PERSONAL INJURY:  What Happens When a Landlord Does Not Make Repairs and a Tenant Is Injured as a Result?

David C. Wagoner—Senior Attorney

   Most states impose statutory duties on landlords to maintain and repair residential premises in habitable condition during a tenancy. See, e.g., Cal. Civ. Code § 1941 (California); O.C.G.A. § 44-7-13 (Georgia); ALM GL ch. 186, § 19 (Massachusetts); MCLS § 554.139 (Michigan); NY CLS Real Prop. Law § 235-B (New York); 9 V.S.A. § 4457 (Vermont); Va. Code § 55.1-1220 (Virginia); Rev. Code Wash. § 59.18.060 (Washington); W. Va. Code § 37-6-30 (West Virginia); and Wis. Stat. § 704.07 (Wisconsin).

David C. Wagoner—Senior Attorney

            A fundamental precept of tort law is that “[a]n employer may be liable for both negligent and intentional torts committed by an employee within the scope of his or her employment.” Burlington Indus. v. Ellerth, 524 U.S. 742, 756, 118 S. Ct. 2257 (1998); see also Restatement (Third) of Agency § 7.07. In Virginia (and most other states), the dispositive issue in vicarious liability cases is therefore whether the employee committed the tortious act while engaged in the ordinary course of the employer’s business. See, e.g., Parker v. Carilion Clinic, 296 Va. 319, 819 S.E.2d 809 (2018); Our Lady of Peace, Inc. v. Morgan, 297 Va. 832, 832 S.E.2d 15 (2019).