Negligent Hiring and Serious Accidents – Is There a Connection

Negligent hiring and serious accidents may be connected. Just about every person who is hired to do a job must go through training. Whether you are head of an IT department or cleaning up a preschool, your employer will likely give you some kind of orientation. Training helps you learn what to do, of course, but it also could protect an employer from being held liable for an employee’s careless actions. But not all employers go through a careful employment process, and there are times when negligent hiring can play a role in serious accidents.

How Negligent Hiring Can Hurt You

One example of how an employer’s careless hiring actions can harm you concerns the people who work at your gym. The duties of gym employees typically include showing patrons how to work the machines, leading classes, and developing workout plans for those who would like extra help. The employees may be called “personal trainers,” but in reality, anyone can call themselves a personal trainer without getting certified or even going through classes to learn about proper exercise techniques or CPR basics. If following the workout your trainer has developed for you leads to significant injury, their employer could be blamed for failing to properly vet or train their employee.

When the Employer is Considered at Fault

An employer can be considered at fault when they improperly hire, retain, train, or supervise an employee, and that employee commits a tort while at work. The elements that make up a tort claim include:

  • Duty: Was the employee and employer exercising a proper “duty of care” towards you?
  • Breach: Was the “duty of care” owed to you breached?
  • Causation: Did the employee or employer cause your injury?
  • Damages: Is there a way to calculate damages for the injury you received?

It may seem as if only the employee can be held liable since it was the employee that was directly responsible for your injury. But an employer can also breach a duty of care if that employer was negligent in its hiring practices.

Talk to An Attorney About Your Case

An employee who was hired or trained under negligent hiring practices can cause severe problems for both the employer and the customers. Determining if an employee was “at work” or representing their employer in some way when they injured you can be difficult, but not impossible. The personal injury attorneys at Udall Shumway, PLC have decades of experience and can help you determine fault, so if you were injured by a negligent employee, you can get the compensation you deserve. Contact one of our attorneys today.

This blog should be used for informational purposes only. It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice regarding Negligent Hiring and Serious Accidents, or any other personal injury, please feel free to contact Brian T. Allen at  480.461.5335,  log on to udallshumway.com,  or contact an attorney in your area. Udall Shumway PLC is located in Mesa, Arizona and is a full service law firm. We assist Individuals, families, businesses, schools and municipalities in Mesa and the Phoenix/East Valley.