Assignment: Diaz v. Carcamo Legal Analysis
Purpose :
This assignment gives students an opportunity to understand employment relationships in its various forms: principal-agency, independent contractor, employer-employee at-will, and non-compete contractual agreements. Students are tasked with understanding how legal liability can occur to an organization arising out of the doctrine of respondeat superior or vicarious liability as it is also known. It further allows students to assess how negligent hiring can result in negative consequences for an organization.
The California Supreme Court ruled that an employer will be liable for injuries sustained by individuals due to the negligent driving of one of its employees, stating the below:
A person injured by someone driving a car in the course of employment may sue not only the driver but that driver's employer. The employer can be sued on two legal theories based on tort principles: respondeat superior and negligent entrustment.
Respondeat superior, a form of vicarious liability, makes an employer liable, irrespective of fault, for negligent driving by its employee in the scope of employment. The theory of negligent entrustment makes an employer liable for its own negligence in choosing an employee to drive a vehicle.
Create a 700- to 1,050-word paper, written in the third-person voice, that addresses the following:
• Explore types of principal-agency relationships and determine what type of relationship exists in this case between the driver, Jose Carcamo, and the company, Sugar Transport of the Northwest, LLC.
• What course of action do you recommend with respect to the lawsuit and Carcamo's employment?
• Does Sugar Transport's Human Resources department have any responsibility for their role in hiring Carcamo? If so, what other employment law issues do you find legally problematic concerning the hiring of Carcamo? Identify them and explain the legal issues and laws that were violated.
Include justification for your responses by citing applicable laws and/or legal cases in your discussion.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines, and include headings that appropriately signal topics and keep your document organized.
Use a minimum of three different sources within the paper in addition to the laws and legal cases required above, and provide in-text citations.