Moreno v. Visser Ranch, Inc.
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After plaintiff was injured while he was a passenger in a pickup truck involved in a rollover accident, plaintiff filed suit against the driver (his father), the corporation employed by the driver, and an affiliated corporation that owned the vehicle.
The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's grant of summary adjudication for the defendant corporations on a respondeat superior claim. The court held that a reasonable trier of fact could find the driver was acting within the scope of his employment when the accident occurred. In this case, the evidence showed that defendants required the driver to be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond immediately to cell phone calls for repairs and maintenance needed at the ranches, farms and dairies operated by defendants. Furthermore, there was conflicting evidence about whether the driver was required to use the company-owned vehicle, which contained tools and spare parts, at all times so he could respond quickly to call for repairs at defendants' various locations.
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