CASTI

LEXI
NDUSTRI
ALCORPORATI
ONv
s.VI
CENTEVASQUEZ,
et.
al.

G.
R.No.132266December21,
1999

DOCTRI
NE:

Negli
gentactsofemployees,whet herornottheemployerisengagedinabusi nessorindust
ry,are
cover
edsol ongastheywer eact i
ngwi t
hint
hescopeoft hei
rassignedtask,ev
ent houghcommi t
ted
nei
theri
ntheserv
iceoft
hebr anchesnorontheoccasi
onofthei
rfunct
ions.

Themeref actthatAbad(
employee)wasusi
ngaserv
icevehi
cleattheti
meoft heinj
uri
ousinci
dentisnot
ofi
tsel
fsuf f
ici
enttochargepet
it
ioner(
employ
er)wi
thli
abi
li
tyforthenegli
gentoperat
ionofsai
dv ehi
cle
unl
essitappearsthathewasoperat
ingt
hevehicl
ewi
thi
nthecourseorscopeofhisemployment.

FACTS:

Atar ound1:30to2: 00inthemor ni

ng,oneRomeoVasquezwasdr iv
inghismotorcycl
ear oundFuente
OsmeñaRot undainCebuCi ty.Hewast r
av el
li
ngaccordingtothenormalfl
ow oftraff
icintherotunda
(counter-cl
ockwi
se)whenBenj aminAbad,aPr oduct
ionManagerofCasti
lexI
ndust
ri
alCor por
ati
on,wit
ha
companypi ckup,dr
ov eagai
nstthef
lowoftraff
icandcoll
idedagai
nsthi
m.Vasquezdied.

Consequentl
y,acrimi
nalcasewasf il
ed agai
nstAbad butwhi
ch wasl
aterdismi
ssed f
orfail
ureto
prosecut
e.So,t
hepresentacti
onfordamageswascommencedbyt hepar
entsofVasquezagai
nstAbad
andtheherei
npeti
ti
onercorpor
ati
on,Casti
lex
.

Thet
ri
alcour
trul
edi
nfav
orofVasquezesandor
der
edAbadandCast
il
ext
opayj
oint
lyandsol
idar
il
y.

Onappeal ,theCAt herul

ingofthetri
alcourthol
dingAbadandCastil
exli
abl
ewasaff
ir
medbuthel
dthat
t
hel iabil
it
yoft helat
teri
s" onl
yvicar
iousandnotsol i
dary"wi
ththefor
mer.UponCast
il
ex'
smoti
onfor
reconsiderat
ion,i
twassti
llhel
dli
ablewithAbad.Hence,t
hispet
it
ion.

I
SSUES:

WON theempoy
erCast i
lexmaybeheldv i
cari
ousl
yliabl
eforthedeat
hresul
ti
ngf
rom t
henegl
igent
oper
ati
onbyamanager
ialempl
oyeeofacompany-i
ssuedvehi
cle

RULI
NG:

No.Cast
il
ex,
theempl
oyer
,isNOTl
iabl
eforanyl
iabi
li
tyf
ordamagescausedbyi
tsempl
oyee,
Abad.

Art
icl
e2180oft heCivilCodeprov
idesthatemploy
ersshal
lbeliabl
efort
hedamagescausedbythei
r
employeesandhouseholdhel
per
sactingwit
hint
hescopeofthei
rassi
gnedt
asks,ev
ent
houghthef
ormer
ar
enotengagedinanybusinessori
ndustr
y.

I
nt hiscase,theCourt,i
nreversi
ngtheCAr uli
ng,rul
edt hatthemerefactthatAbadwasusingaser v
ice
vehicleatthetimeoftheinj
uri
ousincidenti
snotofitselfsuf
fici
entt
ochargehisemploy
er,Cast
il
ex,with
l
iabili
tyforthenegli
gentoperati
onofsai dvehicl
e,unlessitappear
sthathewasoper ati
ngthev ehi
cle
withinthecourseorscopeofhisemployment.
Americanjuri
sprudenceprovidest hatgener al
ly,travel
ingt
oandf r
om theplaceofworkisaper sonal
pr
oblem orconcernoft heempl oyee,andnotapar tofhisser
vicestohisemployer
.However
,wherethe
empl
oy erderi
vessomespeci albenefitfr
om hav ingt heempl
oyeedrivehomeintheemploy
er'
svehi
cle,t
he
empl
oy ermaybehel dli
able,aswhent hel att
erbenef it
sfr
om havingtheemployeeatworkearl
ierand,
pr
esumabl y
,spendingmor eti
meathi sactualduties.

