Opinion ID: 1796226
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Vicarious Liability Under the Doctrine of Ratification

Text: In addition to vicarious liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer can also be held liable for the unlawful acts of its employee if the employer ratifies those acts. Potts v. BE & K Constr. Co., 604 So.2d 398, 400 (Ala. 1992). An employer ratifies an act when 1) it expressly adopts the employee's behavior or 2) it implicitly approves the behavior. Potts, 604 So.2d at 400. Furthermore, [a]n employer's failure to stop the tortious conduct after it learns of the conduct will support an inference that the employer tolerated the conduct. Id. Acquiescence or ratification requires full knowledge or means of knowledge of all material facts. American Nat'l Bank & Trust Co. v. Powell, 235 Ala. 236, 245, 178 So. 21, 29 (1937); Van Heuvel v. Roberts, 221 Ala. 83, 87, 127 So. 506, 509 (1930). An employer cannot be said to have ratified an employee's conduct when the employer, upon learning of an employee's conduct, which was not in the scope of the employee's employment, gives instructions calculated to prevent a recurrence. Joyner, 477 So.2d at 365 (after an employee's homosexual advances to another employee were reported to the employer, the employer conducted an investigation and informed the offending employee that if another complaint of this nature came to the employee's attention the offending employee would be laid off and a full-scale investigation conducted). The Chanceys argue that East Alabama ratified Whitchard's conduct by ordering that Phillip's medical records be altered, failing to terminate Whitchard's employment, and instructing Whitchard to refer Phillip to Lancaster, who they say is an unqualified counselor. The Chanceys offer this theory of ratification without citation to authority. These activities all occurred before East Alabama became fully knowledgeable as to Whitchard's conduct. Indeed, East Alabama was ignorant of the all of the facts because the events made the basis of this action, occurring in January 1997, had not yet taken place. While the falsification of medical records is inexcusable, it cannot serve as evidence that East Alabama ratified Whitchard's subsequent conduct, which was taken contrary to the instructions given Whitchard by East Alabama. When East Alabama allegedly instructed Whitchard to change Phillip's records, all Sweeney and Beacham knew was that Phillip and Whitchard had met for drinks and that Whitchard had terminated or was in the process of terminating the psychologist-patient relationship between her and Phillip. It is undisputed that when Sweeney and Beacham learned of Whitchard's social relationship with Phillip, they instructed her to end both the professional relationship and the social relationship. East Alabama had no knowledge at the time the records were falsified that Whitchard and Phillip would thereafter have sexual relations, that Phillip's wife would thereafter ask him to leave their home, and that Whitchard would leave her husband as a result of her affair with Phillip. Ratification requires full knowledge of the facts. American Nat'l, 235 Ala. at 245, 178 So. at 29; Van Heuvel, 221 Ala. at 87, 127 So. at 509. The Chanceys offered no evidence indicating that East Alabama failed to stop the subsequent tortious conduct of Whitchard after it learned of the infatuation. To the contrary, Sweeney and Beacham instructed Whitchard to end the relationship. Likewise, no ratification was shown in Joyner when the employer warned the employee against repeating the conduct made the basis of the action. 477 So.2d at 365. In Joyner, the record reflected that no subsequent misdeed occurred, while here, the subsequent misdeeds were contrary to East Alabama's express instructions. We do not address the question whether the falsification served as ratification of only those acts that occurred before December 30, 1996, because the complaint is not so narrowly framed. The Chanceys claim that Whitchard should have been fired, on December 30 before she resigned, when Sweeney and Beacham received the faxed messages from Phillip expressing his love for Whitchard and that the failure to fire her at that time constitutes ratification. The Chanceys contend that East Alabama has a zero tolerance rule that requires termination of a therapist's employment if the therapist forms a personal relationship with his or her patient. According to the Chanceys, however, Phillip was no longer Whitchard's patient as of December 26, 1996. Therefore, even if we assume that the zero tolerance policy required Whitchard's termination, notwithstanding assurances from her that the therapist-patient relationship had been ended, the same problem as to East Alabama's lack of full knowledge of events that had not yet occurred prevents its failure to terminate Whitchard on December 30, 1996, from serving as evidence of ratification. Moreover, insistence in this case on immediate termination to prevent evidence of ratification conflicts with this Court's holding in Joyner. Again, we do not address the question whether the failure to terminate on December 30, 1996, served as ratification of only those acts that occurred before December 30, 1996, because the complaint is not so narrowly framed. The Chanceys also argue that East Alabama's later rehiring of Whitchard ratified Whitchard's conduct. Whitchard was rehired months after her relationship with Phillip had ended, and stringent conditions were imposed on her continued employment with East Alabama. Whitchard had to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and psychiatric treatment, if necessary, to ensure that she was fit to practice psychology again. East Alabama also limited Whitchard's practice to the treatment of females only. While this action took place after East Alabama had full knowledge of Whitchard's conduct, the stringent limitations placed on Whitchard's rehire do not constitute substantial evidence of ratification of her previous conduct. The doctrine of ratification cannot form the basis for liability on the part of East Alabama.