On the morning of August 28, 2018, Billy Ray Cain, an on-duty employee of RRH Trucking, driving a heavy commercial RRH truck crashed into Justin Miller’s small Toyota SUV in the Austin, Texas, causing a Chain reaction and knocking Justin unconscious.
Justin was rushed to the hospital, where he was treated, and diagnosed with severe Traumatic Brain Injury and Today, over 3 years later, he still struggles with the effects of a traumatic brain injury.
The RRH Trucking employee, Billy Ray Cain, who initially caused this horrific accident has admitted in a sworn deposition, that the accident was 100% his fault. The employer, RRH Trucking, clearly admitted that Justin Miller had no responsibility in this crash, and therefore by law ‘imputed liability against RRH Trucking was clearly admitted’.
One of the reasons RRH Trucking is liable is because they had NO Safety Policies in place. You might ask yourself…. Why should a company be responsible for the acts of a single employee?
Well, the answer is firmly based in historical legal tradition.
In fact, going all the way back to the Roman Empire, where servants and slaves acted on behalf of a master.
It became apparent that slaves and servants lacked the resources and assets to compensate those they hurt. In addition, masters had control over their servants and could discourage negligence, if they wanted to.
Since masters exercise such control, ancient law recognized that the best way to avoid accidents was to require masters, at their peril, to ensure the careful execution of their servants’ duties. It is known as the ‘Master-Servant Rule’
Finally, if the law never holds masters responsible for the conduct of those they order around, this creates a system by which wealthy masters could get away with anything by forcing their servants or slaves to do their dirty work, and then simply claim that they did not sanction such lawlessness.
In short, holding masters accountable for the carelessness and/or the criminality of their servants is the only feasible way forward.
In modern times, there are no longer slaves beholden to masters, but in terms of the common law, there’s no difference between one’s voluntary employment and servitude.
Consequently, if an employee injures someone through negligence the court simply says, “Respondeat superior,” which means “Let the master answer.”
There is a limit to this concept, however. The law does not hold employers accountable for anything and everything their employees do, just their foreseeable acts of carelessness.
Since everything an employee does is to benefit the employer, there’s a high burden on the employer to provide a safe work environment where the worker may do the employer’s bidding, and everything that can feasibly be done to create a safe work environment is expected to be done.
This even applies to a scenario where the injured worker was also negligent in their conduct. Under Texas law, if the non-subscriber employer is negligent even in the slightest, then the worker has a right to sue them.
IN THIS INSIDER EXCLUSIVE NETWORK TV SPECIAL, “JUSTICE IN AMERICA – Justin Miller’s Story” our News team is on location in Austin, Texas meeting with L. Todd Kelly, Partner at The Carlson Law Firm, who represents Justin Miller and his family, and Dr. Huma Haider, M.D., Founder of the National Brain Injury Institute, one of America’s leading Traumatic Brain Injury Experts. to discuss the specific legal challenges and strategies to prove this case, as well as to show how Traumatic Brain Injuries are identified, diagnosed, and assessed.
Todd has earned a reputation as an unyielding trial lawyer who repeatedly represents individuals and families against big companies and the Goliaths of the world. And repeatedly wins.
He has earned the highest respect from citizens and lawyers alike…. as one of the best Trial lawyers in Texas. Todd has built a substantial reputation nationwide by consistently winning cases other law firms have turned down.
And his amazing courtroom skills and headline grabbing success rate continue to provide his clients with the results they need……And the results they deserve.
You can contact Todd Kelly, Partner the Carlson Law firm @ https://www.carlsonattorneys.com/team-member/l-todd-kelly and 512 346 5688