Question

Jamal worked for a delivery company, and he was driving sometimes up to 10 hours a day. One afternoon, on the way back from making a delivery in his neighborhood, Jamal stopped at the uniform shop to pick up some shirts he needed for work. Usually he would run his errand

Answer 1

Yes, the company is liable because Jamal was on his work route and took a minor detour to pick shirts he needed for work.

Step-by-step explanation:

Generally what determines if the company is liable or not for a car accident, is if the employee was acting within the scope of his/her normal employment activities. In this case, even though Jamal took a break to pick up some shirts for work, he didn't deviate form his normal activities and not even from his normal work route. He was actually coming back from making a delivery.

It would have been different if he had gone to a different neighborhood or downtown just to pick the shirts. You must also consider that Jamal drives the delivery truck 10 hours a day, and that doesn't leave him a lot of spare time for his own personal activities, and this particular one was also related to his work.

This situation is similar to an accident happening when a truck driver is stopping to go to the bathroom or eating something while travelling.