Diaz

A person injured by someone driving a car in the course of employment may sue not only the driver but that driver’s employer. The employer can be sued on two legal theories based on tort principles: respondeat superior and negligent entrustment. Respondeat superior, a form of vicarious liability, makes an employer liable, irrespective of fault, for negligent driving by its employee in the scope of employment. The theory of negligent entrustment makes an employer liable for its own negligence in choosing an employee to drive a vehicle.

If, as here, a plaintiff asserts both theories, and the employer admits vicarious liability for any negligent driving by its employee, can the plaintiff still pursue the negligent entrustment claim? The answer is “no,” as we held in Armenta v. Churchill (1954) 42 Cal.2d 448 [ 267 P.2d 303 ] (Armenta). The Court of Appeal here held to the contrary. Armenta , it concluded, is inconsistent with this state’s current system of allocating liability for tort damages based on comparative fault—a system created by decisions of this court in the 1970’s and by the California electorate’s later adoption of the Fair Responsibility Act of 1986…