From Courthouse News Service, Andy Monserus reports on a Minnesota case in which the Minnesota Supreme Court recognized the tort claim of negligent selectin of independent contractors. Andy writes:
SAINT PAUL, Minn. (CN) — Minnesota joined the slight majority of states that recognize tort claims for negligent selection of contractors Wednesday after the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of a sugar beet truck driver that was struck by a truck driver without a license contracted to transport produce for a local farm.
The state’s high court determined in their Wednesday morning order that negligent-selection torts are part of, or at least an extension, of a well-established common law right in Minnesota.
“Because a cause of action for negligent selection of an independent contractor is recognized by the restatement, has been cited by our court as a basis to adopt a new common law tort and is analogous to other recognized torts, we conclude that it is inherent in, or the natural extension of, a well-established common law right,” Justice Margaret Chutich wrote for the court.
Chutich pointed to the factors set forth in the 2007 case Larson v. Wasemiller, which established a four-factor test to inform the high court’s decisions to recognize common-law torts, in reversing the appeals court decision that Minnesota does not such claims.
Those factors include whether the tort is inherent in or a natural extension of an established common law right, whether other common law states have recognized the tort, whether recognition would create “create tension” with existing laws and whether that tension is outweighed by the importance of protections it would provide.
Chutich found that the court had already recognized similar claims, including a negligent-hiring tort for employers and the negligent-credentialing tort established in Larson.
Chutich also found that “if recognizing this claim did conflict with the general rule of non-liability for those that hire independent contractors, it would merely join a long list of existing exceptions.”
That route, she added, was not sufficient to vindicate claimants’ rights under the maxim that liability follows from tortious conduct…
Read the full story at Minnesota recognizes new tort claim establishing liability for negligent selection of contractors | Courthouse News Service