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Employer-owned cell phones pose liability dilemma     (Copyright Thompson’s World Insurance News     Not to be redistributed by individual recipients.)     Is an employer liable when an employee using a cell phone while driving causes an accident? And do laws banning the use of electronic devices behind the wheel increase such liability?     As with most legal questions, the answer appears to be: ‘Yes, no and maybe.’     No-fault rules applying to all drivers in Manitoba and most in Saskatchewan bar almost all negligence suits related to motor vehicle accidents.     But in tort jurisdictions such as Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Alberta and B.C. employers should be very concerned, according to Scott Hoeppner of Winnipeg law firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman.     An employer who provides mobile phones or BlackBerrys for employers could be found directly liable for damages arising from their use.     An employer could be found vicariously liable if an employee was using his or her own phone on company business.     All true — theoretically — but no great cause for alarm, responds insurance law specialist Nigel Kent of Clark Wilson in Vancouver.     “I don’t think it’s likely to arise much, because you’re covered by your car insurance,” he told Thompson’s.     “It would only be in extremely unusual situations where auto insurance has been denied for some reason or where there’s a catastrophic injury claim that would exceed auto limits — where you’re seeking to go after somebody else in addition.”     The fact that using such devices is now against the law doesn’t in itself increase liability.     “I don’t know that this has been determined yet — that driving whilst you’re typing is necessarily negligent,” he said, adding: “It kind of makes walking-around sense, doesn’t it?”     On the east coast, Halifax-based lawyer Cathy Dalziel of Patterson Law said employers should be very concerned if an employee has an accident caused by driving while talking on an employer-supplied cell phone.     “I think the point of concern for jurisdictions such as Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Ontario and New Brunswick is that the employer is a non-protected defendant under the Insurance Act amendments and as such would bear liability for full tort damages,” she said     More in our July 5 2010 edition        Thompson’s World Insurance News P.O. Box 1027,  Waterloo, Ontario,  Canada  N2J 4S1 Tel: 519-579-2500 Fax: 519-745-7321 mpub@sympatico.ca THOMPSON’S WORLD INSURANCE NEWS , Canada’s only independent weekly for p&c insurance professionals, has been the industry’s most trusted news source since 1988.