Known as the "King of Pop" for his staggering success in the music world for decades, Michael Jackson died of cardiac arrest on June 25th, 2009. His death was attributed to a fatal combination of drugs found to be prescribed and administered by Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray. Dr. Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a Los Angeles court in 2011 and is currently serving out a four-year sentence for the crime.
In a civil trial which opened on April 29th this year, Jackson's mother, Katherine, along with Jackson's three children, Paris, Prince and Blanket, are the plaintiffs in a wrongful death lawsuit, seeking over one billion dollars in damages for their loss. Of course, not only does Dr. Murray not have a billion dollars, he appears to be deeply in debt. But the Jacksons are not suing Dr. Murray. The defendant in the lawsuit is Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the corporation which was organizing a comeback concert tour for the King of Pop and which was slated to begin shortly before Jackson's unexpected death.
Employers can be held liable for the tortious acts of their employees
The plaintiffs will argue that AEG selected and hired Dr. Murray to treat Jackson and failed to supervise him properly. Some particularly damning emails coming from AEG can be read to imply that their concern is more with getting Jackson to perform than with his health, and also that Dr. Murray was thoroughly checked out by AEG and found not to have any conflicts, which is arguably not the case given his financial situation. AEG, for their part, will argue that Dr. Murray was hired by Jackson and not by AEG, and that even though AEG had agreed to pay the doctor $150,000 per month to treat Jackson, this payment was an advance against Jackson's profits and did not reflect an employment relationship between Murray and AEG.
Holding another entity liable for a doctor's malpractice is nothing new, and employers are often held liable for the negligence of their employees. For instance, if a doctor performs malpractice in a hospital, as in the case of a surgical error, the hospital may sometimes be sued for negligent hiring, negligent supervision or similar torts. The difficulty here is often determining whether the doctor and hospital had an actual employer-employee relationship, or whether the doctor was merely granted "privileges" to practice at the hospital, and what the extent of such a relationship means for liability purposes.
Paulsen & Armitage, LLC is a Westminster personal injury law firm representing victims of medical malpractice and wrongful death in Denver and throughout Colorado. Our lawyers work to identify all responsible parties and hold them accountable for their negligent or wrongful conduct. If you or a loved one has been harmed by the negligence or misconduct of another, contact Paulsen & Armitage, LLC to speak with one of our attorneys.
