Ethical and Criminal Responsibility (Week 2)
Corris Macon
LAW 531
October 12, 2015
Tad Davis

Ethical and Criminal Responsibility (Week 2)
Employers have a moral responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees. When it comes to taking corrective or preventative action, and an employee poses a danger to others, any company or organization must do what is necessary in preventing something from happening.
First, as the employer, there is what is called duty of responsible care. Not taking preventative action would be considered negligence, Negligence law rests on the premise that members of society normally should behave in ways that avoid the creation of unreasonable risks of harm to others.
“Negligence law’s focus on reasonableness of behavior leads to a broad range of applications in everyday personal life (e.g., a person’s negligent driving of a car) and in business and professional contexts (e.g., an employer’s negligent hiring of a certain employee, or an accountant’s, attorney’s, or physician’s negligent performance of professional obligations).”(Business Law, ch 7)
It does matter whether an employer has evidence that an employee poses a threat or danger to others. Even if an employee has only a reasonable suspicion, and negligence law does not require that we protect others against all foreseeable risks of harm, some dangers or harm can be avoided when an employer takes the proper steps and screens employees thoroughly before hiring. The screening process can make all the difference in protecting employees from any potential danger.
In an article taken from the website nolo.com Employer Liability-Employees bad acts, hiring someone who poses a threat or danger to other employees falls under the idea of careless hiring and retention. “Under a different legal theory, someone who is injured by your employee can sue you for failing