Au pair hit 84 year old pedestrian- what is our responsibility?

[courtmesue]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

My 19 year old Australian au pair (who is listed on our auto insurance policy) rolled into an 84 year old pedestrian and was cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian. We called the rescue squad and an ambulance took the lady to the nearest hospital. I called to see how she was doing, but they could give me no information. Our au pair is a licensed driver. My 2 1/2 year old daugther and I were in the car at the time of the accident, but I didn't see anything. My au pair stopped at a stop sign, looked both directions and rolled forward then stopped. I didn't even realize she hit someone and asked why she stopped. The lady looked fine, but I have since learned from her auto insurance that she broke her hip and femur in two places and now has been moved to an assisted living facility (the accident occured in May 2004 and it is now July 2004).

We have state minimum liability and we have no umbrella policy. We own 1/2 of our home, and we are afraid we will lose it. We want to do the right thing, but worry that our futures will be devastated by the medical costs the lady has incurred. We feel terrible about the whole thing, too.

The lady had underinsured motorist insurance, and our au pair has been contacted to provide a statement to them.

Our au pair's court date is August 13, and we were going to have her represented by the public defender, but since we have learned of the injuries, we are inclined to have her represented by a friend of ours who is a personal injury lawyer.

I have several questions:

What are we liable for as owners of the car?
What is my au pair liable for?
I understand that MD is a hybrid no fault state. What does this mean?
What can we do (apart from contact a lawyer) to protect ourselves and our assets?
Is it a bad idea to pay for her private legal defense? Does this imply some kind of responsibiity?

[rmet4nzkx]

See an attorney

[divgradcurl]

I'll retierate: Talk to an attorney ASAP.

Does this imply some kind of responsibiity?

There is no implied responsibility -- there simply IS responsibility. The au pair was your employee, acting within the scope of her employment -- that puts you, the employer, on the hook, whether you pay for her defense or not.

You need an attorney.

[courtmesue]

The au pair is not our employee. She is on a cultural exchange visa and is paid a stipend. We have retained a private attorney for her and for ourselves.

[You Are Guilty]

The au pair is not our employee.

That is a legal conclusion you are not qualified to make. Employer-employee relationships take many forms, and you can rest assured the pedestrian's attorneys will make a very compelling case that she shows all the indicia of employment at the time of the accident.

Good luck.

[BelizeBreeze]

The au pair is not our employee. She is on a cultural exchange visa and is paid a stipend. We have retained a private attorney for her and for ourselves.

Guess again. What you are talking about is a contractural 'employee'. However, the court will take all of the facts into consideration and she will be deemed an 'employee' for purposes of judgement. (facts such as she is on your insurance, she is your au pair, she cares for your child, etc.)

[rmet4nzkx]

You said: "My 19 year old Australian au pair (who is listed on our auto insurance policy) rolled into an 84 year old pedestrian and was cited with failure to yield to a pedestrian."

You freely state she is your employee don't get picky with words, get serious, Rolled" you mean "HIT" she realized she hit the frail elderly 85 year old woman, just because you were not paying attention to her driving or there were distractions, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

If you have alredy retained a private attorney, I would suspect they have already told you the same and possibly to be carefull with the language in your statements. Advise: Look up your state, evidence code and the word, "estoppel".

[courtmesue]

The pedestrian may have fallen because she was afraid. I do not know with certainty that she was hit.

[BelizeBreeze]

The pedestrian may have fallen because she was afraid. I do not know with certainty that she was hit.

This is the last bit of advice I'm going to give you. Then you can go play your word games someplace else.

The PEDESTRIAN has the right of way. If she fell because she was afraid, then that's enough to prove 'proximate cause' which would STILL cause your au pair, AND YOU to be liable for her injuries.

Now take the suggestions already offered and have her speak with an attorney. And no, this is a civil matter, she will not get a public defender.