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Original Post Since my post about employee cell phone use on company time while driving, some pretty significant precedents have been set.  They were covered in this morning’s Advisen Front Page News

In December 2007, International Paper Company settled a personal injury lawsuit for $5.2 million with an Atlanta woman who lost an arm after being rear-ended by one of the company’s employees. The International Paper employee was driving a company sedan and was on her company-issued cell phone at the time of the accident. Even though the company had a policy in place that only allowed employees to use hands-free phones while driving for company business, the company still decided to settle the suit rather than let the case go to trial. In October 2004, a Virginia law firm settled a $30 million lawsuit for an undisclosed amount after one of its attorneys struck and killed a 15-year-old pedestrian. The attorney was driving her vehicle and talking on her cell phone to a client at the time of the accident. In December 2001, a Florida jury awarded almost $21 million to a passenger in a car that was struck by a salesperson who was using a cell phone while driving. The employer was found liable because the salesperson had been driving for the employer at the time of the accident. In February 1999, a large Pennsylvania investment firm paid a $500,000 settlement to the family of a motorcyclist killed by one of its employees who had been making a work-related call after hours on his own personal cell phone while driving. As these and similar cases illustrate, employers can be liable for accidents caused by their employees when an employee is driving a company vehicle or using his or her personal vehicle while engaged in business-related activities. Moreover, employers face potential liability for accidents caused by their employees’ use of cell phones while driving if the company provides the phones, or if the use of cell phones is an expected or encouraged part of the job. Employer liability in these types of cases is based on a legal doctrine called respondeat superior. The doctrine of respondeat superior exists throughout the United States, including Minnesota. Under this doctrine, an employer may be responsible for the harm caused by its employee if that employee was acting within the course and scope of his or her employment at the time the accident occurred. In addition to arguing that an employer is liable for the harm caused by one of its employees, some plaintiffs have argued that the employer is directly liable for its own negligent conduct in failing to provide adequate training or instructions on safe cell phone use, or failing to restrict usage.
As the legal precedents have shown, even guidelines in employee handbooks are superceded by the fact that the accident happened in the normal course of employment.  Now would be a great time to buy your staff bluetooth devices to talk on when they’re driving, or tell them that no client phone call is important enough to risk a 20 million dollar lawsuit over.  I’m sure the people who dismembered or killed another human being thought that they were good enough drivers to talk and drive at the same time.  I’m sure the family of the victims disagreed.  Next time your phone rings when you’re driving, switch it to speakerphone(90% of phones on the market have this feature) or call the person back when you have parked.  To make it even easier for you, here’s a LINK to some wireless headsets that are priced at $14.99 and above.