Vicarious liability makes one party legally responsible for the negligence of another because of the relationship between them, most commonly an employer for the conduct of its employees acting in the course of employment. In medical malpractice litigation it is central to claims against hospitals, which can be vicariously liable for the nurses, residents, and other staff they employ.
The doctrine has a significant limit in the hospital setting. Most attending physicians hold hospital privileges as independent contractors rather than as employees, so a hospital is generally not vicariously liable for the negligence of an independent attending physician, although it may face direct liability for its own systems, staffing, and supervision. Whether a particular practitioner is an employee or an independent contractor is therefore a recurring and consequential question that shapes who can be held responsible and where the insurance lies.
Posts tagged Vicarious Liability analyze Ontario decisions addressing when hospitals and other institutions are responsible for the conduct of the people working within them.
A cosmetic surgery clinic recorded patients in consultation rooms and the operating room without telling them. In J.C. v Jugenburg, 2026 ONSC 3061, the court awarded $21.5 million in aggregate damages and $1 million in punitive damages, and clarified how intrusion upon seclusion applies inside the doctor-patient relationship.
When overcrowded Ontario emergency departments contribute to delayed diagnoses, premature discharges, or death, the legal standard of care does not bend.
A BC court certified a class action against a hospital that allegedly hired an imposter nurse. Some causes of action were certified; others were left to individual claims.
Paul Cahill settled a wrongful death claim after hospital staff failed to connect oxygen tubing to a patient’s CPAP machine, leading to cardiac arrest.
Paul Cahill’s trial victory in Ayana v Skin Klinic, 2009, established the standard of care for laser hair removal performed in an Ontario dermatology clinic.
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