When you enter a place of business, whether it be a restaurant, store, or even a hospital, the last thing on your mind should be getting attacked by an employee or getting injured as a result of an employee’s negligence. When these instances arise, it can be difficult to know who should be held responsible for the employee’s actions. It may be obvious to sue the employee directly for causing your injuries, but what about their employer?
Determining whether the employer is liable for injuries caused by their employee can be incredibly difficult. With the help of an experienced Toledo negligent hiring/retention/supervision attorney, you can ensure that you are putting your best foot forward against the employer whose negligence has led to your injuries. If you or a loved one were injured by an employee, having an experienced premises liability attorney by your side can make the difference in ensuring that you receive the compensation you deserve. Here at Charles Boyk Law Offices, our team of experienced attorneys has a proven track record of helping those injured by the employees of a business. We offer compassionate support to families dealing with the loss of loved ones in these often difficult and traumatic situations.
With over 100 years of combined legal experience, our team is incredibly skilled in handling these types of cases. Liability surrounding business employee negligence can be incredibly complicated, and our team has a proven track record of holding employers accountable when their employees cause harm to others. Let us put our experience to work on your behalf!
When is an Employer Liable for the Actions of Their Employees?
Under Ohio law, an employer can be held liable for the actions of their employees under the doctrine of respondeat superior. This principle is based on the idea that employers benefit from the work performed by their employees and, if the employees’ actions were committed within the course and scope of their employment, should be held responsible.
Conduct is considered in the scope of an employee’s employment if it is the type of action that the employee was hired to perform, occurs while the employee is clocked in on the jobsite, and whose actions are at least partially motivated by doing what their employer wants. Whenever an employee is performing the job for which they were hired, their employer may be liable for any injuries they may cause.
This doctrine makes it more difficult to hold employers accountable when an employee acts outside the scope of their employment. For example, if a grocery store hired someone to bring in carts from the parking lot, and that employee goes on to assault a customer on the job, it would be difficult to hold the grocery store accountable for the assault because interacting with customers is not within the course and scope of the job of being a cart manager.
This does not mean that an employer is never liable when an employee assaults someone. If a bar were to hire someone to be a bouncer, and the bouncer causes serious physical harm to a patron, that bar may be held liable because the job of bouncer involves using physical force. Highlighting this distinction shows that these types of cases can be very fact-specific.
A Toledo attorney with experience handling negligent hiring, retention, and supervision cases will be able to investigate the facts of the case and figure out the best strategy to ensure you are properly compensated for the injuries caused by an employee of a company.
What Does Negligent Hiring and Retention Look Like in Toledo?
An Employer negligently hires someone when they hire someone unfit for the position and therefore places other people at risk of harm. Ohio Law requires employers to make reasonable efforts to investigate all potential hires. This includes completing a background check and verifying the experience and competence of all potential hires.
A skilled and experienced Toledo negligent hiring attorney would conduct a thorough investigation of the employee to see what an employer should have known had they done a proper investigation into the employee prior. This could include finding prior driving accidents, criminal records and history, and other documentation that would have shown the employee was unqualified for the position they were in.
Negligent retention occurs when an employer does not fire an employee proven to be dangerous to people around them. An employer may be liable even when the employee’s negligence is unknown to the employer, but had the employer conducted diligent oversight of their employees, they would have discovered negligent conduct. These investigations done by employers can ensure that people with violent tendencies are not in positions interacting with the public, people with bad driving records are not operating semi-trucks and other large vehicles, and that predators are not interacting with children.
An Employer can only be found liable for negligent hiring and retention if the employee’s negligence happened within the scope and course of their employment. An employer cannot be held liable for any actions on behalf of the employee that happened off hours or when the period of employment has ended.
How Is Negligent Supervision Different from Negligent Hiring and Retention?
