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Taylor Porter Partner Adam Thames authored, “Can an Employer Be Vicariously Intoxicated Under La. C.C. Article 2315.4?” in the March 2016 issue of Around The Bar, the publication of the Baton Rouge Bar Association.

Thames discusses how damages under Louisiana law have long been viewed as a means by which a party is compensated for a proven injury or loss. On the other hand, monetary awards designed to punish or deter reckless conduct, referred to as punitive or exemplary damages, are disfavored under our law and awarded only when expressly authorized by statute or contract.

Louisiana Civil Code article 2315.4, one of the most contentious punitive statutes, allows for exemplary damages when “injuries on which the action is based were caused by a wanton or reckless disregard for the rights and safety of others by a defendant whose intoxication while operating a motor vehicle was a cause in fact of the resulting injuries.” The plain language of article 2315.4 focuses squarely on the conduct of an intoxicated driver who causes injury.

Whether an employer can be held vicariously liable for the exemplary damages arising out of the reckless conduct of its intoxicated employee, however, remains unsettled.

Practicing law since 2009, Thames is engaged primarily in civil and appellate litigation, including commercial, construction, and tort litigation, medical malpractice, personal injury, workers’ compensation and insurance defense.