 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Roman v. Sears4/27/2005
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
Plaintiffs and appellants Martin Lopez, individually and as guardian ad litem for Jamie Lopez, and Jessica Roman appeal a summary judgment entered in favor of defendant and respondent Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Sears). Appellants sought to impose liability against Sears for wrongful death and other personal injury resulting from an automobile accident involving a Sears employee. We conclude that the undisputed evidence established that the employee was not acting within the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
For approximately two years, Sears employed Christopher Demos as a sales manager in the shoe department of its Northridge Fashion Center store. He was a salaried employee and worked approximately 45 to 70 hours per week. At the time of his employment, Sears maintained a written dress code requiring male employees to wear business attire, including a collared shirt and tie, while on duty. On occasion, such as when corporate visitors would come to look at the store, Demos would come into work when he was off-duty. When he worked in the back room while off duty, he did not adhere to the dress code.
On Friday, January 19, 2001, Demos was working at the store when Edward Tiratelli, the store manager, told him that someone from the corporate home office would be visiting the store the following day. Demos worked to prepare his department for the corporate visitor, but did not finish by the end of the day. Though Demos was not scheduled to work the following day, he decided to go to the store in the morning to finish getting his department ready. Though no one at Sears ever told Demos that he needed to come in on his days off, he felt "a certain pressure" and believed that his job would be impacted negatively if he did not have his department ready for a corporate visitor. According to Demos: "It was also heavily suggested that if this visitor came and everything looked good, they wouldn't be coming back any time soon, which was positive."
On Saturday, January 20, 2001, Demos had intended to get to the store by 7:00 or 7:30 a.m. He was running behind schedule, however, having woken up later than he had expected. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt when he arrived at the Sears parking lot sometime before 9:30 a.m. When Demos stepped out of his car, he decided that he was not dressed appropriately: "[When I] got to the parking lot and just had a moment of thought that I might see these people, the visitors, and I should have worn my tie to begin with, and I should turn around and go home." He got back into his car and headed home to change his pants and get a tie.
While on his way home, Demos suffered an epileptic seizure and was involved in an automobile accident in which Judith and Beatriz Lopez were killed and Jamie Lopez was injured.
On January 16, 2002, Martin Lopez (Judith's husband and Beatriz's father) and Jamie Lopez (Judith's daughter and Beatriz's sister) filed a complaint for wrongful death, loss of consortium and personal injury against Demos. Two days later, Jessica Roman (Judith's daughter) and several other relatives filed a separate complaint for wrongful death against Demos. One year later, the Lopezes and Roman (collectively appellants) amended their complaints to add Se
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 California Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|