Christensen v. Swenson
Supreme Court of Utah
874 P.2d 125 (Utah 1994)
Security guard Swenson (defendant), employed by Burns (defendant) at a steel plant, took an unscheduled short break to drive to a nearby cafe (whose menu was posted at her work station) to pick up lunch to bring back to her post, and on the return drive collided with Christensen (plaintiff); the trial court granted Burns summary judgment finding Swenson acted outside the scope of her employment since the accident didn't occur on employer property, and the court of appeals affirmed on that basis alone. Christensen appealed.
Whether an employee's conduct falls outside the scope of employment as a matter of law solely because the conduct occurred off the employer's physical property, without considering the other factors relevant to the scope-of-employment analysis.