Vicarious Liability of an Employer for the Sexual Abuse Act of its Employee: The Principle and the Interpretation of “in the Course of Employment” in Thailand and “in the Scope of Employment” in the United States.

The purpose of this article is to bring to the reader an attention to the significance of using tort law as an important tool to remedy the victims of sexual abuse, particularly in cases where the tortfeasor is an employee under an employment contract with an employer imposed with the duty to provide security to third persons In addition, this article studies and draws a comparison between the principle and the interpretation of tort law in the United States and in Thailand concerning vicarious liability of the employer for an act of sexual abuse committed by its employee to third persons. This, in order to serve as a recommendation for the establishment of the standard of interpretation of the word “scope of employment” according to Section 425 of the Civil and Commercial Code that is broad enough to compel the employer to be vicariously liable with the employee, so to achieve its purpose of remedying the victims to their original condition before the act of sexual abuse