The IRAC method is to be used answer this question I = what is the

The tort of negligence is a person's failure to take a reasonable standard of care to avoid causing injury or loss to another person.

Vicarious liability occurs when an employer is held vicariously liable for employees' tort performed within the scope of employment.
 

Step-by-step explanation

Issue

The legal issue is whether the student's parents have a cause of action against Orchard Professional Institute regarding the negligent advice given by Elvis who was their employee which led to financial losses.

Relevant law

In tort law, the main elements of negligence tort are the duty of care, breach of the duty, causation, and damage.

A professional knowing that he was being trusted or that his skill and judgment were being relied on, should be exercise reasonable care in giving the professional advice sought. If a professional voluntarily undertakes to offer the advice and does not exercise care in fulfilling the task. In that case, he is bound to exercise the professional skill and knowledge expected from the professional.

Under the common law, professional negligence applies where a defendant owes a duty of care to a claimant by making a careless or misleading statement who relies on it and suffers loss as a consequence.

To establish liability for professional negligence resulting in economic loss the following elements must be present;

The defendant must be professional or skilled in a particular and acting in his professional capacity

The defendant knew that the work he was to do was going to be relied upon by the plaintiff, 

The defendant willingly undertook to do the work or give the professional advice;

The defendant knew the exact reason for which the advice or information given was to be used.

The plaintiff in fact relied upon the defendant's advice and he suffered economic loss.

A professional is found to have been negligent if they owed you a duty of care, failed to do their job per professional standards, and as a result, their client suffers a financial loss.

To establish a cause of action in cases of negligent misrepresentation,  the injured party must prove that the defendant owed him a duty of care, breached the duty by acting negligently, the injured party relied on the negligent misrepresentation resulting in the financial loss. The financial loss must have resulted from the reliance of the negligent misrepresentation due to a contractual or fiduciary nature.

The equitable principles established in Hedley Byrne & Co Ltd v Heller & Partners Ltd [1964] is that there is a liability when there is close proximity to those who they know are relying on their skill.

Vicarious liability

The essential elements for vicarious liability are;

There must be an employer-employee relationship;

A tortious act of negligence committed by the employee;

The employee must have committed the tortious act of negligence within the course of employment.

Any acts of negligence by employees in the employment scope result in the employer's vicarious liability because of the implied authority vested on the employees by the employer through their fiduciary duty.

An employer is vicariously liable for negligent acts or omissions and, to some extent, criminal acts by his employee in the course of employment. 

Respondent superior is a doctrine in tort law that makes a master liable for a servant's wrong or employer liable for an employee's wrongs.

Application/ Analysis

Duty of care

A duty of care is an individual's obligation to observe a reasonable standard of care in his conduct and actions that could have a possibility of causing harm to others. The plaintiff must have owed a duty of care to the defendant for a successful tort claim, for there must be a relationship of proximity.

A relationship of proximity can be established in this case because the student's parents sought Elvis's advice as Orchard Professional Institute's senior program consultant. They believed he had the skill, knowledge, and expertise to advise them. In that case, there was a fiduciary relationship between Orchard Professional Institute and the student. Orchard Professional Institute owed a duty of care to the student.

Vulnerability

The student and the parents were was vulnerable and depended on the advice given by Orchard Professional Institute. They trusted them to provide the best professional advice as they were more unknowledgeable experienced than the student.

Fair, just, and reasonable to impose a duty of care.

It would only be fair to impose the duty of care on  Orchard Professional Institute as they failed to take reasonable caution to protect the parents who sought advice from them from the loss. Through their employee, they failed to conduct due diligence before giving the correct advice.

Breaching the Duty Of Care

There must be a breach of an existing duty of care by the defendant. The defendant's actions should show that there was a breach by acts of omission or commission. 

When a professional fails to perform their responsibilities to the required standard, they breach their duty of care.

The defendant's actions should show that there was a breach by acts of omission or commission. 

Elvis failed in his professional duty by being negligent in his advice and failing to do proper research and conduct due diligence regarding the inquiries about the law degree.

Causation Results In the loss

A specific act that resulted in loss or damage must have occurred to establish a tort of negligence's existence.

The plaintiff must prove the defendant's acts or inaction resulted in the financial loss.

The defendant's action must be the specific cause of the victim's loss or damage for a negligence claim to succeed.

In this case, Elvis's failure to exercise due care, skill, and act professionally resulted in the financial losses incurred by the student's parents.

The parents enrolled the student and paid for the law degree program after Elvis negligently assured them that the student would sit for the bar exams and become a qualified lawyer. Since the law degree programme at OPI did not qualify the student to sit for the bar exam, the parents would suffer financial damage as a result of paying for the degree program in reliance on the negligent advice given.

Loss or damage

Damage or loss is an essential element in a negligence tort claim because, without any loss or injury, there would be no basis for the claim.

The parents suffered a financial loss as a result of relying on Elvis's advice and paying for the degree programme.

Vicarious liability

In this case, Orchard Professional Institute is liable for Elvis's negligence because there was an employer-employee relationship between Orchard Professional Institute and Elvis. Elvis was Orchard Professional Institute's senior program consultant.

Elvis committed a tortious act of negligence. Elvis was within his employment scope when he gave the advice. The parents sought professional advice from Orchard Professional Institute knowing that they passed the skill and knowledge in that particular field and would give the correct information. 

They relied on Elvis's advice and suffered losses as a result.

Conclusion

Based on the above analysis, the student's parents have a cause of action against OPI for the negligent advice which caused them financial losses. 

Employers are held vicariously liable for emeployees torts in order to deter future harm by encouraging the employer to reduce the risk of similar harm in the future.