Actually, the employee must be sued in order for the respondeat superior doctrine to apply. Respondeat superior doctrine only imposes liability on the principal for tortuous acts committed by the agent; the agent must therefore be found guilty of having committed the tort before any liability can be assigned to the principal. S.C., Paralegal Sciences Major, Kaplan University.
Direct liability is holding the actor responsible for his or her own actions. Respondeat superior liability is holding an employer responsible for an employee's actions.
To beat the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, you would need to show that the employee was not acting within the scope of their employment when the incident occurred, or that they were acting outside of the course of their job duties. You could also argue that the employee’s actions were intentional and not accidental. Additionally, you may present evidence to demonstrate that the employer had no control or direction over the employee’s actions at the time of the incident.
Vicarious liability or "respondeat superior."
Vicarious liability and respondeat superior are legal concepts that hold employers responsible for the actions of their employees. Vicarious liability means the employer is held responsible for the actions of their employees, even if the employer did not directly cause the harm. Respondeat superior is a specific type of vicarious liability that holds the employer responsible for the actions of an employee if the employee was acting within the scope of their employment when the harm occurred.
Respondeat Superior rule states that Principle (Employer) is liable for all the unauthorized acts of the agent (employee) performed within the course of his employment.
Respondeat superior
pharmacist
res ipsa loquitur - the thing (matter ) explains itself. It is self evident. respondeat [superior]: let [the master] answer - the employer is liable for the actions of an employee
"Let (the) superior respond" is an English equivalent of the Latin phrase Respondeat superior. The phrase most famously references the liability of an employer for wrongful actions within the scope of an employee's job position. The pronunciation will be "res-PON-dey-at SOO-pey-ree-or" in Church and classical Latin.
is a respondeat superior
Respondeat superior - Latin for "let the master speak" does not apply to the acts of an independent contractor. Of course, it all depends on your jurisdiction. Different states have different laws, but normally, you cannot sue an employer for the acts of an independent contractor. Of course, to make things more difficult, each state has its own definitions of what an independent contractor are. Generally, the more control the employer has over a person, the lower the chances are that the person is an independent contractor. Bottom line - contact a lawyer.
It is a Latin term which means "Let the master speak." In legal proceedings it is the idea that employees are simply agents of the employer, and the employer is accountable for the acts of his employees. Therefore, he must explain, justify, or defend the acts, rather than the employee. Unless it is demonstrated that the employee was deliberately disregarding the directions of the employer, the employer, not the employee, will be held to account for any harm that comes as a result of the acts of the employee. In a dental setting, if a dental assistant were to injure a patient during a procedure, and the assistant and dentist were hauled into court in a lawsuit, the assistant's attorney (yes, the employee should always have their own counsel) would claim "respondeat superior". The assistant was only acting on the direction of the dentist, and therefore it is the dentist that is responsible for the injury. While it may sound like the assistant has just thrown her boss under the bus, in legal terms, she is stating that she was not acting in an irresponsible way, and she was not free to ignore the direction of the dentist. The dentist, with his greater training and knowledge, is in a much better position to describe what happened and explain why it was not malpractice.