Opinion

Musgrove v. Silver

Court
California Court of Appeal
Filed
Sep 13, 2022
Status
Published
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 6.9%

The opinion

Filed 9/13/22 (unmodified opn. attached)

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

RONALD MUSGROVE et al., B311504

Plaintiffs and Appellants, (Los Angeles County

Super. Ct. No. BC673010)

v.

ORDER MODIFYING

JOEL SILVER, OPINION AND DENYING

REHEARING

Defendant and

Respondent. NO CHANGE IN THE

JUDGMENT

THE COURT:

It is ordered that the opinion filed herein on August 25, 2022, be

modified as follows:

1. At the end of the first (partial) sentence on page 8,

which ends with “from our consideration,” insert

footnote 3 as follows:

3 In a petition for rehearing, plaintiffs contend

that we impermissibly failed to address their

evidentiary objections. We did no such thing. We

assumed them to have merit, and proceeded to

analyze the summary judgment on that assumption.

As a result, analyzing the merits of the objections

serves no purpose. Plaintiffs assert that we

“necessarily relied” on the evidence we assumed to be

invalidly admitted, contrary to our assumption. They

are wrong.

2. After the next sentence on page 8, which is the first

whole sentence on that page, insert footnote 4 as follows

(and renumber subsequent footnotes accordingly):

4 In a petition for rehearing, plaintiffs also

contend that we synthesized the relevant law

differently than they and the trial court did.

Because, as noted in the text, our review of a

summary judgment motion is de novo, our task is to

analyze the trial court’s ruling—not its reasoning.

We are not bound by the parties’ synthesis of the law

and are free to conduct our legal research and

synthesize the law without running it by the parties

first.

3. In the first sentence beneath the heading “c.

Benefit- and custom-focused test,” which begins on page

15 and continues onto page 16, omit the phrase

“allegedly tortious” (on page 16) so that the sentence

reads:

This test focuses on whether the employee’s conduct

“either” (1) “provided [some conceivable] benefit to the

2

employer” or (2) has otherwise become a ‘“customary

incident of the employment relationship.”’

4. On page 16, in the sentence immediately preceding the

heading “d. Public policy-focused test,” omit the

phrase “allegedly tortious,” so that the sentence reads:

Although a benefit need only be “conceivable,” the

benefit must nevertheless be ‘“sufficient enough to

justify making the employer responsible”’ for the

employee’s conduct.

5. In the first sentence beneath the heading

“3. Benefit- and custom-focused test,” which begins on

page 23 and continues onto page 24, omit the word

“tortious” (on page 23), so that the sentence reads:

Silver is also not vicariously liable, as a matter of

law, under the test that examines whether the

employee’s conduct (1) conceivably benefited the

employer or (2) was a customary incident of the

employment relationship.

6. In the second-to-last sentence on page 24, omit the word

“tortious,” so that the sentence reads:

Plaintiffs’ argument ignores that what matters for

this analysis is whether the employee’s conduct

benefits the employer or is a customary part of the

employment relationship.

3

7. In the last sentence on page 24, omit the word

“tortious,” so that the sentence reads:

According to the allegations of plaintiffs’ operative

complaint, Herold’s conduct was plying Musgrove

with alcohol and cocaine and allowing her to swim.

* * *

There is no change in the judgment.

Appellant’s petition for rehearing is denied.

——————————————————————————————

LUI, P. J. ASHMANN-GERST, J. HOFFSTADT, J.

4

Filed 8/25/22 (unmodified version)

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

RONALD MUSGROVE et al., B311504

Plaintiffs and Appellants, (Los Angeles County

Super. Ct. No. BC673010)

v.

JOEL SILVER,

Defendant and

Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los

Angeles County, Dennis J. Landin, Judge. Affirmed.

The Wallace Firm and Bradley S. Wallace; Joseph S.

Socher for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Murchison & Cumming, Corine Zygelman, and Matthew E.

Voss for Defendant and Respondent.

* * *

As part of an entourage of family and friends, a Hollywood

producer brought the executive assistant he employed through

his company as well as a French chef he personally employed to a

luxurious resort in Bora Bora; the trip was part vacation for both

the assistant and the chef, although the assistant met with the

concierge to plan the entourage’s daily recreational activities and

the chef prepared all lunches and dinners. Tragically, the

executive assistant drowned when she went for a midnight swim

in the lagoon outside her overwater bungalow. The drowning

was accidental, and related to her ingestion of alcohol and cocaine

in the hours prior to her swim. The executive assistant’s parents

sued the producer for wrongful death, on the theory that he is (1)

directly liable, because he paid all resort-related expenses of the

trip, including for alcohol, and (2) vicariously liable, because he

employed the chef, who had met up with the executive assistant

for a late-night rendezvous when she drank half a bottle of wine

and snorted a “significant” amount of cocaine just before going for

a swim. In granting summary judgment, the trial court ruled

that the producer was not liable under either theory as a matter

of law. The primary issue on appeal is whether the chef was

acting within the scope of his employment—thereby rendering

the producer vicariously liable—when the chef met up with the

executive assistant for a nightcap and, by allegedly supplying her

with alcohol and cocaine while knowing she liked to swim at

night, put her in a position of peril from which he failed to protect

her. Although the precedent on vicarious liability is untidy, we

hold that the chef’s late-night activities with the assistant were

not within the scope of his employment under each of the four

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tests articulated by the California courts for assessing the scope

of employment for purposes of imposing vicarious liability.

Because the trial court’s ruling on direct liability was also correct,

we affirm the judgment for the producer.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

A. A tragic death

In August 2015, 28-year-old Carmel Musgrove (Musgrove)

traveled to the Four Seasons Resort on a private island in Bora

Bora, French Polynesia. She was one of 14 or 15 people—largely

family and friends—whom Hollywood producer Joel Silver

(Silver) had invited to accompany him in attending actress

Jennifer Aniston’s wedding celebration. Musgrove stayed in her

own overwater bungalow at the resort. Along with Silver’s other

guests, she went fishing, played volleyball, and went to the spa.

She also attended the group lunches and dinners Silver hosted,

where she would regularly drink wine. Silver covered all of the

group’s expenses on the trip, including alcohol.

