Rush's Pasta &Pizza employs Sigfried as a delivery driver. Rush's guarantees that an order will be delivered within thirty minutes or there is no charge, and insists that its drivers meet the limit. One night, while making a de¬livery, Sigfried is

Question

caught in a traffic jam. To deliver the order within the thirty-minute time limit, Sigfried drives onto a sidewalk and hits Tanya, a pedes¬trian. Is Rush's li¬able to Tanyafor her injuries? Is Sigfried liable to Tanya? Why or why not?

Answer 1

The tort in this question is negligence.
An agent or em¬ployee is liable for his or her own torts, whether or not they are commit¬ted within the scope of a principal's employment. The principal is also li¬able under the doctrine of respondeat superior if the tort is within the scope of employment. One of the important factors in determining liabil¬ity is whether the agent or employee was on the principal's business or on a "frolic" of his or her own. Thus, third persons injured by an agent's or em¬ployee's negli¬gence can successfully sue the employer if the tort was committed while the employee was acting within the scope of em¬ploy¬ment.
In this problem, Rush's is liable because Sigfried was acting within the scope of his employment, attempting to fulfill the thirty-minute guar¬anty. Sigfried is also liable, because an individual is always liable for his or her own torts.