Legal Definitions - emergency-employment doctrine

The emergency-employment doctrine is a legal principle that allows an employee, when facing an urgent and unexpected situation directly related to their job, to temporarily engage the help of another person. This is permissible only if the emergency cannot be resolved by the employee alone and requires immediate assistance to prevent harm or significant loss.

Here are some examples to illustrate this doctrine:

• Retail Store Flood:

  Imagine a clothing store where a plumbing pipe suddenly bursts, rapidly flooding a section of the sales floor and threatening to ruin expensive merchandise. The store manager is the only employee present and cannot locate the main water shut-off valve quickly enough. Seeing the escalating damage, the manager asks a customer, who happens to be a plumber, to immediately help find and turn off the water supply.

  This situation illustrates the emergency-employment doctrine because the manager (employee) faced an emergency (burst pipe, flooding) that fell within their job duties (protecting store assets). They enlisted the help of another person (the customer/plumber) because the emergency could not be overcome by the manager alone, and immediate, specialized assistance was needed to prevent significant financial loss.

• Construction Site Hazard:

  On a busy construction site, a large, heavy steel beam unexpectedly shifts from its supports and begins to slide precariously towards a public sidewalk where pedestrians are passing. The site foreman is the closest person to the beam but cannot secure it alone. The foreman quickly shouts to a passing, off-duty construction worker, known for their expertise, to help immediately brace the beam with available equipment before it falls onto the sidewalk.

  Here, the foreman (employee) encountered an emergency (sliding beam, public danger) directly related to their job responsibilities (site safety). They sought assistance from another person (the off-duty worker) because the situation required immediate, specialized physical intervention that the foreman could not provide alone to prevent serious injury or death.

• Restaurant Kitchen Fire:

  During a busy dinner service at a restaurant, a small grease fire erupts on a stove in the kitchen. The head chef is the only one near the fire, but the kitchen's primary fire extinguisher malfunctions. A food delivery driver is waiting nearby for an order. The chef quickly instructs the delivery driver to grab a large box of baking soda from the pantry to help smother the flames, as the extinguisher is not working and the fire is spreading.

  This demonstrates the doctrine because the chef (employee) faced an emergency (kitchen fire) within their job duties (kitchen safety and property protection). They enlisted the delivery driver's help (another person) because the primary tool for resolution failed, and immediate action was necessary to prevent the fire from spreading, which the chef could not manage alone while also trying to address the faulty extinguisher.