Specific example: Can the employer of Cristhian Rivera, the “undocumented immigrant”, arrested for the killing of Mollie Tibbetts face civil damages for the death?
Hiring someone without proper documentation is a crime under federal law, so the farm that hired Rivera can face criminal penalties. Civil penalties do not require the same standard of evidence.
For background see:
Yarrabee Farms co-owner and manager Dane Lang clarified Wednesday afternoon that the farm did not use a federal E-Verify check on suspect Cristhian Rivera, despite the company’s claim earlier in the day that it did.
Of course not. Is your employer liable for your actions outside of work hours? If you choose to go throw back a few beers at a bar after work, get plastered, and cause a crash that kills some people, how is your employer responsible for that?
Now, they are definitely responsible for whatever crimes or penalties come with employing someone who should not be legally working here, but that is as far as it goes.
Case by case basis. If the Rivera employers knew he was here illegally, then no, they don’t bear responsibility for his heinous act of murder he perpetrated on his own and his own time.
I can’t imagine them, his employers, being liable for any civil suit. The Federal government has more culpability in that in my opinion.
IF the illegal status of the alleged murderer is held up as a VERY BIG aspect of this case, the business that hired him YEARS ago and never confirmed his immigrant status should be held responsible. After all, his illegality (if true) is the keystone of the RW frenzy over him…is it not?
The key to most negligent hiring and retention cases is providing employees with access to potential victims without doing the necessary examination of the employees.
In the Iowa case, the employee arguably had access to the victim as a result of negligence by the employer. That appears to be sufficient to establish liability in other cases.
Here is some more background about “negligent hiring”:
I was actually going to give an example where I felt an employer might have some liability, say if they put the employee behind the wheel of a company vehicle knowing he was not licensed and he killed someone with that vehicle.
