Opinion ID: 573115
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The tort of negligent supervision

Text: 14 The tort of negligent supervision places liability upon a master for injuries inflicted on third persons by its servant when the master was guilty of selecting a servant incompetent or otherwise unfit to perform the services for which he was employed. 57 C.J.S. Master and Servant § 559 (1948). As the parties correctly note, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has never explicitly recognized the existence of this tort by holding an employer liable for negligent retention or supervision of an employee. However, we have no reason to believe that Wisconsin would reject this cause of action if the matter were before its supreme court as a matter of first impression. The tort of negligent supervision of employees enjoys a secure position in the mainstream of American common law. The Restatements of both Torts 3 and Agency 4 recognize it, as does at least one of Wisconsin's neighbors. See Ponticas v. K.M.S. Inv., 331 N.W.2d 907, 910 (Minn.1983). 5 Professors Prosser and Keeton write that a master may, of course, be liable on the basis of any negligence of his own in selecting or dealing with the servant ... upon familiar principles of negligence and agency law. W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 70, at 501-02 (5th ed. 1984). 15 Wisconsin cases have sustained causes of action analogous to the tort of negligent supervision of employees. In Kamp v. Coxe Brothers & Co., 122 Wis. 206, 99 N.W. 366 (1904), the Wisconsin Supreme Court examined whether a wrongful death action could exist against an employer when an incompetent employee failed to warn a fellow employee of danger and that employee was killed. The court held that the master who negligently or knowingly employs or retains an incompetent servant is liable for injuries thereby resulting to fellow servants who are not themselves negligent. Id. 99 N.W. at 371. The court reasoned further that one who knowingly exposes another to an imminent peril should respond for the result. Id. While the facts and, to some extent, the policy concerns underlying the Kamp decision are analogous to this case, it is not controlling. The Wisconsin Supreme Court's holding is limited to interpreting an exception to the common law fellow-servant rule 6 that a master has a duty to select servants who will not endanger fellow servants through negligence on the job. 16 Later Wisconsin cases have recognized claims arising from the failure to supervise adequately the work of an independent contractor. A.E. Inv. Corp. v. Link Builders, Inc., 62 Wis.2d 479, 214 N.W.2d 764, 765 (1974) (architect allegedly failed to supervise adequately the construction of a building); Laesch v. L & H Indus., Ltd., 161 Wis.2d 887, 469 N.W.2d 655, 657 (1991) (railroad allegedly failed to supervise adequately a contractor hired to remove rails from a right of way). Also, in the context of medical malpractice, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that a hospital has a duty to employ competent physicians. Johnson v. Misericordia Community Hosp., 99 Wis.2d 708, 301 N.W.2d 156, 170-71 (1981) (hospital had a duty to hire competent doctors which it could breach by allowing an unqualified surgeon to perform negligently an operation). 7