Negligent supervision occurs when someone with a duty to watch over others fails to provide reasonable oversight that causes harm to those they were supposed to protect. Typically, this applies when there is a specific relationship between the supervisor and supervisee. Common examples of this relationship include:
- Teachers, school administrators, and day care providers overseeing children
- Healthcare providers, including nursing homes, and their patients
- Employers and Employees
There are a variety of factors and circumstances to determine whether there has been a breach of the duty of care required in these types of relationships. These factors include, but are not limited to:
- Age and ability to recognize the risks involved in each activity: A first grader may need more supervision using scissors than a middle-schooler or high schooler. Someone with severe cognitive or developmental disabilities needs more supervision than someone who is not neurodivergent.
- Experience level: Someone who just got their driver’s license needs closer supervision than someone who has been driving professionally for years. A child on a swim team probably does not need as much supervision as a child who just recently learned to swim.
- Nature of the activity: Someone who has just had knee replacement surgery will need more supervision during recovery than a nursing home patient who just sits and watches TV. An employee who is just stocking shelves needs less supervision than someone being trained to operate heavy machinery.
- Vulnerability of others: Children at behavioral correctional facilities are more at risk of harm from other unsupervised children than an elderly person at an independent living facility.
- Environmental risks: Different environments have different risks. A playground has far more risks than a typical classroom setting. A field trip may have even more risks to a child’s well-being than the playground does. A factory floor with high-paced machines and forklifts has far more risks than the cubicles of an office.
Our Toledo attorneys are skilled and able to help you pursue a negligent hiring and supervision case in a wide range of scenarios.
Negligent Supervision in Employer-Employee Relationships
Employers have a general duty to supervise employees at all times. Many failures to supervise claims against employers come from:
- Injuries caused by careless driving or negligent operation of machinery or equipment
- Hazardous activities such as firearm usage, explosives, or chemicals
- Employees drinking on the job or working under the influence of substances
- Physical assaults or harassment of coworkers, customers, suppliers, or any other person
As incidents of workplace conduct occur, employers’ supervisory responsibilities also increase. Employers should have systems in place to learn about an employee’s history and deal with those employees who engage in troubling on-the-job behaviors.
Employers who know or have reason to know of an employee’s problems, such as reckless driving history, anger management issues, or tendencies for interpersonal conflicts—and who fail to take necessary precautions or implement safety precautions may be liable for negligent supervision claims.
My Child was Injured at School: Do I Have a Claim?
When we send our children to school, we hope that nothing bad will happen to them while they are there. We expect the school to be able to protect our children from harm. Schools appear to be becoming increasingly dangerous with the explosion of school shootings within the past decade. Schools and day care facilities have duties to protect children from:
- Abuse and abduction by teachers, administrators, parents, and other adults
- Physical and emotional harm caused by other students, especially bullying and assault
- Harms from online threats such as cyberstalking and bullying.
- Mass casualty events like school shootings
Schools and daycare facilities must constantly monitor the environment for potential threats and dangers that may cause harm to your child. This duty to supervise is more than just monitoring threats. It also means taking reasonable steps to eliminate those threats and dangers.
What constitutes a reasonable depends on the circumstances. It could be as simple as taking a ball away from a kid. In some more extreme circumstances, it may involve notifying local law enforcement, child protective services, or other health care providers. The extent of the duty to supervise depends on the nature of the risk involved and the severity of the possible harm, and our Toledo lawyers could assess the nature of the situation for evidence of negligent supervision.
What Damages Can I Get in a Negligent Hiring, Retention, and Supervision Case in Toledo?
If you or a loved one has been injured because of negligent hiring, retention, or supervision, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. This can include both economic and non-economic damages.
- Economic Damages: Economic damage can cover past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and other out-of-pocket expenses you have because of your injuries. Proving past economic damages can be easier, as you can document lost income and medical statements. Future damages are trickier and often require the help of an expert to calculate. An experienced attorney would be able to help find the right expert for your case if necessary.