On the evening of August 18, 2015, the group ate dinner

indoors because the wind was howling and the water, choppy.

Musgrove had wine with dinner, but did not become visibly

intoxicated. Around 9 p.m., she went to the Silver’s family

bungalow to watch a movie with his then young children. After

agreeing via text message to meet up with 47-year-old Martin

Herold (Herold), another member of Silver’s encourage, Musgrove

told Silver’s family she was not feeling well and excused herself

to go back to her bungalow a little after 10 p.m.

Musgrove then met up with Herold to “party.” Although

precisely where they met and precisely what they did is subject to

some dispute, it is undisputed that over the next hour or so

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Musgrove and Herold kissed, Musgrove drank more wine, and

Musgrove ingested cocaine.

At some point around midnight, and after departing from

her rendezvous with Herold, Musgrove disrobed in her bungalow

and climbed down the ladder from her bungalow’s platform into

the dark waters of the lagoon for a nighttime dip.

Musgrove did not show up at breakfast or lunch the next

day.

Her body washed up onto shore the following night. Two

autopsies confirmed that her cause of death was accidental

drowning, with contributing causes of alcohol and drug use. Her

blood alcohol content was 0.20, which is more than twice the legal

limit for drinking. She also had a “significant” amount of cocaine

in her liver.

B. Employment relationships

1. Musgrove

For many years prior to the August 2015 trip, Musgrove

had been working as Silver’s executive assistant. She was

officially employed by Silver Pictures Entertainment.

Going to Bora Bora was not a requirement of her job.

Rather, Silver invited Musgrove to come along if she wanted: If

she came, she would continue to receive her salary and would be

expected to spend “maybe 10 percent” of her time coordinating

with the resort’s staff and others in lining up the recreational

activities and meals for Silver and his guests; the rest of the time,

however, she would be “on vacation” like the others and would

have her travel, lodging, and other expenses paid.

Silver did not prohibit his guests from partaking of alcohol

at dinner, at the resort’s bars, or through room service;

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conversely, he did not require or pressure anyone to drink.

Whether and how much to drink alcohol was up to each guest.

2. Herold

For over a decade prior to August 2015, Silver had

personally employed Herold as his “family’s personal chef” who

would travel with Silver and his family, and prepare their meals.

Silver paid Herold a salary and covered all of his travel, lodging,

and other expenses, including any alcohol Herold chose to drink.

Herold arrived in Bora Bora a few days before the rest of

Silver’s entourage in order to purchase groceries for the lunches

and dinners he was to prepare during the trip. Herold had no

fixed working hours; instead, he was expected to prepare the

group’s lunches and dinners, but was otherwise free to spend his

remaining time however he wished.

C. Personal relationship between Musgrove and

Herold

By August 2015, Musgrove and Herold were not strangers.

They had met a few years prior, when Musgrove was traveling as

Silver’s executive assistant and Herold was accompanying

Silver’s family as their chef.

Before she departed for the August 2015 Bora Bora trip,

Musgrove emailed Herold and asked if he got “any ‘candy’ down

there.” Herold responded that he “got a bag of bora herb,” which

he later explained meant marijuana. Musgrove was

unimpressed, responding, "Meh. U don’t [have] a hook up there

for the other stuff?” When Herold assured her “Got everything,”

she responded “What I like to hear” with a smiley face symbol.

Herold also knew that Musgrove enjoyed swimming in the

lagoon near the overwater bungalows.

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II. Procedural Background

A. Pleadings

In August 2017, Musgrove’s parents—Ronald and Ann

Musgrove (collectively, plaintiffs)—sued Herold and Silver for the

wrongful death of their daughter.1 In the operative second

amended complaint,2 plaintiffs alleged that Herold and Silver

were liable because they had “exposed” Musgrove to “an

unreasonable risk of harm” by “furnishing” her with “an excessive

amount of alcohol” and “drugs,” and simultaneously “promoting

dangerous activities, including alcohol consumption, drug

consumption, and swimming in a lagoon late at night during

unfavorable conditions.” Plaintiffs more specifically alleged two

theories of liability against Silver—namely, that Silver was (1)

directly liable for Musgrove’s death because he “caused [her] to be

in a vulnerable state on the night” of her death, and (2)

“vicariously liable for the negligence” of Herold because Herold

was “acting within the course and scope of [his] . . . employment

at the time of [Herold’s] negligence.”

B. Summary judgment

Silver moved for summary judgment. Following a full

round of briefing, evidentiary objections, and a hearing, the trial

court granted Silver’s motion. The court ruled that Silver was

not directly liable for Musgrove’s death because Silver had no

“special relationship” with Musgrove that would legally obligate

1 They also sued Silver Pictures Entertainment and Silver-

Katz Holdings, LLC, but those defendants were dismissed

following a good faith settlement.

2 The trial court granted plaintiffs leave to amend and file a

second amended complaint after we issued an alternative writ

effectively instructing it to do so.

6

him to “assume[] control of her safety and welfare”; to hold Silver

directly liable simply because Musgrove “accompanied him” to

Bora Bora, the court reasoned, would “contradict[]” California

tort law. The court further ruled that Silver was not vicariously

liable for Musgrove’s death. Although the court found triable

issues of fact as to whether Herold owed Musgrove a duty of care

and breached that duty, the court concluded as a matter of law

that Silver was not vicariously liable for Herold’s arguably

negligent conduct “in placing Musgrove in a position of peril” by

plying her with alcohol and drugs and then not protecting her

from swimming. More specifically, the court reasoned that

Herold’s conduct was outside the scope of his employment by

Silver because (1) it was “not an ‘outgrowth’ of his employment

[as a chef or] ‘inherent in the working environment,’” (2) it was

not “‘typical of or broadly incidental to’ [Silver’s employment of

him as a chef] or, in a general way, foreseeable from [Herold’s]

duties”; and (3) it was “neither a benefit to the company nor a

customary incident” of Herold’s “employment relationship” with

Silver because Herold’s work as a chef “did not cause him to

invite Musgrove to his bungalow or to put her in a vulnerable

situation and to not protect her from danger.”

C. Appeal

Following entry of judgment, plaintiffs filed this timely

appeal.

DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in (1) granting

summary judgment, and while doing so, (2) not excluding

portions of Silver’s declaration as impermissible and conclusory

lay opinion. We need not consider plaintiffs’ evidentiary

objections because, as we discuss below, summary judgment is

7

warranted even if we assume evidentiary error and exclude that

evidence from our consideration. We independently review a trial

court’s grant of summary judgment. (Hartford Casualty Ins. Co.

v. Swift Distribution, Inc. (2014) 59 Cal.4th 277, 286 (Hartford).)

I. Pertinent Law

A. The law of summary judgment

“Summary judgment is appropriate only ‘where no triable

issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to

judgment as a matter of law.”’ (Regents of University of

California v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 607, 618 (Regents);

Merrill v. Navegar, Inc. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 465, 476; Code Civ.

Proc., § 437c, subd. (c).) To prevail on such a motion, the moving

party—here, Silver—must show that the plaintiffs “ha[ve] not

established, and reasonably cannot be expected to establish, one

or more elements of the cause of action in question.” (Patterson v.

Domino’s Pizza, LLC (2014) 60 Cal.4th 474, 500.) In

independently examining whether Silver has made this showing,

we evaluate the issues framed by the plaintiffs’ operative

pleading (Lona v. Citibank, N.A. (2011) 202 Cal.App.4th 89, 115),

consider all of the evidence before the trial court except evidence

to which an objection was made and sustained (as well as

evidence we will assume should have been excluded) (Hartford,

supra, 59 Cal.4th at p. 286), liberally construe that evidence in

support of the party opposing summary judgment, and resolve all

doubts concerning that evidence in favor of that party (id. at p.

286; Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (c)). We independently review

all subsidiary legal questions—such as whether a duty of care or

a special relationship exists—as we do all questions of law.

(Brown v. USA Taekwondo (2021) 11 Cal.5th 204, 213 (Brown)

[duty of care]; Regents, at p. 620 [special relationship].) And

8

although ‘“the determination whether an employee has acted

within the scope of employment”’ ‘“[o]rdinarily”’ ‘“presents a

question of fact[,] it becomes a question of law”’—and hence an

appropriate basis for a grant of summary judgment—“‘when “the

facts are undisputed and no conflicting inferences are possible.’””

(Lisa M. v. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital (1995) 12

Cal.4th 291, 299 (Lisa M.), quoting Mary M. v. City of Los Angeles

(1991) 54 Cal.3d 202, 213 (Mary M.).)

B. Pertinent tort principles

To prevail against Silver on their sole claim of wrongful

death, plaintiffs must prove “(1) a ‘wrongful act or neglect’ on the

part of one or more persons [(that is, negligence)] that (2)

‘cause[s]’ (3) the ‘death of [another] person.’” (Norgart v. Upjohn

Co. (1999) 21 Cal.4th 383, 390.) A person may be liable either for

(1) his own negligence, in which case he is directly liable for the

resulting death, or (2) someone else’s negligence, in which case he

is vicariously liable because—in the eyes of the law—the other

person’s negligence is deemed to be his own. (E.g., Hooker v.

Department of Transportation (2002) 27 Cal.4th 198, 210; de

Villers v. County of San Diego (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 238, 247.)

A person acts negligently only if he ‘“had a duty to use due care”’

and ‘“breached that duty.”’ (Brown, supra, 11 Cal.5th at p. 213.)

1. Duty

The default rule of tort law in California is that “each

person has a duty to act with reasonable care under the

circumstances.” (Regents, supra, 4 Cal.5th at p. 619; Civ. Code, §

1714, subd. (a).) At the same time, a person generally “has no

duty to come to the aid of another” by “assist[ing] or protect[ing]”

them “unless there is some relationship between them which

9

gives rise to a duty to act.” (Williams v. State of California (1983)

34 Cal.3d 18, 23 (Williams); Regents, at p. 619.)

This “no duty to assist or protect” rule has two exceptions

pertinent to this case.

First, the “‘general duty to exercise due care includes the

duty not to place another person in a situation in which the other

person is exposed to an unreasonable risk of harm’”; in other

words, it includes the duty not to “‘“mak[e] the [other person’s]

position worse”’” by placing them in peril. (Zelig v. County of Los

Angeles (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1112, 1128 (Zelig), quoting Lugtu v.

California Highway Patrol (2001) 26 Cal.4th 703, 716; Brown,

supra, 11 Cal.5th at p. 214.) If a person’s conduct puts another

person in peril, that conduct not only constitutes a breach of the

duty of care but also obligates him to take “affirmative action to

assist or protect” the other person from that peril. (Regents,

supra, 4 Cal.5th at p. 619; Williams, supra, 34 Cal.3d at p. 23;

Zelig, at p. 1129; Weirum v. RKO General, Inc. (1975) 15 Cal.3d

40, 48-49 (Weirum); McHenry v. Asylum Entertainment Delaware,

LLC (2020) 46 Cal.App.5th 469, 485 [“a duty to act can arise from

one party’s conduct in creating the very peril that necessitates

aid and intervention”]; Jane Doe No. 1 v. Uber Technologies, Inc.

(2022) 79 Cal.App.5th 410, 424 [“when a defendant has

affirmatively ‘created a peril’ that foreseeably leads to the

plaintiff’s harm . . ., the defendant can . . . be held liable for

failing to also protect the plaintiff from that peril”].)

Second, a person (typically, the person who becomes the

defendant) can have a “duty to protect or assist” another

(typically, the person who becomes the plaintiff) if he has a

“special relationship” with either (1) the third person who injures

the plaintiff or (2) the plaintiff herself. (Regents, supra, 4 Cal.5th

10

at p. 619; Zelig, supra, 27 Cal.4th at p. 1129; Davidson v. City of

Westminster (1982) 32 Cal.3d 197, 203 (Davidson); Brown, supra,

11 Cal.5th at p. 216.) The first type of special relationship runs

between the defendant and the third person who injured the

plaintiff, and obligates the defendant to control the third person.

(Regents, at p. 621; Zelig, at p. 1129; Davidson, at p. 203.) The

second type of special relationship runs between the defendant

and the plaintiff, and obligates the defendant to protect the

plaintiff. (Zelig, at p. 1129; Davidson, at p. 203.)

