Ware v. Timmons

Seventeen-year-old Brandi Timmons died from brain damage that she suffered while recovering from anesthesia after an elective surgery. Brandi’s mother, Johnnie Timmons (plaintiff), brought a medical-malpractice and wrongful-death action against anesthesiologist William Ware, nurse anesthetist Lil Hayes, and their employer, Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine of Montgomery, P.C. (APM) (defendants). Timmons alleged that following the surgery, Hayes had provided treatment to Brandi that fell below the standard of care. Timmons further alleged that Ware and APM were vicariously liable for Hayes’s conduct as her supervising anesthesiologist and employer, respectively. At trial, Ware asserted that he could not be held vicariously liable for Hayes’s conduct because she was an employee of APM and not of Ware individually. However, the trial court instructed the jury that agency and vicarious liability were not disputed in the case, meaning that if the jury returned a verdict in Timmons’s favor against Hayes, the jury also had to return a verdict in Timmons’s favor against Ware and APM. The jury returned a verdict against Hayes, Ware, and APM, and the trial court awarded Timmons $13.7 million in accordance with the jury’s verdict. Ware, Hayes, and APM appealed the judgment. On appeal, Ware challenged the trial court’s jury instruction and contended that he could not be held vicariously liable for Hayes’s actions under the doctrine of respondeat superior because he and Hayes were co-employees of APM. Timmons countered that Ware was the supervising anesthesiologist and had a right of control over Hayes’s acts and omissions that supported imposing vicarious liability. Timmons also asserted that Ware was vicariously liable under Alabama law because he was a professional practicing in a professional corporation and was a shareholder in APM.