Can I be sued by a person who started mycar without permission and ran themselves over?
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Can I be sued by a person who started mycar without permission and ran themselves over?
I had my vehicle, which was not a registered, sitting for sale outside of the shop that I worked at. My old boss, for whom I quit working for 2 months ago, went out side and started it without my permission. He did not make sure that the transmission was out of gear and he was standing outside of the vehicle and got hit.
Asked on September 27, 2011 under Personal Injury, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
He *might* be able to initiate a lawsuit, if he can allege that you were someone negligent or at fault, though he is highly unlikely to win, from what you write. A person is only liable, or financially responsible, if they were at fault, either due to negligence (carelessness) or intentional bad acts. From what you write, you did nothing wrong, so you should not be liable.
Note that if your ex-boss does try to sue you, you may be able to countersue him for theft, for vandalism, or for something similar relating to his unauthorized use of your car; therefore, if he triees to take action against you, you may be able to take action against him to--even if you don't carry through to the end--help encourage him to drop his case.
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