Special relationships have “defined boundaries,” insofar as

they are “limited” both “to specific individuals” and to the ‘“risks

that arise within the scope of the [special] relationship [at

issue].”’ (Regents, supra, 4 Cal.5th at p. 621; Rest.3d Torts, § 40,

subd. (a); Doe v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles

(2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 657, 670 (Doe).) Whether a special

relationship between two people exists turns on “the particular

facts and circumstances of their association with one another.”

(Brown, supra, 11 Cal.5th at p. 221.) Because the existence of a

duty to act is ultimately a public policy question (Weirum, supra,

15 Cal.3d at p. 46), and because special relationships are one

means by which a duty may be found to exist, it is not surprising

that whether a special relationship exists in a particular case is,

at bottom, also a question of law based upon public policy

considerations. (Rest.3d Torts, § 40, com. h. [“Whether a

relationship is deemed special is a conclusion based on reasons of

principle or policy.”].) What is more, the existence of a special

relationship does not automatically create a duty to act; instead,

as our Supreme Court recently reaffirmed, courts must also

assess whether public policy concerns warrant “limiting” the duty

11

that might otherwise arise by virtue of a special relationship.

(Brown, at pp. 209, 218-219; Doe, at p. 670.)

2. Vicarious liability based on the special

relationship between employer and employee

Employers have a special relationship with their

employees. (Rest.3d Torts, § 40, subd. (b).) This relationship

rests (1) partly on employers’ ability to control their employees’

conduct and (2) partly on the public policy notion that employers

who benefit from their employees’ conduct should concomitantly

bear “the risks incident to [their] enterprise” as a “cost of doing

business.” (Hinman v. Westinghouse Elec. Co. (1970) 2 Cal.3d

956, 960 (Hinman); Perez v. Van Groningen & Sons, Inc. (1986)

41 Cal.3d 962, 968 (Perez); Mary M., supra, 54 Cal.3d at pp. 208-

209; Rodgers v. Kemper Constr. Co. (1975) 50 Cal.App.3d 608,

618-619 (Rodgers).) Imposing liability for the employee’s conduct

upon the employer has nothing to do with the employer’s fault.

(Hinman, at p. 960.)

Due to this special relationship, California deems

employers to be vicariously liable for the torts committed by their

employees if, but only if, the employee is acting within the scope of

employment. (Mary M., supra, 54 Cal.3d at p. 208; Lisa M.,

supra, 12 Cal.4th at p. 296; Farmers Ins. Group v. County of

Santa Clara (1995) 11 Cal.4th 992, 1005 (Farmers).) This legal

principle is known more commonly as respondeat superior.

(Mary M., at p. 208; Moreno v. Visser Ranch, Inc. (2018) 30

Cal.App.5th 568, 575 (Moreno).)

One court has described the task of assessing whether an

employee is acting within the scope of employment as “difficult.”

(Kephart v. Genuity, Inc. (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 280, 291

(Kephart).) This is an understatement. The difficulty stems in

12

part from the fact that the decision whether an employee is

acting within the scope of employment is imbued with policy

considerations (Hinman, supra, 2 Cal.3d at p. 959; Perez, supra,

41 Cal.3d at p. 967), and in part from the fact that the courts—

while agreeing that the scope of employment should be

“interpreted broadly” (Farmers, supra, 11 Cal.4th at p. 1004)—

have nevertheless articulated no fewer than four different tests

for assessing whether particular acts should be deemed to be

within the scope of employment and hence a basis for imposing

vicarious liability (Moreno, supra, 30 Cal.App.5th at p. 577).3

We now set forth each of those tests.

3 There are further refinements-slash-corollaries to these

tests, many of which turn on whether the employee is at the work

site at the time of the allegedly tortious conduct (in which case

liability turns on whether the employee’s conduct is a

“substantial deviation” from his duties or instead just an act

necessary to his personal "comfort, convenience, [or] health”

(Alma W. v. Oakland Unified School Dist. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d

133, 138-139 (Alma W.)), is “going or coming” to the work site (in

which case liability turns on whether the employee-in-transit was

on a “special errand” that incidentally benefitted the employer)

(Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. v. Department of

Transportation (2013) 220 Cal.App.4th 87, 95-96); Jeewarat v.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (2009) 177 Cal.App.4th 427,

431), or is completely offsite (in which case liability turns more

generally on whether the employee’s activity was within the

scope of his employment, as articulated by one or more of the

tests recounted in this opinion). Because these various rules are

little more than specialized applications of one or more of the four

general tests, and because they are becoming increasingly quaint

as the line between “work site” and home becomes hopelessly

blurred in a post-pandemic world, we focus on the four main tests

rather than this intricate web of sub-rules.

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a. Risk-focused test

This test focuses on whether the “risk” engendered by the

employee’s allegedly tortious conduct is “inherent in the working

environment” or ‘“‘“may fairly be regarded as typical of or broadly

incidental’ to the enterprise undertaken by the employer.””’

(Mary M., supra, 54 Cal.3d at p. 209, quoting Perez, supra, 41

Cal.3d at p. 968; Farmers, supra, 11 Cal.4th at p. 1003; Alma W.,

supra, 123 Cal.App.3d at p. 139; Baptist v. Robinson (2006) 143

Cal.App.4th 151, 160.) Given this focus, an employee’s allegedly

tortious conduct is deemed to be within the scope of employment

only if that conduct is required by, engendered by, or an

“‘outgrowth’” of his employment. (Lisa M., supra, 12 Cal.4th at

pp. 298, 300; Farmers, at p. 1005.) Put differently, there must be

“a ‘nexus’ between the employee’s tort and the employment.”

(Marez v. Lyft, Inc. (2020) 48 Cal.App.5th 569, 582.) This is why

an employee’s conduct is not within the scope of employment

merely because he “uses property or facilities entrusted to him

by” his employer. (Alma W., at p. 140.)

b. Foreseeability-focused test

As its name suggests, this test focuses on whether ‘“the

employee’s [allegedly tortious] []conduct could be reasonably

foreseen by the employer.”’ (Alma W., supra, 123 Cal.App.3d at p.

