The law in Canada is that survivors of sexual abuse are entitled to financial compensation for all the harms and losses that result from the abuse, but one big hurdle faced by survivors is a practical one: their abuser simply doesn’t have the ability to pay the compensation they deserve. Fortunately, in many cases, the law provides a remedy to address this unfairness. What’s known as the doctrine of vicarious liability provides that an employer will be legally responsible for the wrongful acts of the employee who’s acting in the course of his or her employment. What this means for survivors of sexual abuse, then, is that generally speaking, where the abuser was employed at the time of the abuse, the doctrine of vicarious liability will require the employer or its insurance company to pay compensation to the survivor. Courts have done this for good policy reasons so that survivors are not left empty-handed and with nowhere to turn for compensation.
Every claim of sexual abuse involving an employee, where that abuse was done over the course of his duties of employment, will require a careful examination of all the facts surrounding the abuse and to look at how closely the abuse was connected to the employment. Broadly speaking, courts will look at two things in assessing whether it’s appropriate to impose vicarious liability. First, are there any cases where vicarious liability was imposed under similar circumstances? And two, are the wrongful acts sufficiently connected to the conduct authorized by the employer? Cases which have held employers to be vicariously liable for sexual abuses include in government institutional settings, hospitals, churches, and the Boy Scouts, to list a few.
If you have questions about seeking compensation for sexual abuse, please reach out. I would be happy to talk to you free of charge.
