Man on a mission or a fool's errand? Employer not liable for intoxicated employee's accident

Is an employer liable when its employee causes a motor vehicle accident? What if he caused the death of another motorist? What if he was intoxicated at the time of the accident? What if the employer knew in advance about his history of alcohol-related traffic infractions? The answer to each question is—it depends. The Georgia Court of Appeals recently addressed that precise dilemma.

Facts

In 2015, A-Lert Construction Services—a Valdosta, Georgia, contractor and subsidiary of Centurion Industries—employed several individuals as a "road crew" to routinely travel across various states and perform maintenance work for Centurion's clientele. Specifically, the company entered into a service contract to perform "shutdown" maintenance work at a refinery located in Arabi, Louisiana.

As part of the road crew, Centurion employed millwright Jeremy Carter and assigned him to travel to and work at the Arabi jobsite in February 2015. As part of the arrangement, it provided him with hourly pay, mileage reimbursement (for his travel from the Valdosta office to Arabi), and a per diem travel allowance. Because of the exceptional distance between Valdosta and Arabi, road crew members secured temporary housing near Arabi and were expected to remain near the jobsite for the duration of the assignment.