Newland v. County of Los Angeles, 234 Cal. Rptr. 3d 374 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018)

Donald Prigo worked as a Deputy Public Defender for the County. One day on his way home from work, Prigo hit a car driven by Kevin Vargas who was forced off the road and injured a pedestrian (plaintiff, Jake Newland). Newland sued Prigo, Vargas and the County for negligence, and an eight-day trial was held to determine whether Prigo was expressly or impliedly required to use his personal vehicle for work purposes after which the jury returned a $14 million verdict in favor of Newland. The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment, holding that “Public policy does not support imposing liability on the County for the tortious conduct of an employee who was not driving in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident.”