Question: “A friend of mine was recently beaten up at a store by the store clerk, and injured pretty badly. It turns out that the clerk thought that my buddy was stealing a t-shirt that he had already purchased from another store, and started cursing at my friend. When my friend responded, the guy cold conked him, breaking his jaw in two places, and knocking out some teeth. He then kicked my friend when he hit the ground, breaking his ribs and doing damage to his lungs. It turns out that this clerk had a criminal history, with assaults in his background. Is the store liable, or just the guy that beat up my buddy?”
Beware Who You Hire
Answer: In law, there is a doctrine known as negligent hiring and negligent retention. Even if the store had never had a problem with this clerk before, if they knew or should have known of the sordid past of this employee, it can be liable for the claim of negligent hiring. If, on the other hand, the clerk had been charged with assault while he was working for the store, or even if he hadn’t been charged, but the store had reason to know of the dangerous nature of this person, the store can be liable for negligent retention. The key to the claim is the issue of forseeability.
Foreseeable Result by Toxic Employee
If it was completely unforeseeable that the clerk would respond violently to being challenged, the store, likely, would not be liable. However, if, on the other hand, it was reasonably forseeable that this clerk would respond violently when being confronted, or, even worse, if it can be demonstrated that the clerk provoked your friend in order to create a violent confrontation, then the store can be held liable under these circumstances.
The reason for this is simple. Companies must retain responsible people who later are invited into people’s homes, cars, or into other spheres where they could act badly. When you hire a company to conduct a service for you, you should be able to reasonably expect that the people they engage are going to act appropriately, and not cause injuries to you our your family. Otherwise, inviting a pizza delivery person into your home could pose a risk to your family, if the company who hired the driver did not do their due diligence before sending him out into the public.
If you have a situation requiring legal representation for a personal injury claim, contact Corless Zinober FL personal injury lawyers at 866-969-2889.
