Munoz

In this opinion, we consider whether an unpaid volunteer who helped serve coffee at a municipal senior center is exempt, as a matter of law, from being considered a municipal employee for respondeat superior liability purposes. Plaintiff was injured at the senior center .when a coffee pot fell from a serving shelf and spilled hot coffee on her leg. The trial court entered summary judgment for the defendant City of Palmdale (City) after concluding, as a matter of law, that the unpaid volunteer who had placed the pot on the shelf was neither an employee nor servant for respondeat superior liability purposes.

Under the volunteer exclusion of Labor Code section 3352, subdivision (i), unpaid volunteers of public agencies are excluded from the definition of “employee” for workers’ compensation purposes. Applying the volunteer exclusion and the public policy represented thereby to this case, we conclude, as a matter of law, that the unpaid volunteer who placed the pot on the shelf was neither an employee nor servant of the City for respondeat superior liability purposes. Accordingly, we affirm the summary judgment for the City.

Background

The facts presented below on summary…