Question

Stone hired mason as a salaried employee to work as a janitor in the common areas of stone's apartment building. mason was negligent in that he left a slippery, wet floor without putting up a warning or roping off the wet area. martha slipped and fell on this wet floor. who is liable for this accident?

Answer 1

In this scenario, Stone is responsible for the accident. Because he hired the janitor. He should have hired a trained person for this job, or he should have given him proper training of his work. Also the janitor must have received the safety training when hired.

So if Martha fells down, Stone is liable for this accident. Because he could fire the janitor for his negligence but this type of accidents may occur in the future if he continue to hire unskilled and untrained people for the job. So stone is responsible for this accident.

Answer 2

The company where Stone work would be liable for this accident.
Every company are required to give proper safety training for their employees.
If accident like this happen, Martha had the ground to sue the company for negligence because all of their workers acted on company's behalf.
Stone could fire the janitor, but he couldn't transfer the liability.