1. What previous indications did Nabisco have that Mr. Lynch might cause some pr
ID: 434027 • Letter: 1
Question
1. What previous indications did Nabisco have that Mr. Lynch might cause some problems? 2. What test does the court give for determining scope of employment? 3. What is the "motivation test," and does this court accept or reject it?
Reference:
FACTS: Ronnell Lynch was a cookie salesman for Nabisco. Jerome Lange was the manager of a
small grocery story on Lynch’s route. Nabisco had received complaints about Lynch being overly
aggressive in taking shelf space. On May 1, 1969, while Lynch was delivering merchandise to
Lange’s store, Lynch and Lange became involved in an argument and Lynch assaulted Lange and
threw merchandise around the store. Lange sued Nabisco for his injuries.
DECISION BELOW: The jury found for Lange even though Lynch’s acts were outside the scope
of employment because Nabisco was negligent in hiring and retaining Lynch. The judge granted
Nabisco a judgment NOV and Lange appealed.
ISSUE ON APPEAL: Was Nabisco responsible for Lynch’s conduct when it was not part of his
scope of employment?
DECISION: Yes. Generally, masters are not held liable for intentional torts unless the master
requested it of the servant. But here, there was an implied request through Nabisco’s inaction with
respect to complaints about Lynch.
Explanation / Answer
As there was complaint against Mr Lynch from numerous grocery stores about being aggressive on performing his duty, it is a clear example of Expectations that Mr Lynch could have problems in future while performing his duties at Nabisco's behalf. If assault was motivated by business or personal consideration or it was motivated by an incident to any employee, determination of the scope of the employment is done. In each and every case understanding of the motivation of the result is essential. If the motivation was done personally or for the employer's profit. In this specific case court directly ruled out Mr Lynch's personal intent as the employee perform the actions during his job for the employer hence rejection of motivation test is ruled by the court.
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