Indirect liability occurs when someone is liable for damages incurred by someone else’s behavior. Understanding indirect liability for Columbus personal injury lawsuits is important when filing a claim to ensure you file against the appropriate party.
An example of indirect liability includes a hospital taking responsibility for a doctor’s actions. In addition, there are many cases where employers are liable for the actions of their employees if they injure someone else. A personal injury attorney from The Fitch Law Firm can help you understand indirect liability better if you believe you have a case.
What Is Liability?
The law states that every person is responsible for their own actions. It assumes that each person has the responsibility to act in a way that won’t harm others. The law calls this providing a duty of care. If someone breaches their duty and someone gets injured, the person who committed the negligent action is liable for their injuries.
Understanding Indirect Liability
Indirect liability is when a supervisory party, such as an employer, is liable for the conduct or behaviors of a subordinate or child they’re in charge of. It is when one party gets held responsible for someone else’s actions.
This type of liability is not when someone commits a negligent act. Instead, it is the relationship the person has with the person who committed the negligent act.
Often, indirect liability happens because one party is negligent in supervising the party who caused the accident. To prove they are negligent and have indirect liability, the injured party must prove they satisfied all elements of negligence. The elements of negligence include:
- They owed a duty of care to keep others safe.
- They breached their duty by not supervising appropriately.
- Their breach of duty caused someone to get injured.
- The injured party sustained damages, such as medical bills, lost income,
Our personal injury attorney can typically develop a solid case to prove if there is a party indirectly liable. They can investigate the accident, gather evidence, and interview witnesses to build their case.
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Why Does Indirect Liability Exist?
Indirect liability holds people accountable for not taking control of the people they are responsible for. For example, if a parent doesn’t control their child, they may be responsible for their children’s actions if they could have prevented them. For example, joyriding and causing an accident.
It also exists to help the victims get justice for their injuries. Continuing the above example, if a child causes injury to someone else, typically, they don’t have the financial resources to compensate the injured person. The parents responsible for the child’s misconduct could have the money to compensate the injured party. With the ability to file a claim against the indirect party, you could have a better chance at recovering compensation.
Does Indirect Liability Protect Employees?
Typically indirect liability is in addition to filing a claim against the person who caused the accident. It doesn’t necessarily protect the employee. The employee could get a claim filed against them by the injured party as well as the employer. Indirect liability protects the injured party to ensure the person they file a claim against has the money to compensate them.
Contact an Attorney to Understand Indirect Liability for Personal Injury Cases
Contact an attorney at The Fitch Law Firm LLC for more information about indirect liability. Our attorneys have handled many similar cases and can help injured parties get the compensation they need to move forward. Whether you have significant medical bills or are out of work, you deserve to recover compensation from anyone who has liability for your accident. Whether that’s the at-fault person or someone responsible for them.
Contact us today for a free consultation. We can hear about your accident during the consultation and identify other potentially liable parties. The injured party generally has two years from the date of the accident to file a claim, so don’t wait until it’s too late!