Miller v. American Greetings Corp., 161 Cal. App. 4th 1055 (2008)

Holly and Paul Miller sued Christopher Magdaleno and American Greetings, his employer, for injuries Holly sustained when Magdaleno hit her with his pick-up truck while she stood next to her car on a road in Pasadena. The Millers subpoenaed Magdaleno’s cellphone records, which indicated that Magdaleno had been speaking to his crew chief approximately eight minutes before the accident occurred at 9:35 a.m.; Magdaleno testified that he was on his way to meet with a probate attorney in Pasadena when he hit Holly. The trial court granted American Greetings’ motion for summary judgment, which the Court of Appeal affirmed based on the absence of a triable issue of material fact that Magdaleno was acting within the course and scope of his employment with American Greetings at the time of the accident. Cf. Rodriguez v. Bank of the West, 162 Cal. App. 4th 454 (2008) (banks where defalcating employee deposited checks payable to her employer (an attorney) owed no duty of care to the attorney).