Court Addresses Proper Pleading of Negligent Entrustment Claim in a Motor Vehicle Accident Case

In this case, the court provided a thorough review of the current status of the law on the proper pleading of a negligent entrustment claim.   

The court noted that a Plaintiff may not assume that any entrustment of a vehicle was negligent. Rather, a Complaint must allege specific facts showing that, at the time the vehicle was entrusted to the driver, the Defendant vehicle owner knew, or reasonably should have known, that the driver was incapable of safely operating the vehicle or was otherwise unlikely to do so.

The court found that the allegations in the Plaintiff’s Complaint in this case were generic. The court otherwise noted that whether or not a Defendant concedes vicarious liability for negligent entrustment has nothing to do with whether the claim was properly pled.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.  The Court’s Order in the case can be viewed HERE.

I send thanks to Attorney James M. Beck of the Philadelphia office of the Reed Smith law firm for bringing this case to my attention.

Source of image:  Photo by Thirdman on www.pexels.com.