Workplace violence: the universe of legal issues
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VIOLENCE in the workplace” has become a hot topic for the defense community. Although a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has declared the federal Violence Against Women Act unconstitutional,(1) employers still face a significant risk of liability for unpredictable acts of workplace violence. Why so? Violent incidents at places of employment are nothing new, nor do they seem to be increasing.(2) However, occasional spectacular events receive widespread publicity. Claims are increasing because of news media attention to these incidents. Changes in the United States legal system are another explanation for this increase. Not long ago, even the most serious incident would result in no more than a workers’ compensation claim by the injured employee and a criminal prosecution against the perpetrator. Other efforts to subject the employer to liability ran afoul of restrictive common law agency rules governing vicarious liability for intentional acts committed by employees.(3) Ordinarily the rule of Section 219 of the Restatement (Second) of Agency was followed, and liability attached only if the employee was acting “within the scope” of employment. Employees who perpetrate serious violent acts rarely are acting on behalf of their employers. In the picturesque language of older case law, they are “off on a frolic of their own.” A few exceptions were applied, mostly to common carriers, where the violent act could be characterized as a breach of contract, as, for instance, in a 1905 Massachusetts case in which a street railway passenger was able to recover for injuries received when a dead chicken was hurled at a trolley car by a railway employee.(4) More : accessmylibrary.com |