CGL Facility Mgmt. LLC v. Wiley

Although the defendant's employee was driving a company truck when he caused a head-on collision, he was not acting within the scope of his employment because he was commuting to work.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Keiana Wiley died when Michael Thad Clay crossed the center line in his employer’s pickup truck and hit Wiley’s car head-on. Clay’s blood tested positive for methamphetamine. Bryant Wiley, acting as the administrator of his wife’s estate and her surviving spouse, sued Clay for wrongful death and sued Clay’s employer, CGL Facility Management, LLC, under theories of respondeat superior and negligent hiring, retention, entrustment, and maintenance. The defendants answered, and following discovery, CGL moved for summary judgment, arguing that Clay was not on the job when the collision occurred and that no evidence supported Wiley’s other claims. The trial court denied the motion without explanation but granted a certificate of immediate review, and this court granted CGL’s application for interlocutory appeal. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the trial court’s denial of summary judgment to CGL on Wiley’s claims of liability under theories of respondeat superior, negligent hiring and retention, and negligent training and maintenance, but affirm the denial of summary judgment on Wiley’s negligent entrustment claim.

On appeal from a grant of summary judgment, we conduct a de novo review, and we view the evidence and the inferences drawn from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. A defendant demonstrates entitlement to summary judgment by showing that the record lacks evidence sufficient to create a jury issue on at least one essential element of the plaintiff’s case. The defendant does not need to affirmatively disprove the plaintiff’s case, but may prevail simply by pointing to the lack of evidence. If the defendant does so, the plaintiff cannot rest on his pleadings, but must point to specific evidence that gives rise to a triable issue of fact.

CGL Facility Mgmt. LLC v. Wiley

Although the defendant's employee was driving a company truck when he caused a head-on collision, he was not acting within the scope of his employment because he was commuting to work.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report