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White v. Revco Discount Drug Centers11/22/2000
We granted permission to appeal in this case to address whether a private employer may be held liable for the negligent actions of an off- duty police officer who was hired by the employer for private security purposes. In the circuit court, the defendant employer moved to dismiss the plaintiffs' wrongful death action for failure to state a claim, and the motion was granted by the trial judge. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, holding that the actions of the off-duty officer were taken in furtherance of his official duties as a peace officer, and therefore, the defendant employer could not be held liable for the officer's negligent actions. After reviewing the complaint in this case, along with the applicable legal authority, we hold that the complaint does state a claim against the defendant employer for the negligence of the off-duty officer. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Knox County Circuit Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Tenn. R. App. P. 11 Application for Permission to Appeal; Judgment of the Court of Appeals Reversed; Case Remanded
William M. Barker, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which E. Riley Anderson, C.J., and Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., and Janice M. Holder, JJ., joined. Frank F. Drowota, III, J., not participating.
OPINION
This case arises out of the dismissal of the plaintiffs' wrongful death suit, which originated from the shooting death of James E. Woodfin by officers of the Knoxville Police Department. As alleged by the plaintiffs in their original and amended complaint, the events later giving rise to Woodfin's alleged wrongful death first began when Woodfin entered a Revco Discount Drug Store (Revco) in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 4, 1997. While inside Revco, Woodfin caused a considerable disruption, and he was issued a misdemeanor citation for disorderly conduct by Revco's security guard, Danny Boone. After issuing the citation, Boone, who was also an off-duty police officer with the Knoxville Police Department (KPD), warned Woodfin never to return to Revco.
One month later on June 4, 1997, the manager of Revco approached Boone and informed him that Woodfin entered the store a few days earlier, contrary to Boone's earlier warning. Boone, who was working that day as Revco's security guard, then called the KPD "under the complete direction" of the Revco Manager and inquired as to the status of the May 4 citation. Boone learned that Woodfin failed to report to the jail for "booking" on May 19 as ordered by the citation and that a bench warrant had been issued for Woodfin's arrest. The complaint then alleges that after Boone told the Revco manager about the bench warrant, the manager directed Boone to go to Woodfin's apartment "to serve the bench warrant to prevent Woodfin from ever returning to Revco and to punish Woodfin for disregarding Revco's no trespass order." Before going to Woodfin's apartment, however, Boone contacted four or five uniformed KPD officers to accompany him from Revco to Woodfin's apartment.
Upon arriving at Woodfin's apartment, Boone and the uniformed officers discovered that Woodfin had locked himself inside the apartment and that he would not allow anyone to enter. One of the officers then called a maintenance person for a key to the apartment. While waiting for the maintenance person to locate the key, Boone was contacted by the Revco manager, who wanted Boone to return to the store to issue a citation to a shoplifter. Boone left the apartment, issued the citation to the shoplifter at Revco, and then returned to Woodfin's apartment.
After finally obtaining a key, Boone and the officer
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