Respondent Superior

a. Trips from home: Most courts hold that where an accident occurs where the employee is traveling from her home to work, she is not acting within the scope of her employment; this conclusion is often based on the theory that the employer has no “control” over the employee at that time.

(1) Returning home: When the employee is returning home after business activities, the courts are divided, although most would probably deny liability on the employer’s part here as well.

b. Frolic and detour: It frequently happens that, while on a business trip, the employee makes a short “side trip” or “detour” for her own purposes.

(1) Traditional view: The traditional view has been that while the employee is on the first leg of her side trip (i.e., going to the personal objective) she is engaging in what is often called a “frolic and detour,” and thus is not within the scope of her employment. But as soon as she begins to return towards the path of her original business trip, she is once again within the scope of her employment,