Question:
Helping 1st. customer, when asked to help out another by ASM, 1st customer gets hurt, is...?
2010-01-15 20:47:04 UTC
...employee responsible for 1st.
employee was on his way to help a customer take his merchandise up to the front, when asked by a ASM to help a customer with a item, abandoned first job then went to the customer with the item question. The first customer got hurt, was the employee responsible for the customer that got hurt. Employee got fired, Was the employee responsible for the accident?
Four answers:
?
2010-01-17 15:58:02 UTC
Unless the customer tripped over the employee or something the employee had placed on the floor, they should be in the clear. The employee would have had to carelessly & recklessly do something to be liable.



I don’t have all the legal terminology & I am not an attorney.



The employee was acting as an agent of the employer, not necessarily the ASM. That means the employer is responsible, then the ASM, & then the employee (maybe).



As a rule the employee does not have many resources so the injured person will get nothing by suing them. Which is why the employer & the management is named in the suit. They have the "deep pockets" or the money. The store should have a liability insurance policy for just those incidents.



Now we can look at the injured customer. Were they exercising reasonable caution as an average person would or was the customer reckless, stupid or really clumsy? This would be contributory negligence on the injured person’s part & they would have to cover part of the cost of their own injury.



Without knowing more details & how the liability laws of the state, I can’t be any more specific.



It may be best to see an attorney, specializing in labor law & tort law.



It may also be a good idea to ask this attorney about ’wrongful discharge’ as far as the job loss. It may not be legal.



Good luck.
rosieC
2010-01-16 06:07:40 UTC
Firing is unfair and illegal. Liability for the customer's accident will be towards the ASM and the company not the employee himself. The employee was doing his job while obeying or following the ASM's directive. If he didn't heed the order, he can be chastised or fired for insubordination.



Sp the ASM is liable and has to answer to the company when it's sued by the customer who sustained the injury from the accident.



The firing is deemed illegal and can be reported to the labor union if employee belongs to one or Fair Labor Practices. or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)



http://www.eeoc.gov/
?
2010-01-16 04:51:40 UTC
Nope, employee who was fired was under the direction of his/her boss and absolved of all responsibility immediately when directed to stop what he/she was doing and change to help other customer. Fired employee should go to Labour Law place and submit a claim for unlawfully being fired.
Squirsh
2010-01-16 05:02:35 UTC
Millwood is totally correct... cant be answered better.


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