139, italics added.) For these purposes, the concept of

“foreseeability” has a different—and, significantly, a narrower—

definition than it does in tort law generally. Under this narrower

definition, an employee’s allegedly tortious conduct is sufficiently

foreseeable to be deemed within the scope of employment only if,

“in the context of the particular enterprise,” the employee’s

“conduct is not so unusual or startling that it would seem unfair

to include the loss resulting from it among other costs of the

14

employer’s business.” (Lisa M., supra, 12 Cal.4th at p. 302,

italics in original; Farmers, supra, 11 Cal.4th at pp. 1003, 1009;

Rodgers, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d at pp. 618-619.) As the italicized

language indicates, what matters is whether “the employee’s act

is foreseeable in light of the duties the employee is hired to

perform” (Alma W., at p. 142, italics added; Martinez v. Hagopian

(1986) 182 Cal.App.3d 1223, 1230), and hence whether the

plaintiff’s injury is the type of injury “that ‘“as a practical matter

[is] sure to occur in the conduct of the employer’s enterprise.”’”

(Lisa M., at p. 299, quoting Hinman, supra, 2 Cal.3d at p. 959.)

c. Benefit- and custom-focused test

This test focuses on whether the employee’s allegedly

tortious conduct “either” (1) “provided [some conceivable] benefit

to the employer” or (2) has otherwise become a “‘customary

incident of the employment relationship.’” (CACI No. 3724,

italics added; Rodgers, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d at p. 620, quoting

McCarty v. Workmen’s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1974) 12 Cal.3d 677,

681-683 (McCarty); Perez, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 969 [benefit to

employer is not required to impose vicarious liability].) Although

a benefit need only be “conceivable,” the benefit must

nevertheless be “‘sufficient enough to justify making the

employer responsible’” for the employee’s allegedly tortious

conduct. (Newland v. County of Los Angeles (2018) 24

Cal.App.5th 676, 686.)

d. Public policy-focused test

This test more explicitly focuses on how neatly a finding

that the employer should be vicariously liable for the employee’s

allegedly tortious conduct squares with the public policy

rationales animating the respondeat superior doctrine. Courts

have identified three rationales for the doctrine: “(1) to prevent

15

recurrence of tortious conduct; (2) to give greater assurance of

compensation for the victim; and (3) to ensure that the victim’s

losses will be equitably borne by those who benefit from the

enterprise that gave rise to the injury.” (Mary M., supra, 54

Cal.3d at p. 209; Perez, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 967; Lisa M., supra,

12 Cal.4th at p. 304; Farmers, supra, 11 Cal.4th at pp. 1013-

1014.) The various rationales are not hermetically sealed from

one another, as “vicarious liability is invoked to provide greater

assurance of compensation to victims” (the second rationale)

“where it is equitable to shift losses to the employer because the

employer benefits from the injury-producing activity and such

losses are, as a practical matter, sure to occur from the conduct of

the enterprise” (the third rationale). (Kephart, supra, 136

Cal.App.4th at p. 297.) Respondeat superior, however, is not

“merely a justification for reaching a ‘deep pocket’”; instead, all

three policy rationales are grounded in the “‘deeply rooted

sentiment that a business enterprise cannot justly disclaim

responsibility for accidents which may fairly be said to be

characteristic of its activities.’” (Rodgers, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d at

p. 618.)

Despite the different formulations of the scope-of-

employment standard, the courts articulating these tests all

agree that an employee’s tortious acts may qualify as within the

scope of employment—assuming they satisfy the pertinent test—

even if the employer did not authorize the employee’s conduct

(Perez, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 969), even if the employee acted

without the motive of serving the employer’s interest (Lisa M.,

supra, 12 Cal.4th at p. 297), and even if the employee engaged in

intentional (or even criminal) conduct (id. at pp. 296-297).

16

II. Analysis

Because plaintiffs in their operative complaint as well as in

their opposition to Silver’s summary judgment motion seek to

hold Silver liable on theories of direct liability as well as vicarious

liability, we will address both theories on appeal. We will then

discuss plaintiffs’ remaining arguments.

A. Direct liability

To hold Silver directly liable for Musgrove’s death,

plaintiffs need to establish either that (1) Silver placed Musgrove

in peril and failed to protect her from that very same peril (e.g.,

Regents, supra, 4 Cal.5th at p. 619), or (2) Silver has a special

relationship with Musgrove that otherwise obligates him to

protect her (e.g., Zelig, supra, 27 Cal.4th at p. 1129).

1. Placing in peril

Under the operative pleading that frames the issues on

summary judgment, plaintiffs seek to hold Silver liable for (1)

placing Musgrove in peril by furnishing her with (a) “an excessive

amount of alcohol” and (b) drugs, and (2) not preventing her from

engaging in the “dangerous activit[y]” of swimming in the lagoon

at night. The evidence before the trial court at the time of

summary judgment refuted the allegation that Silver “furnished”

Musgrove with drugs; to the contrary, the undisputed facts

showed that Silver did not supply anyone with cocaine, or have

any knowledge that anyone was ingesting it. At most, the

undisputed evidence showed that Silver furnished Musgrove with

alcohol in two ways—by allowing her to drink the wine served

with the meals prepared by Herold and by covering the cost of

any alcohol she purchased at the resort. This is insufficient, as a

matter of law, to establish liability. That is because our

Legislature has explicitly established that a private person

17

cannot be held liable in tort for furnishing alcohol to another

adult. (Civ. Code, § 1714, subd. (c) [“[N]o social host who

furnishes alcoholic beverages to any person may be held legally

accountable for . . . injury to [that] person . . . resulting from the

consumption of those beverages.”]; Bus. & Prof. Code, § 25602,

subd. (b) [same]; Allen v. Liberman (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 46, 56

(Allen) [social host immunity also reaches hosts who do not

directly furnish but do not stop others from drinking alcohol they

make available].)

2. Special relationship between Silver and

Musgrove

As noted above, employers have a special relationship with

their employees, which can give rise to a duty to control those

employees to ensure that they do not harm third parties.

(Rest.3d Torts, § 40, subd. (b)(4).) This special relationship can

also give rise to a duty to protect those employees. (Brown, supra,

11 Cal.5th at p. 216 [“Relationships between . . . employers and

employees . . . give rise to an affirmative duty to protect.”].)

California law forecloses holding Silver liable for failing to

protect Musgrove by virtue of the special relationship between an

employer and employee. We come to this conclusion for three

reasons.

