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Vicarious Liability Revisited

Date: 12 May 2022, 21:00 - 10:00 RSVP
Location: Online Webinar
Webinar

In this webinar, we revisit the well-known legal doctrine of vicarious liability. While the idea of a party being held responsible for the acts or omissions of another party is nothing new, this topic is worth revisiting in view of recent case law. In particular, the extension of this legal principle needs to be seen in the context of finding a path to liability in institutional abuse cases.

Event details

9:00am – 10:00am AEST

Join our Head of Insurance, Damien van Brunschot as he considers the following questions about vicarious liability in the employment and broader context:

  • When is an employer vicariously liable for the negligence of a co-worker?
  • Is formal employment necessary in institutional abuse cases?
  • The important limiting principle—the negligence needs to arise in the course of employment, contrasted with an employee's 'frolic'. How wide is this test, having regard to more expansive modern notions of employment?
  • What about the criminal conduct of an employee, for example, an assault or sexual abuse? How does vicarious liability apply to government or church institutions (including schools) acknowledging the vulnerability of the young people often under their care?
  • Is the law now starting to shake off its more conservative instincts? We consider possible future directions.

You are welcome to submit questions for consideration before the webinar by emailing us. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions during the live webinar via the chat box function.

We hope you'll be able to join us for this upcoming webinar.

Speakers

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