How to Separate the Store From the Employee in a Lawsuit

Do you have an issue with a store to the point where you are going to sue them for damages caused to you by their employee? Are you concerned with whom to sue, the store or the employee? Here are a few suggestions to help you determine which party to sue and which one to bring in as a witness.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Legal advice
• Pen and paper

How to Separate the Store From the Employee in a Lawsuit

1. You need to write out on a sheet of paper exactly what your issue or issues are.
2. Speak with the store manager and find out if the employee acted in response to their employment obligations or whether they did what they did on their own authority.
3. If there are affiliate stores, go to some of them and learn what the mandate and standards are for the stores as a whole entity regarding your issue.
4. Examine your issue(s) carefully and compare them to what you have learned about the employer’s authority and the authority they give to their employees.
5. Now you can decide if the clerk is solely responsible for your issues or if the clerk was representing the business by their actions.
6. If you conclude that the clerk was acting on his or her own accord apart from the store mandate, then the clerk would be the party to sue and the store manager would probably be a good witness to show that the clerk didn’t follow store protocol.
7. If you conclude that the clerk was following the store mandate and acting as a representative of the store, then you might want to consider suing the store through its manager and/or owner and have the clerk as the witness to their own actions.

Tips & Warnings

• It would be advisable to get legal advice before your take any legal action. You can get the phone number of the service that provides a few minutes of free legal advice from the courthouse.