First, there may not be an employee-employer relationship

between Musgrove and Silver that gives rise to any special

relationship. That is because the undisputed facts show that

Musgrove was employed by Silver Pictures Entertainment, not

Silver himself. Plaintiffs also failed to adduce evidence bearing

directly on whether Silver Pictures Entertainment was an alter

ego of Silver.

18

Second, and even if we assume that Musgrove was

employed by Silver, plaintiffs are seeking to hold Silver liable for

Silver’s own conduct in failing to protect her from the alcohol he

furnished or subsidized. This is not a viable theory because, as

noted above, California statutory law provides that a person

cannot be liable in tort for furnishing alcohol to another adult.

(Civ. Code, § 1714, subd. (c); Bus. & Prof. Code, § 26502, subd.

(b).) This statutory prohibition trumps any potential tort liability

that might otherwise come into being by virtue of any special

relationship obligating Silver to protect Musgrove. (Allen, supra,

227 Cal.App.4th at p. 50 [“special relationship, by itself, does not

negate the specific statutory social host immunity applicable to

these facts” (that is, when the special relationship obligates the

defendant to protect the injured party)]; cf. Childers v. Shasta

Livestock Auction Yard, Inc. (1987) 190 Cal.App.3d 792, 798

(Childers) [statutory immunity does not apply when the special

relationship obligates the defendant to control the tortfeasor].)

Third, and even if we assume that the special employment

relationship between Silver and Musgrove somehow supersedes

the immunity conferred by statute, Silver’s duty to protect his

employees is limited to while they are “at work” or otherwise in a

locale the employer controls. (Rest.3d Torts, § 40, subd. (b)(4);

Colonial Van & Storage, Inc. v. Superior Court (2022) 76

Cal.App.5th 487, 500-501.) Here, the undisputed facts show that

what Musgrove needed protection from was her further alcohol

consumption and ingestion of cocaine while in a private bungalow

after 10 p.m.; that she was not “at work” or undertaking any

work-related activities when she did so; and that Silver had no

control over any private bungalow at the resort other than his

own. On these facts, Silver had no employment-related duty to

19

protect Musgrove. The fact that Silver expensed the bungalow is

not enough as a matter of law. (Accord, Sakiyama v. AMF

Bowling Centers, Inc. (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 398, 405-406

[business owner who leases premises not liable for injuries

sustained when lessees bring illegal drugs onto premises without

the owner’s knowledge, causing injury to third parties].)

B. Vicarious liability

To hold Silver vicariously liable for Musgrove’s death under

the theory articulated in the operative pleading that frames the

issues on summary judgment, plaintiffs need to establish that (1)

Herold engaged in negligent conduct that caused Musgrove’s

death, and (2) Herold was acting within the scope of his

employment at the time of his negligent conduct. As noted above,

a person is negligent for placing a third party in a position of

peril and then failing to protect them from that peril. (Regents,

supra, 4 Cal.5th at p. 619; Williams, supra, 34 Cal.3d at p. 23;

Zelig, at p. 1128; Weirum, supra, 15 Cal.3d at p. 48.) Construing

the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, we

independently agree with the trial court’s conclusion that there

exist disputes of material fact regarding whether Herold engaged

in negligent conduct by placing Musgrove in peril (by supplying

her with alcohol and, allegedly, cocaine in the late evening while

knowing that she enjoyed swimming at night in the lagoon), and

then failing to protect her from that peril. (Accord Carlsen v.

Koivumaki (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 879, 894-895 (Carlsen)

[defendant is negligent for transporting a visibly intoxicated

person to a hillside cliff and then failing to protect him from

falling]; cf. Civ. Code, § 1714, subd. (c) [merely furnishing alcohol

cannot be a basis for liability].) Thus, assuming it to be true that

Herold placed Musgrove in peril and failed to protect her, Silver’s

20

vicarious liability for Musgrove’s death turns on whether Herold

was acting within the scope of his employment when he engaged

in that tortious conduct.

As explained below, we independently agree with the trial

court’s conclusion that the undisputed (or assumed) facts

establish as a matter of law that Herold was not acting within

the scope of his employment under any of the pertinent tests.

1. Risk-focused test

Silver employed Herold as his family’s personal chef; for

the August 2015 trip, Herold’s job was to purchase groceries and

then to prepare lunches and dinners for the members of Silver’s

entourage who accompanied him in Bora Bora. Herold’s conduct

in meeting up with Musgrove at 10 p.m. in one of their private

bungalows to consume wine and cocaine was not required by,

engendered by, or any outgrowth of Herold’s job as Silver’s chef.

(Lisa M., supra, 12 Cal.4th at pp. 298, 300.) Thus, the risk of

harm to Musgrove attendant to Herold’s conduct in placing her in

peril and then failing to protect her is not, as a matter of law,

“‘“inherent in [his] working environment”’” and cannot ‘“fairly be

regarded as typical of or broadly incidental to”’ Silver’s enterprise

of employing Herold as his family’s personal chef. (Mary M.,

supra, 54 Cal.3d at p. 209; Farmers, supra, 11 Cal.4th at p. 1033;

Alma W., supra, 123 Cal.App.3d at p. 139.)

Plaintiffs resist this conclusion, arguing that Herold sent

an email to Musgrove on the evening of August 18 from the

kitchen at a time when he was still preparing dinner, such that

all of Herold’s conduct later that night was necessarily an

“outgrowth” of that initial email. This argument rests on a

misreading of the test. The pertinent question is whether the

employee’s negligent conduct (and its attendant risk) was an

21

outgrowth of his job, not whether a plaintiff can identify

something the employee did while at work that may have set the

stage for his subsequent negligent conduct. Herold’s flirtation

with Musgrove had nothing to do with his job duties as Silver’s

personal family chef. What is more, the fact that Herold met

Musgrove on prior trips where they were brought together

because Herold happened to be Silver’s personal family chef and

Musgrove happened to be Silver’s executive assistant does not

mean that Herold’s conduct in the course of their personal

relationship is an outgrowth of Herold’s employment as a chef.

