| This thesis examines the changes introduced to vicarious liability by the Supreme Court of Canada in the decision of Bazley v. Curry. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the enterprise risk theory with its requirement of a ‘material connection between the employment enterprise and the wrongful conduct’ presents a new explanation for vicarious liability compared to earlier justifications. This rationale based on risk creation can only support a conception of vicarious liability as a distinct personal liability by imposition of a duty onto the enterprise owner, but not a vicarious or transferred form of liability. The justification of vicarious liability is then reduced to justifying strict liability. These changes not only make it possible to discuss enterprise liability in the common terms of tort law, like causation and remoteness, they also explain the shift in the case law towards liability for certain independent contractors. |