Yet
,regardl
essofthef actofincident
albenefi
ttotheempl oyer,hemayst i
llbeabsolv
edf r
om l
iabi
li
ty
whereattheti
meoft heaccident,theemployeehaslef
tthedirectroutetohi
swor korbackhomeandi s
pur
suingapersonalerrandofhisown,orwhent heemployerper missi
vel
yall
owsanempl oyeet
ousea
company-ownedmot orvehi
cleforthelat
ter
'sper
sonaluseoutsideofregul
arworki
nghours.

Her e,cir
cumst ancessurroundingthei ncidentwer econsi der
edt odeterminewhet herAbadwasact i
ng
withinhisassi gnedtasksatt hetimeoft heincident.Abadhi mselft
esti
fi
edthatafterhisovert
imework,
he
wentt oGol die'sRestaurantinFuenteOsmeñaf orsomesnacks.SuchFuent eOsmeñai sknowntobea
"l
ivelyplace"ev enatdawnbecauseofr estaurants,peopledrinki
ngandpr osti
tutes,pi
mps,anddrug
addi ct
sli
tteri
ngt hepl
ace.Mor eover
, ev
idenceshowedt hatattheti
meoft hevehicularacci
dent,
Abadwas
withawomani nhiscar,whot henshout ed:" Daddy,Daddy !
"Thiswomancoul dnothav ebeenAbad's
daught er
,forABADwasonl y29y earsoldatt het i
me.

Hence,tothemi ndoft heCourt,Abadwasengagedi naffai

rsofhisownorwascar r
yingoutaper sonal
purposenotinli
newi t
hhi sduti
esattheti
mehef i
guredinav ehi
cul
aracci dent.Itwasnear ly2AM whenhe
fi
guredtheaccident,waybey ondhisnormalworkinghours.Hisbeingatapl aceknownasa" havenf or
prosti
tut
es,pimps,anddr ugpusher
sandaddicts,
"hadnoconnect i
ont opet i
ti
oner '
sbusi ness;neitherhad
i
tanyr elat
iontohisdutiesasamanager .Rat
her,usingthecompanyv ehicl
eev enforper sonalpurposes
wasaf orm ofafri
ngebenef i
toroneoftheper
ksattachedtohisposi
tion.

Asaconsequence,r
uli
ngthatAbadwasnotacti
ngwi
thi
nthescopeoft
hefuncti
onsent
rustedtohi
m when
t
heinci
denthappened,t
heburdenreposedwi
thempl
oyerCast
il
ext
oprovethati
twasdi
ligentdi
dnotar
ise.

WHEREFORE,
thepet
it
ioni
sGRANTED.Peti
ti
onerCast
il
exIndust
ri
alCor
por
ati
oni
sabsol
vedofanyl
iabi
li
ty
f
ort
hedamagescausedbyit
sempl
oyee,
JoseBenjaminAbad.

APPLI
CABLELAW/
PROVI
SIONS:

Ar
ti
cle2180.Theobli
gati
onsimposedinArt
icl
e2176i
sdemandablenotonlyf
orone'sownact
sor
omissi
ons,butal
sofort
hoseofper
sonsforwhom onei
sresponsi
ble.

xxx

Employersshal
lbeliabl
eforthedamagescausedbytheiremploy
eesandhousehol
d
hel
persacti
ngwi t
hinthescopeofthei
rassi
gnedtasks,
ev ent
houghthef
ormerare
notengagedinanybusinessorindust
ry.

xxx

Theresponsi
bil
it
ytr
eatedofi
nthi
sart
icl
eshal
lceasewhenthepersonsherei
n
mentionedpr
ovethatt
heyobser
vedal
lthedi
li
genceofagoodfatherofafamil
yto
prev
entdamages.