Many injuries can occur on a farm. If a farm hires employees, the owner must take into consideration the attendant risk that an employee may be injured, or may injure a third party, while on the job. An employer can (and must in some circumstances--see occupational health/safety) take measures to ensure a safe workplace. Employers may be liable for an employee's injury, or when an employee commits a tort (wrong) against a fellow employee or a third party.
In cases where employers are not required to maintain workers' compensation coverage,1 Illinois' common-law tort principles will determine an employer's liability for an employee's on-the-job injuries. Although an employer is responsible for maintaining a reasonably safe workplace (including tools and other machinery), an employer is not always liable for an employee's injury. An employer only is liable for an employee's injury if the employee was indeed an employee (and not an independent contractor2) at the time of the employee's injury, the employee sustained the injury while performing work within the scope of his/her employment or in the line of duty, and the employer's negligence lead to the injury.
The question of whether an employer/employee relationship exists is based on the facts of each individual case. An agreement disclaiming an employment relationship is not enough to show that a relationship did not exist.3 Instead, the actual practice between the employer and the employee will determine the relationship. A number of evidentiary factors may be taken into account, including "the right to control the manner in which the work is done, the method of payment, the right to discharge, the skill required in the work to be done, and who provides the tools, materials, or equipment."4 Of these, the right to control (not actual control) is the most important.5
Even if the injured person is determined to be an employee, an employer is not liable for an employee's injury if the employee is injured in an activity outside the scope of employment.6 An activity is outside the scope of employment if it occurs without the employer's direction or acquiescence. An employee is acting within his/her scope of employment if the employee "is doing what a man so employed may reasonably do within a time during which he is employed and at a place where he may reasonably be during that time to do that thing."7
Whether or not an employer's negligence lead to an employee's injury is decided on a case-by-case basis. To avoid being negligent, an employer must use the standard of care to protect his/her employees from workplace injury that an ordinary, prudent and reasonable person would under the circumstances. An employer is obligated to protect against reasonably foreseeable injuries, not every injury that may occur. An employer is liable for defects or dangers that he/she reasonably should have had knowledge of. An employer must use the same standard of care in discovering workplace dangers. An employer must warn employees of workplace hazards the the employers knows of, or should know of.
In Illinois, if a jury determines that the employee's negligence is more than 50% of the proximate cause of his/her injury, the employee will not be able to recover damages from the employer.8 This reduction is damages is based on the theory of contributory negligence. If the employee's negligence is not more than 50% of the proximate cause of his/her injury, the employee's award is reduced proportionally by the amount the employee's negligence contributed to his/her injury.9
Employees may assume the risk attendant to their position. Assumption of the risk is based on the implied or express agreement between the employer and employee that the employee will assume the risk of injury in performing the tasks necessary to accomplish the job. An employee only may assume known risks, and such risks do not include the risk of the employer's negligence. That is, the employer still has the duty to reasonably maintain a safe workplace.
An employer is not liable for the negligent actions of one employee against another employee unless the employer knew, or had reason to know, that the negligent employee should not have been hired or should not have remained in his/her employ, or the employer did not provide the proper means for the negligent employee to carry-out his/her duties. An employer is responsible for ensuring that all employees follow health and safety procedures. An employer cannot shield itself from liability by delegating this responsibility to supervisors. If the employer has delegated health and safety duties to a supervisor or foreman, the supervisor's negligent actions causing injuries to a fellow employee may be imputed to the employer.
An employer may be jointly and severably liable for the injuries to third parties by the actions of its employees through the theory of respondeat superior ("the master shall answer for his servant"). For liability to occur, the employee's action, whether negligent or willing/knowing, must have been committed in the course of the employment and with some notion of furthering the employer's business.
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1 An employee may not seek both compensation from workers' compensation insurance and damages through tort. Collier v. Wagner Castings Co., 81 Ill.2d 229, 241 (1980).
2 Independent contractors are hired to achieve a certain result, but how that result is achieved is not controlled by the employer. Generally, employees of independent contractors may not recover damages from the employer of the independent contractor for their personal injuries. Whether a person is an independent contractor, or an employee, depends on the facts of each case.
3 Tansey v. Robinson, 24 Ill.App. 2d 227, 234 (1960).
4 Yellow Cab Co. v. Industrial Comm'n, 238 Ill.App.3d 650, 652 (1992) (Yellow Cab II).
5 Id.
6 Dietzen v. Industrial Board of Illinois, 279 Ill. 11, 16-17 (1917).
7 Id. at 17.
8 735 ILCS 5/2-1116.
9 Id.