Jeld-Wen, Inc. v. Superior Court

In this wrongful death action arising from a motor vehicle collision, the decedent’s survivors, plaintiff Keener family, sued the other driver involved in the accident, his employer, and the company which had leased the driver’s truck to his employer (respectively, petitioners and defendants Hector Solis [employee], Jeld-Wen, Inc., doing business as Summit Window and Patio Door [employer], and Penske Trucking [owner]; sometimes collectively defendants). Defendants brought a motion for summary adjudication on the grounds that they were entitled to dismissal of the plaintiffs’ alternative claim of negligent entrustment of the vehicle, because before trial, defendant-employer Jeld-Wen had admitted vicarious liability for the acts of its employee Solis, under the doctrine of respondeat superior. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (f).) The trial court denied the motion.

Defendants filed this petition for writ of mandate to require the trial court to grant the motion for summary adjudication as to the negligent entrustment claim. Defendants take the position that they are entitled as a matter of law to this summary adjudication order, because negligent entrustment should not be…