Maryland employers not always liable when employee crashes company car

Are Maryland employers always responsible when an employee has a wreck in a company car? A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland provides helpful guidance on the issue.

How law usually works

As many of you know, allowing employees to use company vehicles can present significant legal liabilities. If an employee gets into an accident while driving a company car, you may be held vicariously liable for the damages if the acts were committed “within the scope of employment.”

Generally, the employee’s acts will fall within the scope of employment if they were done in “furtherance of the employer’s business” and may fairly be said to have “been authorized” by the company. In many cases, the application is fairly straightforward: An employee driving a company car who crashes on the way to a jobsite would probably be acting within the scope of his employment, triggering the employer’s responsibility for the accident.

Suppose the employee didn’t go straight to the jobsite but rather took a different route to run a personal errand and had a crash. Would he still be considered acting within the scope of employment? The answer depends on whether he was on a “detour” or a “frolic” of his own.

Facts

On January 13, 2016, Terri Endicott was struck from behind by a truck owned by Video Pipe Services, Inc., and operated by employee Robert Smith. The collision occurred at approximately 6:00 p.m., while Smith was on his way home from visiting a friend in Crofton, Maryland.