2. Foreseeability-focused test

Herold’s conduct in furnishing Musgrove with additional

alcohol and with cocaine while aware that she might try to go

swimming was not, as a matter of law, a “reasonably foreseeable”

result of his employment as Silver’s personal family chef. That is

because, “in the context of th[at] particular enterprise” of working

as a chef, his conduct during his personal interaction with

Musgrove is “so unusual or startling that it would seem unfair to

include the loss resulting from it among other costs of” Silver’s

business of employing Herold as a chef. (Lisa M., supra, 12

Cal.4th at p. 302.) In other words, we conclude as a matter of law

that the type of injuries Musgrove suffered were not “‘“as a

practical matter . . . sure to occur in the conduct”’” of Silver’s

employment of Herold as his family’s personal chef and the duties

that being a chef entailed. (Id. at p. 299; Alma W., supra, 123

Cal.App.3d at p. 144.)

Plaintiffs urge that Herold’s conduct was foreseeable

because Silver either never adopted any anti-drug/anti-alcohol

policy or never communicated such a policy to Herold. This

argument relies on the concept of foreseeability as it is used for a

22

test of negligence in general, rather than the more specialized

and narrower concept of foreseeability applicable when imposing

respondeat superior liability and which, as noted above, views

foreseeability through the prism of the employer’s enterprise and

the employee’s duties. (Rodgers, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d at pp. 618-

619 [contrasting the two tests].) The various definitions of

foreseeability are not interchangeable. Tort law is more like

baking than cooking; there are specific doctrines, each with its

own recipe and whose ingredients cannot be casually swapped.

When viewed through the proper prism, Musgrove’s tragic death

is not a foreseeable consequence of Herold’s work as Silver’s chef.

3. Benefit- and custom-focused test

Silver is also not vicariously liable, as a matter of law,

under the test that examines whether the employee’s tortious

conduct (1) conceivably benefited the employer or (2) was a

customary incident of the employment relationship. (CACI No.

3724; Rodgers, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d at p. 620.) That is because

Herold’s conduct in imperiling Musgrove by furnishing her

additional alcohol and cocaine did not in any conceivable way

benefit Silver’s employment of Herold as his family’s personal

chef. For much the same reason, Herold’s imperiling conduct was

not a “customary incident” of the employment relationship; there

is no evidence that anything like this had ever happened before

with anyone in Silver’s employ. What is more, the fact that

Herold happened to be at the resort where he was providing his

chef services for Silver and that Herold had the chance to use his

free access to amenities to furnish the alcohol Musgrove drank is

insufficient to establish vicarious liability. (Alma W., supra, 123

Cal.App.3d at p. 140 [employee’s “presence at the place of

employment before, during, or after the commission of the

23

offense” and “[t]he mere fact that an employee has the

opportunity to abuse the facilities necessary to the performance

of his duties” each insufficient to create vicarious liability].)

Plaintiffs urge that they have established triable issues of

material fact under this test because Silver’s practice of

furnishing alcohol to Herold at meals and allowing Herold to

expense any further alcohol consumption while traveling with

Silver benefitted Silver because it was a job perquisite that kept

Herold happy (and hence in Silver’s employ) and was a customary

incident of Herold’s employment. We disagree. Plaintiffs’

argument ignores that what matters for this analysis is whether

the employee’s tortious conduct benefits the employer or is a

customary part of the employment relationship. According to the

allegations of plaintiffs’ operative complaint, Herold’s tortious

conduct was plying Musgrove with alcohol and cocaine and

allowing her to swim. That conduct is different from—and far

more egregious than—Herold’s conduct in simply drinking the

alcohol Silver supplied or subsidized. It is analytically

inappropriate to conflate the two.

4. Public policy-focused test

Treating Herold’s conduct as outside the scope of his

employment as Silver’s chef is also warranted as a matter of law

under the test that looks directly at the three main public policy

rationales animating respondeat superior liability. Although

holding Silver liable for Herold’s conduct in imperiling Musgrove

would undoubtedly make strides toward “prevent[ing the]

recurrence of [similar] tortious conduct” and “giv[ing] greater

assurance of compensation [to] the victim” (Mary M., supra, 54

Cal.3d at p. 209), these two factors will always counsel in favor of

imposing liability because they will be furthered whenever a

24

defendant is held vicariously liable for a plaintiff’s injury. The

critical policy consideration is whether holding Silver liable for

Herold’s conduct in imperiling Musgrove would “ensure that [her

parents’] loss[] will be equitably borne by those who benefit from

the enterprise that gave rise to the injury.” (Ibid., italics added.)

Whether “it is equitable to shift losses to the employer” turns on

whether “the employer benefit[ted] from the injury-producing

activity and [whether] such losses are, as a practical matter, sure

to occur from the conduct of the enterprise.” (Kephart, supra, 136

Cal.App.4th at p. 297.) Where the employee’s “injury-producing

activity” is ‘“simply too attenuated”’ from his duties for “the

enterprise,” there is no vicarious liability as a matter of law. (Id.;

Farmers, supra, 11 Cal.4th at p. 1017.) Here, it is inequitable to

shift the burden of loss onto Silver because Silver did not benefit

from Herold’s “injury-producing activity” of supplying Musgrove

with more alcohol and with cocaine late at night before she was

likely to go swimming, and because this conduct is not, “as a

practical matter, sure to occur from” Herold’s employment as

Silver’s personal family chef. In sum, Herold’s malfeasance and

nonfeasance is “simply too attenuated” from his job duties as a

chef to make it equitable to tag Silver with liability arising out of

Herold’s tortious conduct.

Plaintiffs nonetheless suggest that it is equitable to hold

Silver liable for Herold’s late-night activities because Herold, as

Silver’s personal family chef, has no fixed working hours and

hence was effectively on-call to prepare meals at any time. As a

result, plaintiffs reason, it is fair to hold Silver vicariously liable

even for Herold’s late-night private conduct with others like

Musgrove. This argument is a nonstarter, as courts have

“expressly reject[ed] any suggestion that reason, fairness or

25

public policy necessarily demands 24-hour employer liability for

the conduct of employees who are on-call 24 hours a day.” (Le

Elder v. Rice (1994) 21 Cal.App.4th 1604, 1607; id. at p. 1609

[“Public policy would be ill-served by a rule establishing 24-hour

employer liability for on-call employees, regardless of the nature

of the employee’s activities at the time of an accident.”];

Sunderland v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems Support

Co. (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 1, 12 [same].) Applying this “no

liability” rule makes particular sense here, where the employer

had no control over Herold’s injury-producing activities and

where those activities are wholly unrelated to his work duties as

Silver’s chef.

