Week 5 Discussion

1.	Employer Liability for Negligent Hiring
Read Malorney v. B&L Motor Freight, Inc. in Section 21.2 of your textbook. Discuss what duty or duties a business has with regard to checking the background of potential employees before hiring. Do you agree that businesses should be liable for injuries resulting from negligent hiring? Why or why not?
“If the employee is in fact working for the employer, and is working "within the scope of employment," then the employer will be liable to third parties for the torts of his or her employee under the doctrine of respondeat superior” (Seaquist, 2012).
“In addition, an employer may also be liable to third parties under another theory: that of negligent hiring. In these cases, the employee does not necessarily commit a tort, but rather may engage in activity that is tortuous or criminal. The theory of liability is based on the argument that the employer knew or should have known that the employee was somehow dangerous or incompetent when hired, and thus, the employer should be held responsible. Those concepts are illustrated in the case that follows” (Seaquist, 2012).
 
Reference
Seaquist, G. (2012). Business law for managers.  San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
 
 
2.	Discrimination
Not all discrimination is prohibited by law. For example, employers routinely discriminate between potential employees based upon education or experience. Other types of discrimination are more subtle, but still legal. For example, some employers discriminate between potential employees based upon personal characteristics such as weight or attractiveness. Should employers be permitted to discriminate based upon attractiveness? Take a side and argue that an employer should or should not be permitted by law to discriminate against persons who are not attractive.