Proving Negligent Supervision And Retention Of Employees
Negligent supervision and retention is a legal principle that holds employers responsible for their employees' mistakes. If you are injured by an employee's negligence, you should investigate whether to hold both the employee and their employer liable for your injuries. Here are four ways of proving such a claim:
Permitting Misconduct
This is what happens if one employee misbehaves in the supervisor's presence, but the supervisor doesn't do anything to stop the behavior. In such a case, you can argue that the supervisor permitted or condoned the behavior. For example, a nursing home supervisor who doesn't act when they catch staff members playing dangerous practical jokes on the home's residents may be found guilty of negligent supervision. If the practical jokes lead to injuries, then both the employer and the responsible staff members will be required to compensate the victims.
Failing To Provide Appropriate Training
Each employer is expected to provide adequate training to employees working with dangerous goods. For example, employees who handle explosives (such as fireworks or fuel) must be trained on how to handle them safely. Therefore, when an employee's poor training results in an explosion that injures other people, the employer will also be held liable for the damages.
Allowing Intoxicated Employees to Handle Dangerous Goods
Intoxication interferes with reasoning and judgment, which is why people aren't allowed to drive while intoxicated. An employer who knows that an employee is intoxicated must take appropriate measures to keep the employee away from dangerous goods and machinery. For example, when a crane operator shows up for work drunk, they shouldn't be allowed to operate the crane until they have sobered up. The employer is guilty of negligent supervision if they allow the intoxicated crane operator to operate the crane.
Failing To Supervise Employees
Lastly, an employer who fails to provide the necessary supervision to their employees may also be guilty of negligent supervision. Consider an example of an employer or supervisor at a mechanic shop who has a side business that takes up their time and, therefore, rarely shows up at the mechanic shop. If the staff at the mechanic shop are negligent, then the absent supervisor will also be held liable for the staffs' negligence.
Going after the employer helps you to broaden your sources of settlement collection. For example, if you just sue the employee, they may not have adequate insurance or assets to compensate your losses, and you may not get your entire judgment or settlement. If you manage to hold both the employee and the employer responsible for the injuries, you can get a little bit of money from both of them and end up with your entire judgment or settlement. Contact a personal injury attorney at a law firm like Schupak Law Firm for more information.
