A company may be liable for the actions of an independent contractor under a theory of apparent agency

Maryland

From  WestlawNext —  A company may be liable for the actions of an independent contractor if it represents that the independent contractor is its servant or agent

The court said:  

As applied by Maryland courts, the doctrine of apparent agency can be expressed in three elements:

1. Did the apparent principal create, or acquiesce in, the appearance that an agency relationship existed?

2. Did the plaintiff believe that an agency relationship existed and rely on that belief in seeking the services of the apparent agent?

3. Were the plaintiff’s belief and reliance reasonable?

In this case, the court found that the plaintiff’s belief was not reasonable based on the facts.

Read the full story at Bradford v. Jai Medical Systems Managed Care Organizations, Inc.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.