ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) – The employer of a man who attempted to drive to work in inclement weather and instead lost control and killed two men will not face liability.
That’s the Jan. 14 ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals, which ruled for DMAC81 in a lawsuit brought by the estate of Tuan Minh Nguyen.
Nguyen and his brother-in-law were killed in January 2018 when DMAC81 employee Gary Cummings lost control and struck their vehicle.
But the Court of Appeals found that Cummings was not operating his vehicle in the course and scope of his employment with DMAC81’s McAllister’s Deli, even though Cummings sometimes used that vehicle to make deliveries.
In fact, he was scheduled to make a delivery that morning and felt compelled by his supervisor’s instructions to do so, despite the state of emergency due to a winter storm.
A blood test showed Cummings had marijuana in his system. DMAC81 did not conduct background checks or review driving histories before allowing employees to make deliveries.
DMAC81’s appeal tested the trial court’s ruling that whether Cummings was on a “special mission” could lead to liability, arguing that asking Cummings to come in early and make a delivery during bad weather do not qualify.
“Here, the evidence showed that Cummings was scheduled to work his regular shift the morning of the accident, and he was commuting to work a few minutes earlier than usual to prepare his work station prior to making the delivery,” Judge Todd Markle wrote.
“He was not being paid for his commute time, and he was headed into his usual job site to complete his normal job tasks before making the delivery. Nothing about the events were special or uncustomary. He was not using a company car, or making business- related calls during the commute, and DMAC81 did not control the manner in which Cummings commuted.”