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Liability Guidelines

Last Revised on January 12, 2012

The following legal theories are most particularly applicable to youth ministry.

Law of Agency

This legal principle governs who is responsible for the actions of another and under what circumstances liability exits.

An employer (called the principal) can be held responsible for the acts of an employee (called the agent) under the law of Respondent Superior ("The employer must answer") if two conditions are met:

• The one who acts is the agent of the employer; and
• The employee/agent's wrongful acts are within the scope of his or her employment/ministry.

At issue is whether the questionable act was of the kind for which the employee/agent was hired or engaged to perform; did it occur within the authorized time and space limits of the job, and was the act undertaken, at least in part, by the intent to serve the employer?

The employer, in this case, is the parish and, ultimately, the Diocese. The agent is the Youth Minster (hereafter designated as the CYM or Coordinator of Youth Ministry). Under the law, even volunteers in the program can be considered as agents of the CYM as well as of the parish and/or Diocese.

The CYM does not need to be a paid employee to be considered an agent: The issue is whether the parish has the right (expressed or not) of control over the person's work. That is, does the parish have the authority to hire and fire a CYM and govern the manner in which work is done? The answer will always be, "Yes," even for volunteer CYMs.

The CYM however, may still be held responsible for acts caused by his/her own negligence and intentional assault.

For example: The parish youth ministry is out on a planned caroling expedition at Christmas time: At a stop light, everyone gets out of their cars and runs around them (including, or not including the CYM in a game of "Fire Drill." One of the young people is hit by a car and injured. The CYM is personally liable because of negligence. The parish is liable, because the CYM is the agent of the parish and is acting within the scope of his/her employment (caroling as part of the YM programming), regardless of whether or not the parish would ever condone this action on the part of the CYM. Ultimately, the diocese is responsible.

The Law of Negligence

A person (or institution) is negligent for his/her/its actions if

• there was a duty
• the duty was breached
• there was injury or damage
• the injury or damage was caused by the breach of the duty.

For example: If the parish youth ministry sponsored a swim party and the CYM was reading a book while the some youth were diving dangerously and a young person was seriously injured, the youth minister would be liable (as may be the parish and diocese because of the law of agency.) There was a duty to supervise the event; the duty was breached; there was an injury; and the injury was caused by the breach of that duty.

The above information (admittedly limited) and the following guidelines are not offered in order to limit CYMs in their ministry or to frighten pastors, pastoral councils and parish staff. Instead, the following guidelines are offered so that parishes and CYMs will take necessary precautionary measures in order to keep risk at a reasonable level. Hopefully, an increased sense of responsibility on the part of CYMs will enhance their ministry to and with youth.

People sue people they don't know; therefore, the call to be in relationship with the youth and their parents/guardians is one that must be taken seriously. All CYMs and their volunteers should be aware that they are never immune from the possibility of injury or lawsuit. Despite all their best efforts, precautions, training and planning, someone may get injured. The diocese has retained coverage that will protect CYMs and volunteers, while acting within the scope of their ministry, and it should offer them security as they go faithfully about their ministry. Recall, though, as was said above, that CYMs are liable for their own criminal or negligent acts.

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