Torts/Personal Injury,
Civil Litigation,
California Supreme Court
Dec. 28, 2021
Employer vicariously liable if worker causes wildfire
The unanimous ruling allows the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to pursue more than $12 million in costs it incurred fighting the 2016 fire in Santa Barbara inadvertently started by an employee of a religious camp.
Employers can be held vicariously liable under the theory of respondeat superior when employees cause wildfires, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The unanimous ruling allows the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to pursue more than $12 million in costs it incurred fighting the 2016 fire in Santa Barbara inadvertently started by an employee of a religious camp.
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Torts
Presbyterian Camp and Conference Centers v. Superior Court (Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection)
A corporation was liable for the costs of suppressing fires that its employee negligently set because the statute at issue incorporated the theory of respondeat superior.
