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Atlanta Area Council, Inc.v.Patel

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A24A1556
DecidedFebruary 13, 2025
Reporter374 Ga. App. 357; 912 S.E.2d 720; 2025 Ga. App. LEXIS 52; 2025 LX 30581; 2025 WL 482298
JudgesRickman, P.J. (opinion); Mercier, C.J., and McFadden, P.J., concurring.
Tags
CivilTort LawRespondeat SuperiorVicarious LiabilityGoing-and-Coming RuleVolunteer LiabilityInterlocutory Appeal
Case Summary

A Boy Scouts volunteer caused a car crash while driving her own vehicle to a restaurant meeting about Cub Scout day-camp planning, and the injured driver sought to hold the Atlanta Area Council vicariously liable. After the trial court denied summary judgment, the Council pursued an interlocutory appeal. The issue was whether the Council could be liable under respondeat superior when the volunteer was traveling to the meeting rather than actively conducting the organization’s business at the time of the collision. The Court of Appeals of Georgia held that it could not and reversed. Assuming without deciding that an employment-type relationship existed, the court applied Georgia’s going-and-coming rule and concluded that the volunteer was commuting to the meeting, driving her own car, and talking on a personal call when the accident happened. Because the undisputed evidence showed she was not acting within the scope of the Council’s business at that moment, vicarious liability failed as a matter of law.

Opinion

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