Car Owner Being Sued for Mechanic’s Death… at the hands of Another Mechanic

Excerpts from a news report out of Michigan:

When a man took his Jeep to Rochester Hills Chrysler Jeep Dodge on March 13, 2020, it was for a routine oil change. But an employee died after another employee - who couldn’t drive a stick shift - got behind the wheel to move the Jeep and hit and killed the first employee.

Two years later, an attorney for the man who died isn’t suing the other worker or the dealership; he’s suing the man who owned the Jeep. The man who was waiting in a lobby. The man who was just there for a routine oil change. As it turns out, this is the law and this story is about to get complicated.

In Michigan, an injured coworker cannot sue the boss because of the boss’ negligence.

So even though the boss was negligent is hiring someone who shouldn’t have been driving, the victim's family cannot hold the boss responsible.

Instead, the remedy for the victim’s family is to seek out worker’s compensation, which they have.

However, there are multiple wrinkles here. Because [the victim’s] death involved a car, there is a statute known as the owner’s liability statute that means the owner of the car is legally responsible.

If the owner gave permission to the driver to drive the car, the owner is negligent. When the Jeep driver gave his keys over to the employee who was driving, he gave permission to the employee to drive the car. This makes the owner legally responsible and is automatically liable for the driver's negligence.