Responsibility for employees' acts
A business is generally responsible for the careless acts of employees acting within the scope of their work, even if the business did nothing wrong itself. A delivery driver's crash on a route is the classic example. Conduct far outside the job, such as a personal assault, is often treated differently, but claims can still arise if the employer was careless in hiring, keeping, or supervising someone it had reason to see as a risk. Whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor affects the analysis, and the label in a contract does not settle it. Employers can also be liable for harassment and discrimination by supervisors and, in some situations, by coworkers or customers.
Injuries to your own workers
Workplace injuries to employees usually go through workers compensation, which in most cases replaces a lawsuit against the employer. Employers can still be drawn into litigation when an injured worker sues another party, such as a property owner or a manufacturer, who then seeks contribution from the employer, and New York limits those claims to certain serious injuries or a written agreement. The employer's liability portion of a workers compensation policy often responds to that situation. Employers that fail to carry required coverage lose much of the protection the system usually provides.
Insurance and early steps
Different policies cover different risks: general liability and auto coverage for injuries to the public, and employment practices liability coverage for discrimination and harassment claims. Many policies require prompt notice of a claim or even of circumstances that might lead to one, and late notice can jeopardize coverage. Preserve video, vehicle data, and records of the incident, and gather information from the employees involved with counsel's guidance. We review the incident, the employment relationship, and the policies in place, and coordinate with the carrier where coverage applies. For a business with employees in several states, the rules on vicarious liability and on claims against employers vary, so the location of the incident matters.