C. Plaintiffs’ remaining arguments

Plaintiffs raise one further category of arguments—namely,

that precedent (and four cases in particular) dictates that the

trial court’s summary judgment ruling is wrong. As explained

below, we disagree.

First, plaintiffs cite Carlsen, supra, 227 Cal.App.4th 879.

In Carlsen, a group of ministry students took their “clearly

intoxicated” friend to an after-party on the edge of a high cliff.

When he suffered injuries stumbling over that cliff, he sued the

ministry students. Carlsen held that summary judgment for the

students was inappropriate on these facts because they put the

plaintiff in a position of peril by taking him to a cliffside

gathering when the plaintiff was obviously drunk, which

obligated them to protect him. (Id. at pp. 894-895.) Carlsen

supports what we have assumed to be true in this case based on

the disputes of material fact—namely, that Herold had a duty to

protect Musgrove after he put her in a position of peril by giving

her alcohol and cocaine. But Carlsen says nothing about whether

26

Silver should be held vicariously liable for Herold’s negligence (as

Carlsen did not deal with employer-employee relationships at

all). And Carlsen says nothing about whether Silver should be

held directly liable (as there is no evidence in this case that Silver

imperiled Musgrove beyond furnishing or subsidizing her alcohol

intake, which is an act for which he cannot be found liable by

statutory law).

Second, plaintiffs cite Rodgers, supra, 50 Cal.App.3d 608.

In Rodgers, two employees of a contractor suffered injuries in a

melee with two drunken employees of a subcontractor. The

subcontractor had maintained an ironically named “dry house” on

the work premises where it offered its employees alcohol to

encourage them to stay onsite after their work shifts in case the

subcontractor needed to recruit additional help for the round-the-

clock job. (Id. at p. 615.) The melee grew out of a dispute about

the proper operation of work equipment. (Id. at pp. 615-616.)

When the injured employees sued the subcontractor (on the

theory that it was vicariously liable for the conduct of its

employees), Rodgers held that it was error to grant summary

judgment for the subcontractor because its provision of alcohol at

the “dry house” had become “customary” and because the

employees’ “continued presence after completion of their work

shift was ‘conceivably’ of some benefit to” the subcontractor

because “[i]t was a convenience to [the subcontractor] to be able

to recruit additional help by simply contacting employees

remaining in or about the job site.” (Id. at p. 620.) Rodgers did

no more than apply the benefit- and custom-focused test, which

we have already found to dictate a finding for Silver as a matter

of law. Unlike the subcontractor in Rodgers who supplied the

alcohol that was the direct impetus of the melee that caused the

27

plaintiffs’ injuries, Silver in no way made it a custom or

benefitted from Herold’s conduct in supplying Musgrove with

alcohol and drugs during a late-night rendezvous in a private

bungalow.

Third, plaintiffs cite Childers, supra, 190 Cal.App.3d 792.

In Childers, an auction yard “routinely furnished alcohol on the

premises to customers and employees to encourage good customer

relations.” (Id. at p. 806.) When a third party was injured by an

employee who partook of the auction yard’s alcohol and sued the

auction yard, Childers held that the employer’s conduct in

furnishing alcohol in order to further its business enterprise was

sufficient to ward off summary judgment on a theory of vicarious

liability. (Id. at pp. 805-806.) Childers is inapposite. Silver’s

payment of all of his guests’ expenses, including Herold’s alcohol

tabs, has no connection with and certainly does not further the

enterprise of Silver’s employment of Herold as his personal

family chef.

Lastly, plaintiffs cite Purton v. Marriott International, Inc.

(2013) 218 Cal.App.4th 499 (Purton). In Purton, a hotel hosted a

company party where it served alcohol to its employee-attendees.

When one of its employees killed a third party in an auto accident

while still drunk from alcohol imbibed at the party, the third

party’s family sued the hotel under a vicarious liability theory.

Purton held that summary judgment for the hotel was not

warranted; the hotel could be liable, Purton reasoned, because

the party was “a ‘thank you’ for its employees” and an exercise in

“improving employee morale and furthering employer-employee

relationships” that directly benefitted the hotel’s business

enterprise. (Id. at pp. 509-510; accord McCarty, supra, 12 Cal.3d

at p. 682 [office party where alcohol served benefits company by

28

“foster[ing] company camaraderie” and “provid[ing] an occasion

for the discussion of company business”]; Harris v. Trojan

Fireworks Co. (1981) 120 Cal.App.3d 157, 159, 163-164 (Harris)

[office party where alcohol served benefits company by

“improv[ing] employer/employee relations,” “providing

[employees] with [an] opportunity for social contact,” and

constituting a “fringe benefit” that “increase[s] the continuing of

employment”].)

This case is different: Silver did not host a company party

where he furnished the alcohol and drugs ingested by Herold and

Musgrove; he subsidized alcohol, and Herold went off on his own

time and in his own space to consume more substances with

Musgrove. Even if we ignore this critical difference, plaintiffs

continue that Silver’s “business” benefitted by subsidizing

Herold’s alcohol intake because such a perquisite was likely to

make Herold happier (as the sole employee of Silver’s enterprise

of hiring a chef) and hence likely to make him stick around longer

as Silver’s personal family chef. This is not what Purton holds,

and McCarty and Harris involved additional benefits to the

employer such as providing opportunities for camaraderie

between employees and an opportunity to discuss company

business. We decline to read Purton, McCarty, or Harris as

holding that any perquisite that an employer offers its employee

is sufficient, by itself, to justify the imposition of vicarious

liability because such a rule would vastly expand such liability to

apply to just about every employee in the workforce. This would

ride roughshod over the carefully balanced policy inquiry that

animates—and circumscribes—the doctrine of respondeat

superior.

29

DISPOSITION

The judgment is affirmed. Silver is entitled to his costs on

appeal.

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION.

______________________, J.

HOFFSTADT

We concur:

_________________________, P. J.

LUI

_________________________, J.

ASHMANN-GERST

30

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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