Q.
What is vicarious liability? What are the concepts of vicarious liability?
A.
Do not confuse with Strict 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.
Ref:
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Vicarious+liability
From Wikipedia, the definition is:
Vicarious liability is a form of strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency – respondeat superior – the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate, or, in a broader sense, the responsibility of any third party that had the "right, ability or duty to control" the activities of a violator. It can be distinguished from contributory liability, another form of secondary liability, which is rooted in the tort theory of enterprise liability.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicarious_liability
Criminal vicarious liability - The legal principle of vicarious liability applies to hold one person liable for the actions of another when engaged in some form of joint or collective activity.
The general rule in the criminal law is that there is no vicarious liability. This reflects the general principle that a crime is composed of both an actus reus (the Latin tag for "guilty act") and a mens rea (the Latin tag for "guilty mind") and that a person should only be convicted if he or she is directly responsible for causing both elements to occur at the same time (see concurrence). Thus, the practice of holding one person liable for the actions of another is the exception and not the rule in criminal law.
Find Law has the explanation with a case below:
A few years after a successful abdominal surgery, you return to the hospital for a broken rib. During the x-rays, the doctors find out that there's still a clamp inside of you! You can't remember who the operating surgeon was, only the hospital where you had the surgery. Now, the doctors are telling you that you have to get the clamp removed. Who is going to pay for this? Will the hospital, or the doctor? In many medical malpractice cases, questions of whether the hospital or treating physician is responsible are very common. This article covers the basics of and employer's liability for harm caused by employees, called "respondeat superior" or "vicarious liability."
Vicarious Liability Basics
A doctor who has been negligent may not be the only defendant in a medical malpractice suit. The hospital that retained the doctor on its staff can be held vicariously liable for the doctor's negligence under a theory of "respondeat superior."
Respondeat Superior
Respondeat superior, which means "let the master answer," is a legal principle that holds an employer liable for the negligence of its employees in certain circumstances. In order for respondeat superior to apply, the negligent act must have occurred within the "scope of employment." But when exactly is an employee acting within the scope of employment?
Generally, an employer may be held vicariously liable for the negligence of an employee if:
- The injury occurred while the employee was on the clock,
- The injury was caused by an activity the employee was hired to perform, and
- The employer benefited in some way from the activity the employee was performing at the time of the injury.
Since treating patients and performing surgeries are activities that usually fall within a doctor's scope of an employment, hospitals may be liable for any injuries negligently caused by their doctors during treatment or surgery. On the other hand, if a doctor caused an injury while practicing outside of business hours and for her own profit, the hospital that employs her may be off the hook.
Other Types of Cases
Hospitals aren't the only ones who can be held vicariously liable in medical malpractice suits. For example, a doctor may be held liable for any negligence on the part of his staff in carrying out his orders or caring for his patients. Likewise, an attending physician may be held liable for any negligence on the part of interns or medical students under the physician's guidance. In addition, private medical practices may also be held liable for the negligence of their partners and associates.
Defenses to Vicarious Liability
Employers facing vicarious liability suits often defend themselves by trying to prove that their employees weren't acting within the scope of employment. Since employers aren't liable for the negligence of independent contractors, an employer may also argue that the employee wasn't really an employee at all. For example, a hospital may emphasize the limited role it plays in supervising its doctors' work and show evidence of the doctor's staff privileges.
See more at:
http://injury.findlaw.com/medical-malpractice/vicarious-liability.html#sthash.tcqtgzxR.dpuf