Court decisions in analogous factual circumstances have sometimes favored the accident victim.
In Robertson v. LeMaster (301 S.E.2d 563 (W. Va. 1983)), the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals noted that the defendant’s employer, Norfolk & Western Railway Company, “could have reasonably foreseen that its exhausted employee, who had been required to work 27 hours without rest, would pose a risk of harm to other motorists.”
In Faverty v. McDonald’s Restaurants of Oregon (892 P.2d 703 (Ore. Ct. App.1995)), an Oregon appeals court held that the defendant corporation (McDonald’s Restaurants of Oregon) knew or should have known that its employee was a hazard to himself and others when he drove home from the workplace after working multiple shifts in a 24-hour period.
On the other hand, in Barclay v. Briscoe (47 A.3d 560 (Md. 2012)), a longshoreman employed by Ports America Baltimore fell asleep at the wheel while traveling home after working a 22-hour shift and caused a head-on collision resulting in catastrophic injuries. Ports America Baltimore contended that it could not be held primarily liable, because it owed no duty to the public to ensure that an employee was fit to drive his personal vehicle home. The trial court agreed, and the Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed.
Dr. Tan is emeritus professor of medicine and former adjunct professor of law at the University of Hawaii, and currently directs the St. Francis International Center for Healthcare Ethics in Honolulu. This article is meant to be educational and does not constitute medical, ethical, or legal advice. Some of the articles in this series are adapted from the author’s 2006 book, “Medical Malpractice: Understanding the Law, Managing the Risk,” and his 2012 Halsbury treatise, “Medical Negligence and Professional Misconduct.” For additional information, readers may contact the author at siang@hawaii.edu.