Liability Risk and Insurance
Sexual abuse and the issue of vicarious liability
In a case in which a Roman Catholic parish priest was said to have abused a young girl, and the question arose, as to potential
vicarious liability, whether he was an employee, independent contractor, or in some other manner to be considered akin to
an employee, the law as to vicarious liability was to be extended such that the question should be approached in a broader
way, and also by reference to several tests, looking, inter alia, to whether the applicable status was akin to employment,
and whether it would be just and fair to impose vicarious liability.