Labor & Employment Law

More on the Fringe of Employer Liability

This time, the question is whether an employer can be held liable for injuries occurring in a car accident in an employees commute home?  Well, if you are in California, the answer may be yes.  In an interesting case involving Warner Brothers, an employee was traveling his usual commute home, although this time from a business conference (not his regular job) and was involved in an accident resulting in several injuries.  Injured pedestrians sued Warner Brothers for the negligence of its employee.  An appellate court found liability on the part of the employer by noting that the drive home from the conference was more like a "special errand" for the employer rather than a commute home (even though it was essentially the same route) and thus fell within the scope of his employment.  

Follow this link to:  C. Jeewarat, et. al. v. Warner Brothers Entertainment

Hat tip to fellow Lexbloggers at the California Labor and Employment Law Blog for bringing this to our attention.

Full post as published by Strategic HR Lawyer on September 18, 2009 (boomark / email).