NCJ Number
145951
Journal
San Diego Justice Journal Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 163-192
Date Published
1993
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This paper examines decisions by the California Supreme Court and other California appellate courts that bear upon an employer's liability for injurious acts by an employee.
Abstract
Respondeat superior is a doctrine or maxim that means a master is liable in certain cases for the wrongful acts of his servant. Under this doctrine, an employer is liable for injury to person or property of another proximately resulting from the acts of an employee done within the scope of employment. The doctrine is inapplicable when injury occurs while an employee is acting outside the scope of his/her employment. In the case of Mary M. v. City of Los Angeles, an on-duty Los Angeles police officer raped a woman he had detained. The California Supreme Court held that since the police officer used his authority as a police officer to control the woman for the assault, the officer's public employer was vicariously liable for the assault. The Court emphasized that this did not mean that a public employer would always be vicariously liable whenever an on- duty officer commits a sexual assault. Presumably, if the officer had used other means to control the woman, such as a surprise attack on the woman while she was walking, the police agency would not have been liable. It was the officer's use of his authority as a police officer to detain the woman for the assault that created employer liability. 162 footnotes