever position that we hold. Our employers also have that same duty to take care of the employees that perform the day to day tasks to make the company successful. Whether it is through extra time off, increase in pay, or better benefits employers have an obligation to their employees. The relationship that employers have with their employee requires that duty of care is displayed by both parties. 1. Explain whether Jake’s actions are in or out of “his scope of employment.” In the video Jake, the service manager, provided a basic inspection of the cars along with the oil change. While the promotion only required a free oil change the inspection was within his scope of employment. Scope of employment refers to anything a person does in the ordinary course of doing his or her job (“Scope of Employment”). Generally, an act will be considered part of an employee’s employment if it is committed while he or she is performing services for the company or incident to the provision...
Words: 1035 - Pages: 5
...Contents 1 Introduction 2 2 Describe the nature of general tortuous liability comparing and contrasting to contractual liability (3a) 3 3 Explain the liability applicable to an occupier of premise (3b) 5 4 Explain the liability applicable to the staff and discuss the nature of employer liability with reference to vicarious liability and health and safety implications of his employees (3c) 7 5 Distinguish strict liability from general tortuous liability with reference to Prime Computers (3 d) 10 6 Explain and apply the various elements of the tort of negligence and analyse the practical applications of breach of duty and remoteness in the given situation (4 a, b) 11 7 Conclusion 15 8 Reference 16 Introduction As a legal executive in a firm of solicitors, some clients have approached and seeking advice on several claims and legal disputes, which have recently arisen to them. I am required to write a report for the following contents: 1. General tortuous liability in comparison to contractual liability. 2. Vicarious liability and health and safety issues. 3. Strict liability in comparison with general tortuous liability. 4. The various elements of the tort of negligence. Describe the nature of general tortuous liability comparing and contrasting to contractual liability (3a) A tort is a legal wrong, and the principle is the law gives various rights to person, such as right of a person in...
Words: 4214 - Pages: 17
...especially Mr. Manoranjan Bhakta FCA (Managing Director) who gave me all possible important information and helped me with the actual contracts and scenarios of the business. I would also like to thank my respective course teacher Md. Ashiqur Rahman Bhuiyan for his exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the whole semester. Lastly I would like thank my respective parents, siblings, friends and colleagues to support and helped me to successfully complete full assignment . Table of Contents Contents TORT: 3 Intentional Tort: 3 Strict Liability: 3 Negligence: 4 Duty of care: 4 Breach of Duty: 5 Causation: 6 Vicarious Liability: 8 Reference: 12 LO 3 Understanding the principles of liability in negligence in business activities. TORT: The liability of the violation of a fixed law, law arises primarily; this duty is towards persons generally and its breach is capable of redress by action unliquidated damages. This is a civil wrong, in the sense that it is committed against an individual, not the State. The essence of tort law is that a person has certain interests that are protected by law. These interests can be protected by a court granting a sum of money, known as damages. There are increasingly limited circumstances where the victim of a tort may avail himself of self-help. Types of Tort: There are basically three types of tort:...
Words: 2880 - Pages: 12
...Week#7 MSAC 601 Legal and Ethical Duties of Care Due: Monday, April 20th, 2014 CPMR Abstract This paper addresses the duty of care, duty of loyalty, and ethics of care issues that arise in the workplace. It outlines the nature and scope of care that employers are ethically obligated to give their employees. Characteristics of duty, and how it can be implemented are provided, along with how to deal with issues that arise. Duty of care is the principle that directors and officers of a corporation have in making all decisions in their capacities as corporate fiduciaries, who must act in the same manner as a reasonably prudent person in their position would (Cornell, 2015). Duty of care is considered a business judgment rule which is met as long as the fiduciary executed a reasonably informed, rational judgment in good faith, that didn’t occur with a conflict of interest. A court needs to be able to agree with the business judgment or the plaintiff needs to be able to adequately prove that the standard was not met. Even if the plaintiff can show that the standard was not met, as long as the defendant fiduciary can prove that a fair process was used and a fair outcome resulted from the decision then they can still meet their duty of care. Duty of loyalty is the principle that directors and officers of a corporation take in making all decisions in their capacities as corporate fiduciaries and must act without personal economic conflict (Cornell, 2015). This principle...
Words: 1576 - Pages: 7
