Fellow servant rule

Fellow servant rule in United States

Fellow servant rule 

At common law an employer would not be held liable for torts injuring an employee which occurred on the premises of the work-place but which were the fault of one of his servants. Prior to the industrial revolution, where there were both fewer and less serious accidents and where there was less mobility the fellow servant rule made sense. But with the reality of grave injury and highly mobile employees the necessity of providing at least de facto insurance for workers led to the abandonment of this rule and a determination of a general liability for an employer for all torts occurring at the work-place in the scope of the employees duties. This general liability is known as the principle of “respondeat superior”.

Walsh v. Eubanks, 183 Ark. 34, 34 S.W.2d 762, 764.
Southern Ry. Co, v. Taylor, 57 App.D.C. 21, 16 F.2d 517, 519.


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