Liability for Epileptic Seizures: Advice for Employers

Questioner

Good morning, Yesterday, an employee of ours had an epileptic seizure. That person works for us as a driver but at that moment he was not driving. Suppose he has an epileptic seizure while driving the car and as a result he has an accident, are we as an employer liable?

Lawyer

The car insurance company has a legal obligation to compensate the damage caused by a motorist to the other party. However, the insurance company can recover all or part of that damage if the owner or driver is partly responsible for the accident. Your employee is not required to report to the CBR that he has had a seizure. You do not have to report this to the insurance company either. But you do run the risk of problems arising if your employee causes an accident. Standard advice after an elliptical attack is not to drive before the neurologist has been visited and has given advice. In addition, it is not mandatory but recommended that the employee reports to the CBR that he has had an elliptical attack.