- Non-Economic Damages: Non-economic damages are intended to make you whole for more intangible losses, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, disability, and disfigurement you experienced because of negligent hiring, retention, and supervision. You may also receive compensation for loss of consortium, which is the loss of companionship, affection, emotional support, and intimacy. These claims can be between spouses, parents and children, and children and parents, depending on the circumstances of your case.
- Property Damage: If your claim for negligent hiring, retention, and supervision caused damage to property, whether it be to your car or home, you may be entitled to receive compensation to repair the damage to your property. In the context of negligent hiring, retention, or supervision, these damages typically arise out of employee drivers involved in car crashes.
- Punitive Damages: In certain cases, Ohio Law allows for punitive damages aimed at employers for egregious negligence and deterring similar behavior in the future. These damages are non-compensatory as they do not cover a specific loss but are there to punish extreme wrongdoing. These damages are added on top of whatever compensatory damages you have already been awarded.
Negligent Hiring, Retention, and Supervision Case Examples
Woman Suffers Miscarriage After Being Assaulted by Circle K Employee
Our client was a Black pastor on her way from South Carolina to a church conference in Detroit with her family when they stopped at a Circle K in Bowling Green. She attempted to cancel a transaction to put her number in for the rewards program. The cashier, a White Woman, declined the request numerous times. The cashier proceeded to throw a change jar at our client, went around the counter, and started physically assaulting our client. Throughout the assault, the cashier hurled racist statements at our client, including calling her “ghetto”. Our client had to be treated by EMS after the altercation. She unfortunately suffered a miscarriage a couple of days after the altercation because of the stress.
Our office filed a Complaint in Federal Court against Circle K for various claims, including negligent hiring and supervision. Had Circle K done a proper background check, it would have discovered a history of violence and anger issues with the cashier. For more information on this case, click here.
Man Dies After Getting Beaten by Two Bar Security Guards
A man was at a bar when two security guards viciously attacked him on the sidewalk outside. He was punched in the face and fell to the ground, smashing his head open, causing him to go unconscious. The guards continued to beat him while he was unconscious. The man ultimately died because of his injuries. The security guards were sentenced to 15 years to life.
A civil suit was filed by the family of the victim for wrongful death. The bar tried to argue that they could not be liable because the assault happened on the sidewalk outside the bar, not inside the bar. Evidence showed that the bar did not conduct background checks for its security guards, nor did it train them on de-escalation techniques and what constitutes an appropriate use of force. The jury in the case agreed and awarded the victim’s family a $27 million verdict.
Woman Sexually Assaulted by Supervisor with Extensive Criminal Background
A woman was an employee at a floor cleaning company whose job was to clean and shine the floors at big box stores. One night, she was cleaning the floors at a big box store after hours when her supervisor sexually assaulted her inside the store. At the time of the assault, they were the only ones in the building. She filed suit against both the store and the supervisor.
During the litigation, it was revealed that the supervisor had an extensive criminal history, including attempted rape and concealing a deadly weapon. The cleaning company also had in its contract with K-Mart that it would conduct background checks on all hires; it failed to do so. The company tried to get the case dismissed by the court, holding that there was too much evidence to support the claim, and let the case go to the jury.
Contact an Experienced Toledo Negligent Hiring/Retention/Supervision Lawyer Today!
If you or a loved one was harmed by an employee of a business, having an experienced Toledo negligent hiring/retention/supervision attorney in your corner is essential to navigate your case and secure the compensation you deserve. Here at Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, we are here to help you understand your rights, secure the necessary documentation to support your case, and pursue fair restitution for your injuries. Your health and well-being are our top priorities, and with the right legal support, you can focus on your recovery while we handle the complexities of your case.
It is important to remember that under Ohio Law, you have two years to bring an action for personal injuries and damages to property. Failure to do so bars your claim from being filed. Therefore, acting quickly is key to ensuring that you are compensated.
Reach out today for a free case evaluation to see how we can assist you in achieving justice and financial recovery. Let us leverage our expertise to support you every step of the way.
