 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Doe Parents No. 1 v. State11/27/2002
ws the intentional tort to occur, such as the negligent hiring or supervision of an employee, and hold that the cause of action is rooted in the negligent act, not the intentional tort itself. See, e.g., Senger v. United States, 103 F.3d 1437 (9th Cir. 1996) (" ranting broad immunity would be inconsistent with the purposes of the [Federal Tort Claims Act], which is to 'provide a forum for the resolution of claims against the federal government for injury caused by the government's negligence.'" (Quoting Bennett v. United States, 803 F.2d 1502, 1504 (9th Cir. 1986).)); Doe v. Durtschi, 716 P.2d 1238, 1245 (Idaho 1986) ("We do not believe the Idaho legislature, by creating an exception to governmental liability for actions arising out of assault and battery, thereby intended to relieve state agencies from any duty to safeguard the public from employees whom they know to be dangerous."). "Courts adopting the minority rule have applied traditional tort principles and arrived at the conclusion that, although the plaintiffs' injuries directly resulted from assaults or batteries, their claims were reasonably alleged to have roots in negligence" of the government. K. de Jonge, Recovery Under the FTCA, supra, at 503.
As stated by this court in State v. Rogers, 51 Haw. 293, 459 P.2d 378 (1969), the purpose of the Act is "to compensate the victims of negligence in the conduct of governmental activities in circumstances like unto those in which a private person would be liable[.]" Id. at 296, 459 P.2d at 381 (quoting Indian Towing Co. v. United States, 350 U.S. 61, 68 (1955)). Additionally, in Breed v. Shaner, 57 Haw. 656, 562 P.2d 436 (1977), it was directed that "the State Tort Liability Act should be liberally construed to effectuate its purpose to compensate the victims of negligent conduct of state officials and employees[.]" Id. at 665, 562 P.2d at 442 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). The second line of cases and the rationale underlying them best comports with a liberal construction of the Act.
This latter line of cases requires that, for a claim of negligent hiring or supervision to succeed against the government, it must be established that the government knew, or should have known about an employee's propensity to commit an intentional tort. Such an approach does not premise the State's liability to a third person on respondeat superior grounds, i.e., imputing the wrongful act of an employee to the State simply because of an employer-employee relationship. See Senger, 103 F.3d at 1441 ("These cases distinguish between negligence based entirely on a theory of respondeat superior (which cannot give rise to liability on the part of the United States under the [Federal Tort Claims Act] for the intentional torts of government employees) . . . .").
Our holding in this case means that the battery exemption does not apply and the State is liable to a third party for its own independent negligence, such as the negligent hiring or supervision of an employee, if the State knew or should have known that the employee was likely to commit an intentional tort and the State's negligence was a legal cause, i.e., a substantial factor, in the tortious injury suffered by the third party. See Durtschi, 716 P.2d at 1244 ("It is clearly unsound to afford immunity to a negligent defendant because the intervening force, the very anticipation of which made his conduct negligent, has brought about the expected harm." (Citing Gibson v. United States, 457 F.2d 1391, 1395 (3d Cir. 1972).)); Bennet, 803 F.2d at 1503 (" ecause the government had notice and could have prevented the crime . . . by the exercise of due care by government employees, the government was liable for its own negligence."). Under the facts of
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 Hawaii Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|