I'm writing an article on shift employees and their working hours.
What I'm trying to find out is if there's caselaw or existing law that
holds employers accountable for mistakes that their employees make
while working extended hours. So far I haven't come up with much in
my searching. I've found several cases where it was found employers
could not be held liable when an employee had an accident on the way
home from work and then claimed that it was caused by long work hours.
What I'm thinking of, for instance, is a doctor who is scheduled and
works two 16 hour shifts in a row. During the second 16 hour shift,
he makes a mistake and a patient dies. The family of the patient sues
the hospital, claiming they were negligent in allowing him to work
such long shifts. My article is focusing on firefighters and
paramedics working long shifts, but I think the doctor example is one
that more people are familiar with.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to find what I'm looking
for?
McGyver
05-05-2006, 10:58 AM
"Bob_m" <robert@usa.com> wrote in message
news:dm5l52teniott7r8822jp305omvj2njast@4ax.com... I'm writing an article on shift employees and their working hours. What I'm trying to find out is if there's caselaw or existing law that holds employers accountable for mistakes that their employees make while working extended hours. So far I haven't come up with much in my searching. I've found several cases where it was found employers could not be held liable when an employee had an accident on the way home from work and then claimed that it was caused by long work hours. What I'm thinking of, for instance, is a doctor who is scheduled and works two 16 hour shifts in a row. During the second 16 hour shift, he makes a mistake and a patient dies. The family of the patient sues the hospital, claiming they were negligent in allowing him to work such long shifts. My article is focusing on firefighters and paramedics working long shifts, but I think the doctor example is one that more people are familiar with. Can anyone point me in the right direction to find what I'm looking for?
If the doctor was driving home and committed some act of driving negligence,
it would be difficult to hold the employer liable because of the intervening
decision of the doctor to drive in an impaired condition. The employer
might even have a written policy against driving while exhausted, and they
can point out that they provide beds in the doctor's lounge.
But when you shifted the facts so that the hypothetical negligence is
committed while on duty, you take away the employer's best defenses. That
leaves you with the simple question, do the employer's actions amount to
negligence. I'll give you three answers for the price of one. First, the
employer's actions are negligence in my opinion. Second, it doesn't matter
much whether the employer is independently negligent, because the employer
is responsible for the negligence of the doctor (leaving a sponge in the
patient or whatever). Third, about legal research (it would take legal
research to find the case law and reference sources as you requested): I
don't undertake to do the research, and I can't tell you much about how to
do it because I'm not a research expert (I almost never do research
personally). I have two suggestions. The best is to buy an hour's time
from an experienced litigator of medical malpractice. That person will
probably know the sources without any need for research. The other
suggestion that comes to mind is to go to the county law library and use a
large legal encyclopedia, such as Corpus Juris Secondum. Use the index to
get you to the sections on medical malpractice and employer's liability.
When you find the statements you are looking for, the footnotes will lead
you to case law, treatises and articles.
This answer must not be relied on as legal advice for the reasons posted
here: http://mcgyverdisclaimer.blogspot.com
McGyver
McGyver
05-05-2006, 10:58 AM
"Bob_m" <robert@usa.com> wrote in message
news:dm5l52teniott7r8822jp305omvj2njast@4ax.com... I'm writing an article on shift employees and their working hours. What I'm trying to find out is if there's caselaw or existing law that holds employers accountable for mistakes that their employees make while working extended hours. So far I haven't come up with much in my searching. I've found several cases where it was found employers could not be held liable when an employee had an accident on the way home from work and then claimed that it was caused by long work hours. What I'm thinking of, for instance, is a doctor who is scheduled and works two 16 hour shifts in a row. During the second 16 hour shift, he makes a mistake and a patient dies. The family of the patient sues the hospital, claiming they were negligent in allowing him to work such long shifts. My article is focusing on firefighters and paramedics working long shifts, but I think the doctor example is one that more people are familiar with. Can anyone point me in the right direction to find what I'm looking for?
If the doctor was driving home and committed some act of driving negligence,
it would be difficult to hold the employer liable because of the intervening
decision of the doctor to drive in an impaired condition. The employer
might even have a written policy against driving while exhausted, and they
can point out that they provide beds in the doctor's lounge.
But when you shifted the facts so that the hypothetical negligence is
committed while on duty, you take away the employer's best defenses. That
leaves you with the simple question, do the employer's actions amount to
negligence. I'll give you three answers for the price of one. First, the
employer's actions are negligence in my opinion. Second, it doesn't matter
much whether the employer is independently negligent, because the employer
is responsible for the negligence of the doctor (leaving a sponge in the
patient or whatever). Third, about legal research (it would take legal
research to find the case law and reference sources as you requested): I
don't undertake to do the research, and I can't tell you much about how to
do it because I'm not a research expert (I almost never do research
personally). I have two suggestions. The best is to buy an hour's time
from an experienced litigator of medical malpractice. That person will
probably know the sources without any need for research. The other
suggestion that comes to mind is to go to the county law library and use a
large legal encyclopedia, such as Corpus Juris Secondum. Use the index to
get you to the sections on medical malpractice and employer's liability.
When you find the statements you are looking for, the footnotes will lead
you to case law, treatises and articles.
This answer must not be relied on as legal advice for the reasons posted
here: http://mcgyverdisclaimer.blogspot.com
