John Doe (G.E.B. #25) V. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s, 2020 NLCA 27
Vicarious Liability: Church Responsible For Sexual Abuse Of Children By Non-Employees Installed To Oversee Orphanage Nov 02, 2020 By Carly Moore In John Doe (G.E.B. #25) V. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s , 2020 NLCA 27 , the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal, has further clarified the test for vicarious liability in circumstances where a conventional employment relationship does not exist between a wrongdoer and its principal. Briefly, the wrongdoer need not be an employee in the traditional sense: the totality of the parties' relationship is relevant to whether liability will be established. The key to establishing vicarious liability is whether the principal was in a position to manage the risk posed by the wrongdoer's conduct. In this case, four boys living at Mount Cashel orphanage in St. John’s in the 1950s were sexually abused by five members of the Christian Brothers Institute Inc. (the “Brothers”). The Brothers were an or...
