Can someone explain vicarious liability please?

Vicarious liability is a legal term used to explain the legal responsibility one party may hold for actions that cause harm, even if they aren’t the party that directly caused the harm. Also sometimes referred to as imputed liability, vicarious liability states that any party who is in an authoritative legal relationship with another party is legally responsible if their actions cause harm to the other party.There are a variety of actions/behaviours that can cause harm and that an employer could be held vicariously liable for. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Breach of copyright
• Libel
• Harassment (s*xual or otherwise)
• Slander
• Breach of confidentiality
• Bullying
• Physical abuse/causing of bodily harm

As per your query, let me illustrate you about Vicarious Liability in law of torts. Basically, Vicarious liability is a form of a strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency, respondeat superior, the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate or, in a broader sense, the responsibility of any third party that had the "right, ability or duty to control" the activities of a violator. It can be distinguished from contributory liability, another form of secondary liability, which is rooted in the tort theory of enterprise liability because, unlike contributory infringement, knowledge is not an element of vicarious liability.

The law has developed the view that some relationships by their nature require the person who engages others to accept responsibility for the wrongdoing of those others.
The most important such relationship for practical purposes is that of employer and employee.

Hope It Helps In Clearing The Concept

Regards
Kevin M. Paul