Employee conduct must be “in furtherance of the employee’s business” for it to be held liable for the employee’s negligent acts as Respondeat Superior

Employee conduct must be “in furtherance of the employee’s business” for it to be held liable for the employee’s negligent acts as Respondeat Superior
Perez v City of New York, 2010 NY Slip Op 09237, Decided on December 14, 2010, Appellate Division, Second Department

New York City police officer Javier Colon accidentally discharged his weapon in the course of unloading it while off-duty and engaged in "personal business," mortally wounding George Perez.

The City of New York and Colon were named as respondents in the lawsuit filed by Kristin Perez on behalf of Perez's estate seeking to recover damages for wrongful death.

Supreme Court granted the City’s motion to dismiss it from the action and denied Perez’s motion for summary judgment against the City on the issue of whether the Colon was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident.

The Appellate Division affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

Pointing out that under the doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer is vicariously liable for an employee's tortious acts when those acts "were committed in furtherance of the employer's business and within the scope of employment," here, said the court, Colon's actions were undertaken “for wholly personal reasons” that were not job related. Accordingly, Colon’s conduct that resulted in the accident “cannot be said to fall within the scope of employment"

Finding that City met its prima facie burden of demonstrating that Colon was not acting within the scope of his employment as a police officer when he unloaded his service weapon and it accidentally discharged, the Appellate Division concluded that Colon’s actions were wholly personal in nature as “he was off duty, engaged in a social activity at his friend's apartment, where he planned to consume alcohol and, concerned about his comfort and the fact that he would consume alcohol, determined that unloading his firearm would be the best method to secure the weapon.”

As Perez failed to demonstrate the existence of a triable issue of fact as to whether Colon was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the shooting, the Appellate Division decided that Supreme Court properly granted the City's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint insofar as asserted against it.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_09237.htm