If my personal vehicle was vandelized on company property, can I hold my employer liable for damages?
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If my personal vehicle was vandelized on company property, can I hold my employer liable for damages?
Asked on July 1, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
As a general matter, you may not: your employer is not your insurer and is not liable either for what third parties do to your car, or even what its own employees do to your car (since it's not part of their employment or jobs), except under exceptional circumstances. To hold the employer liable, you'd have to show fault on the employer's part. If the employer has stated that it provides a secure lot (e.g. gated; need a key card or the like to get in), then if they failed to actually provide the security they claimed, you might be able to hold them liable. Or if the vandalism was done by a co-worker who had made threats against you or had committed like crimes or acts before, and the employer was aware of this background yet had not taken any action, they might be liable in that instance for "negligent supervision." But you must be able to link the damage to something wrong which the employer did to potentially hold them liable.
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