Valley v. Clay
Valley v. Clay
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff appeals from a judgment sustaining an’ exception of no cause of action, leveled against his petition demanding damages for personal injuries alleged to have been received through the fault of defendant’s chauffeur.
The pertinent allegations of the petition are as follows:
“(2) That on or about Wednesday, November 10, 1915, at about 7:45 o’clock p. m., on Royal street, near the corner of Canal street, in this city, petitioner was struck in the left eye by one Edward W. Miller, a chauffeur in the employ of defendant.
“(3) That at the time petitioner was crossing Royal street from the river to the woods side, when he narrowly escaped being struck by defendant’s automobile, which was driven in a careless manner by defendant’s said chauffeur.
“(4) That petitioner, in his excitement, expressed his disapprobation of the chauffeur’s action, by stating ‘You damned fool, what’s the matter with you? Can’t you see where you are going?’ or words to similar effect; but, upon seeing that there was a lady in the car, who, petitioner has since been informed, was defendant’s wife, petitioner immediately apologized for his language, and continued to the sidewalk.
“(5) That petitioner is informed and believes that defendant’s chauffeur jumped from the automobile, assaulted petitioner from the back, threw petitioner to the sidewalk, and struck him in the left eye, all without cause or provocation.
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“(7) That at the time defendant’s chauffeur was acting in the course of and during his employment, in the course of his authority, to protect the occupants of the car, with his master’s work in mind, and for what he believed to be his master’s benefit.”
It is not impossible for the servant to use his personal venom in doing unlawfully the work of the master, in such manner as to render the latter liable, where, as suggested by counsel for appellee in oral argument, a chauffeur deliberately ran the automobile over some one against whom he had a personal grudge. That, however, is not the ease here. The chauffeur abandoned his work of driving the machine, according to the allegation of the petition, constituted himself court and jury, and proceeded to punish plaintiff for what he conceived to be an insult to himself and defendant’s wife, and clearly he was not acting within the scope of his employment when so doing.
The judgment appealed from is affirmed, at appellant’s cost.
Reference
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- VALLEY v. CLAY
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- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by Editorial Staff.) 1. Master and servant The ordinary rules of master and servant are to be applied to the relation of owner and chauffeur of an automobile, and to render the owner liable the chauffeur must have acted within the scope of his employment. 2. Master and servant For a master to be liable for an injury, it must have been caused by some act expressly or by reasonable implication within the scope of his agent’s employment. 3. Master and servant 307 — Master liable for unlawful or criminal act, if within servant’s duties. If a service be performed in an unlawful or even a criminal manner, the master is liable so long as the thing done forms a part of the servant’s duties. 4. Master and servant 302(3) — Chauffeur committing assault held not within scope of employment. In the absence of special instruction or agreement, it is not within a chauffeur’s duty to protect his employer’s family against assault, insult, or abuse at the hands of third persons, and he is not acting within the scope of his employment in assaulting one using abusive language, when narrowly escaping being struck by the automobile. 5. Pleading In an action for an assault by defendant’s chauffeur as the result of abusive language used by plaintiff when almost struck by the automobile, an allegation that the chauffeur was acting within the course of his authority to protect the occupants of the car was but a legal conclusion.