O'CONNOR

Plaintiff Martin K. O’Connor appeals summary judgment favoring defendants McDonald’s Restaurants of California, Inc., and McDonald’s Corporation (together McDonald’s) on his complaint for damages for personal injuries on a theory of McDonald’s vicarious liability for the negligence of its employee Evans. O’Connor, injured when his motorcycle collided with an automobile driven by Evans, contends the superior court erred in determining Evans had completely departed from a special errand on behalf of McDonald’s and was not acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident. Determination whether Evans merely “diverted” rather than “completely departed” from his special errand when the accident occurred requires resolution of disputed triable factual issues. Therefore, we reverse the summary judgment.

I

Facts

In reviewing the propriety of the summary judgment, we state the facts in the light most favorable to O’Connor.

From about 8 p.m. on August 12, 1982, until between 1 and 2 a.m. the next day, Evans and several McDonald’s coworkers scoured the children’s playground area of McDonald’s San Ysidro restaurant. The special cleaning prepared the restaurant…