Does the doctrine of vicarious liability apply to domestic workers employed by a homeowner?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Lahijani v. Hakakian, B284813 (Cal. App. 2019):

The doctrine is not limited to employers running a business, however, and may apply to domestic workers employed by a homeowner. "Although a household employing domestic help is not an enterprise in the business sense, it nonetheless is an employer and its employees' activities in the scope of their employment may create a variety of risks to third parties." (Miller v. Stouffer (1992) 9 Cal.App.4th 70, 80.) "[A] household is better equipped than its domestic help to absorb the attendant risks through the purchase of adequate insurance. In addition, in view of the availability, cost and prevalence of such insurance [citation], which is a significant factor in imposing tort liability, there is no reason to exempt domestic employers from vicarious liability for accidents caused by their employees in the scope of their employment." (Ibid.)

To establish vicarious liability, a critical determination is whether the individual who created the dangerous condition was

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