South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Vicarious liability, also called imputed negligence, is a legal doctrine that assigns responsibility for one person’s actions to another person if the two have a particular legal relationship that transfers power or authority from one person to the other. This can apply to the relationships of parent and child, husband and wife, owner of a vehicle and the driver, or employer and employee.
Types of vicarious liability
In a parent-child relationship, if a minor child holds an underage drinking party on the family property, even if the parents do not know, and someone is injured due to the party, the parents are responsible for the breaking of the law and for any harm that may come from it. The minor may also be held responsible for his or her own actions, but the legal burden is upon the parents.