Vicarious Liability

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that vicarious liability is a legal concept which refers to one party being held liable for the injury or damage sustained by another party, in spite of the fact that they had no active involvement in the incident. The paper clarifies that the intent behind vicarious liability is to hold the proper party accountable when harm is committed. The paper relates the history behind this concept and looks at a variety of situations in which a party, including contractors, parents and employers, may be charged with vicarious liability .

From the Paper:

"Before there was law enforcement, local communities operated self-help systems to keep the peace and enforce contracts. Before the thirteenth century a common law arose that there existed an involuntary collective responsibility by the whole community for the actions committed by each member of the community. Later this was formalized into law as the Community Responsibility System. It was enforced because community reputation would be lost and retaliation by the injured party would be leveled against the community if compensation was not paid. Costly wars were fought over the acts of one person committing a crime against someone in another community, and this had to be avoided."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Vicarious Liability," (2006) Online Lawyer Source. Retrieved November 25, 2006 from http://www.onlinelawyersource.com/personal_injury/vicarious_liability/index.html
• "Enforcement Guidance: Vicarious Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment." (1999), The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

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• Analytical Essay # 136634 : "Business Law and Vicarious Liability"
• Persuasive Essay # 115016 : "Bartender Liability"
• Analytical Essay # 136577 : "Copyright Infringement and MGM Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd."

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