Kimora Brock

University of Maryland University College

MBA 630 Leading in the Multicultural Global Environment
Professor Welch
Project 1

Carz Bazaar Case

Colossal Company subsidiary Cars Bazaar is a new and used car dealership with

explicit instructions for how to manage show room and vehicle lots. Their “key-control”

procedure requires that “when any company wants to move a company vehicle, the

information attendant must input information in to a template request form. The

information necessary includes date, time, stock number of vehicle, name of employee,

and destination of the vehicle. It is explicitly stated that: every time an employee checks

out a vehicle, the reason must be for company business use.

Arguments for the Plaintiff: Injured driver (Third party)

I. The Plaintiff has every right to sue Carz Bazaar on the grounds that it was responsible

for the injuries caused by its employee Charles Wilson. Charles Wilson was driving a

company car and informed the officer at the scene of the accident that, “he was on his

lunch break from his job and that he had permission to drive the car, but his boss was

not aware he had the car.” (UMUC Carz Bazaar Case Study, 2019)

II. Agency Law In this case the Principal is Carz Bazaar and the agent is Charles Wilson.

“Agency law concerns the legal relationship by which one person acts on behalf of

another.” (UMUC, 2019) Although Charles Wilson is an autonomous individual, he is

still an employee of Carz Bazaar, this is important to note due to the fact that liability

can be determined based on the principals relationship with the agent.

III. Principal Liability. Respondeat Superior is a legal doctrine that explains that a

principal is responsible for the actions of an agent, meaning the principal and agent are

“jointly and severally” liable for the harm caused by the agent.

There is a bigger issue for Cars Bazaar and that is their employing hiring and training

process. There are practices that shouldn’t be acceptable so that their company is

protected from accident liability. Defense can prove through the testimony of Gina

Mitchell that the employer is negligent in selecting employees to perform the duties.

Carz Bazaar failed to exercise reasonable care in the hiring process.

Arguments for the Defendant: Carz Bazaar

Carz Bazaar is the employer of Charles Wilson but

I. Intentional torts are not considered to be within the scope of the duties. Since

Charles Wilson was on a personal errand on his lunch break, Carz Bazaar should not

be held responsible for the conduct of their employee.

II. Frolic and Detour is the best defense available to Carz Bazaar. It states that, “a

principal should not be liable for the tortious conduct of the agent when the agent is

acting outside the scope of the job description and/ or for the benefit of another

party other than the employer.

III. Frolic and Detour were both present, through the actions of Charles Wilson (Frolic)

and Gina Mitchell (Detour)

Conclusion

Since both a frolic and detour are present in this case, it is highly likely that Carz Bazaar

will win this case and be proven not liable in regards to the injured third party.

Although in this particular case the plaintiff is the injured driver and the defendant is

Carz Bazaar, there is the potential for another case regarding this accident. Cars Bazaar

is able to sue and also fire Charles Wilson for damages to the company vehicle. Carz

Bazaar could also sue Gina Mitchell for negligence and is able to dismiss her from the

job for not following the job description and putting the company at risk.

References:

Hartigan, R., & O'Callaghan, P. (n.d.). Introduction to the Legal

Environment of Business The Legal Environment: Courts, Alternative Dispute
Resolution, and Agency [2019 University of Maryland University College].
Retrieved April 23, 2019, from
https://leocontent.umuc.edu/content/umuc/tgs/mba/mba630/2192/learning-
topic-list/introduction-to-thelegalenvironmentofbusiness.html?ou=354593.

Jointly and Severally. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://investinganswers.com/dictionary/j/jointly-and-severally

Schottenstein Law Offices. (2017, December 04). Is An Employer Liable For Employee
Car Accidents? Retrieved from https://www.edschottenstein.com/blog/2016/april/is-
an-employer-liable-for-employee-car-accidents/

Sewell, T. (2018, May 22). Frolic and Detour Laws. Retrieved from https://
www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/frolic-and-detour-laws.html