Employer Vicarious Liability for Employee Tort Outside Scope of Employment

A plaintiff sued a defendant for damages resulting from an accident caused by the defendant's employee, arguing the employer was vicariously liable, but the lower court dismissed the claim, finding the employee's actions were entirely outside the scope of their employment. The high court upheld the dismissal, reasoning that for an employer to be held vicariously liable under the relevant civil code provision for the torts of an employee, the act causing the damage must have occurred "in the exercise of the functions for which the employee was employed," and since the lower court factually determined the employee's actions were not connected to their duties, the condition for imposing vicarious liability was not met.