Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, the employer is liable for an employee’s tort within the scope of employment. The Latin phrase means “let the master answer,” capturing the rule that an employer may bear responsibility for an employee’s wrongful act even when the employer did not personally commit it.
The doctrine is a form of vicarious liability. Courts generally ask whether an employment relationship existed and whether the employee acted within the time, place, and purpose of the job. An employer can therefore be liable when a worker performs an authorized task carelessly or performs it in an unauthorized way. The employee may also remain personally liable for the underlying tort.
A common mix-up involves independent contractors. Employers are generally not vicariously liable for an independent contractor’s conduct under respondeat superior, although separate negligence theories can sometimes apply. Courts also distinguish a minor “detour” connected to work from a substantial “frolic” undertaken for purely personal reasons.
The rule developed from the common-law master-servant relationship and is now most often discussed in employment and agency law. It shifts certain risks of business activity to the enterprise that employs and benefits from the worker.