My first Law at Work column appeared on Oct. 3, 2016. The column has appeared here biweekly on every alternating Monday since. This is the 250th column.
Employers are liable for legal wrongs their employees commit within the scope of their employment under a doctrine called respondeat superior. Under the “going and coming” rule, however, employers are not liable for legal wrongs their employees commit while commuting to and from work, with limited exceptions.
In a 2022 ruling, a California court of appeal panel explained: “The theory behind the going and coming rule is that the employment relationship is suspended from the time the employee leaves work until she returns or, put another way, that in commuting the employee is not rendering service to the employer.”
Notwithstanding this rule, an employer may be liable where the employer gets some specific benefit from the employee’s commuting trip.
In Chang v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group, decided last month, a Los Angeles-based court of appeal panel applied the going and coming rule in the context of an employee working partially from home.
On Monday morning, Sept. 12, 2022, Kai-Lin Chang, while riding his bicycle, suffered injuries when he was allegedly hit by Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) employee Brittany Doremus when Doremus, a doctor employed by SCPMG, allegedly made a sudden left turn into Chang’s path. Doremus was driving to her SCPMG medical center office. Doremus was turning...
Jeon Han-gil, a political YouTuber and former Korean history lecturer, who spread false information about President Lee Jae Myung and Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok, and advocated the "1980 Gwan...