In some cases, the family of an employee who was killed while performing his job duties may bring a successful wrongful death action against the victim's employer. However, that was not the case in a recent action brought by a killed worker's widow in Texas against the trucking company that her late husband worked for.

The tragic event occurred in November of 2009 when the now deceased employee became involved in a heated argument with another truck driver who worked for the company. Rather than settling the dispute in a civil manner, the argument ended when the deceased employee was stabbed to death by his co-worker.

Following the incident, the victim's widow filed a wrongful death action in a Texas court against the trucking company. In her complaint she claimed that the company was grossly negligent for hiring and retaining the offending employee. He had a criminal record, and the plaintiff argues that the company should have considered that before hiring him. Additionally, the deceased employee had made several complaints about the offending driver involving minor disputes over cell phone usage, smoking habits and music volume in the truck that they operated together.

In the end, the court did not hold the company liable or responsible for its employee's homicide. In order for a company to be held liable for the criminal actions of its employee in Texas, the company must have exhibited grossly negligent behavior or a willingness to put the employee in harm's way. After considering the facts of this case, the court decided that the company did wouldn't reasonably have perceived the chance that the victim was in physical danger. The pair had worked together for about two years during which no physical violence was ever reported.


Source

Courthouse News Service: "Employer Not Liable for Homicidal Truck Driver," Cameron Langford, 21 Jul. 2011