The Duty of Due Care and Employer

In a case last week, the Twelfth Judicial District decided that an employer does not have the duty to prevent a "sick" employee from leaving the work premises and going home. In this case, the employee arrived at work intoxicated, left work early, and on the way home, hit and mortally injured another driver. The employer did not have knowledge that the employee was impaired by alcohol, nor did the employer encourage the employee to leave without assistance. The Court pointed out that the employer actually offered the "sick" employee a ride home, a sleeping place on a cot, and that the employer never ordered the employee to drive away from the work premises. The employer simply allowed the employee to go home. For more information, see:

Curtis v. Gulley