Re:American Airlines and The Points Guy are suing each other
by FireBeyond on Thursday January 20, 2022 @08:01PM
(#30017805)
And here's me, all idealistic, thinking that decisions on who to sue should be about the merits of the complaint, rather than "who has the potential to give me the most money".
Re:American Airlines and The Points Guy are suing each other
by dragonwriter on Friday January 21, 2022 @10:14AM
(#30024564)
Civil lawsuits are a means of dealing with a problem, mainly by recovering losses (via damages) but also sometimes by imposing other legal compulsion (equitable relief).
“how does filing a lawsuit against this party improve my expected resolution to whatever problem motivated the lawsuit, and is that worth the added cost of pursuing that party” should be part of your calculus. That's not to say the merits of the case don't figure in, but a meritorious case against someone who even the best possible outcome won't do anything to improve your condition is just a way to waste your money and time, and the courts.
Respondeat superior lets you sue the principal for torts of an agent committed in the scope of their agency, but it doesn't eliminate the liability of the agent for their own torts.
You typically want to sue the principal when the agent is less able to pay, less willing to settle, or one of many easily replaceable agents employed by the principal for the same purpose.
When the first and third of those are reversed and the second is unclear (which seems to be the case here), you want to focus on the agent. You could sue the multitude of principals, too, but that's just a lot more cost for little additional benefit (and possibly sympathy backfire in a jury trial.)