Arizona’s Highest Court Refuses to Find Employer Vicariously Liable for Employee’s Business Trip Car Accident

On July 9, 2012, the Arizona Supreme Court handed down its decision in Engler v. Gulf Interstate Engineering, Inc. and announced that an employer may not be held vicariously liable for an after-work accident caused by an employee who was on an extended out-of-town assignment. The court found that an employee who worked for the Texas-based energy consulting company Gulf Interstate Engineering, Inc. was not acting within the scope of his employment when he struck a motorcyclist with his car.