The Extension of Vicarious Liability in Determining Group Companies’ Liability
It is an unresolved but important issue whether one legal entity can be vicariously liable for another legal entity’s tort in a corporate group. The debate over a parent company’s liability for its subsidiary’s torts has emerged, particularly in the context of environmental harms or mass torts resulting in personal injuries. Often, liability claims surpass the subsidiary’s value, leading to its insolvency, and tort creditors attempt to claim against alternative defendants, especially the parent company.