Fields

INTRODUCTION

This case arose from a two-vehicle automobile accident involving Linda Gadbois and Kenneth Fields. As a result of the accident, Gadbois died and Fields suffered severe injuries. Fields filed a personal injury action against Gadbois’s estate and the State of California (State), Gadbois’s employer. Fields contended that Gadbois was acting within the scope of her employment as an employee of the State at the time of the accident. Following presentation of Fields’s case, the court entered a nonsuit in favor of the State. 1 Fields appeals from the judgment of nonsuit. We affirm.

FACTS

Gadbois worked as a prison cook for Avenal State Prison (ASP). On April 3, 2008, she was injured on the job and sought treatment through her employer’s workers’ compensation network. Gadbois later exercised her right to see another doctor because she was dissatisfied with her original treating doctor. She asked Rosemary Harvick, the retum-to-work coordinator at ASP, *1394 for a different physician, and Harvick provided her with a list of other doctors from which she chose Central Valley Comprehensive Care (CVCC). An appointment was made for Gadbois at CVCC for May 21, 2008. After…