You are here: / / Police Officer’s Actions In a Private Dispute Could Not Be Invoked Against M...
,

Police Officer’s Actions In a Private Dispute Could Not Be Invoked Against Municipality Under Doctrine of Respondeat Superior

The Third Department determined that the doctrine of respondeat superior could not be invoked against a municipality for the actions of an off-duty police officer, even where the officer characterized his actions as an arrest.  Here the police officer injured the plaintiff in a private dispute that had nothing to do with the officer’s official duties:

“The doctrine of respondeat superior renders an employer vicariously liable for the tortious acts of its employees only if those acts were committed in furtherance of the employer’s business and within the scope of employment” … .  Thus, “where an employee’s actions are taken for wholly personal reasons, which are not job related, his or her conduct cannot be said to fall within the scope of employment” … .  Notably, and as is relevant to the matter before us, “[a] municipality cannot be held vicariously liable for acts perpetrated by a member of its police force in the course of engaging in a personal dispute, without any genuine official purpose, whether or not the police officer characterizes such conduct as an arrest or incident to an arrest” … . Stevens v Kellar, 516875, 3rd Dept 12-19-13

 

You might also like
THE RECORD DOES NOT REFLECT THE MEASURES TAKEN BY THE HEARING OFFICER TO DETERMINE THE BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE REQUESTED BY THE PETITIONER DID NOT EXIST; DETERMINATION ANNULLED AND NEW HEARING ORDERED (THIRD DEPT).
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER ALLOWING TANDEM RIDING AND SPINNING THE TUBES IN ICY CONDITIONS UNREASONABLY INCREASED THE RISK IN THIS SNOW-TUBING INJURY CASE (THIRD DEPT).
ALTHOUGH NONE OF THE THREE CHILDREN TESTIFIED IN THIS NEGLECT CASE, THE STATEMENTS ATTRIBUTED TO THEM CROSS-CORROBORATED ONE ANOTHER AND WERE THEREFORE ADMISSIBLE.
DEFENDANT TOOK A CELL PHONE PICTURE OF THE VICTIM IN THE SHOWER THROUGH A HIGH WINDOW; HE CLAIMED THE PHOTO WAS TAKEN ACCIDENTALLY WHEN HE WAS TRYING TO PHOTOGRAPH LIGHTNING; DEFENDANT, IN ANSWER TO A QUESTION BY THE POLICE ABOUT WHETHER THIS WAS A “PATTERN,” ADMITTED HE HAD SURREPTITIOUSLY TAKEN SIMILAR PHOTOS OF HIS WIFE; THE PREJUDICIAL EFFECT OF HIS APPARENT ADMISSION TO A “PATTERN” OF SIMILAR BEHAVIOR OUTWEIGHED ITS PROBATIVE EFFECT; NEW TRIAL ORDERED (THIRD DEPT). ​
COVID STIMULUS PAYMENTS WERE ADVANCE TAX REFUNDS MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN, NOT PAYMENTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE CHILDREN; THEREFORE THE PAYMENTS WERE SUBJECT TO EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION IN THIS DIVORCE PROCEEDING AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AWARDED TO MOTHER AS CHILD SUPPORT (THIRD DEPT).
PETITION ALLEGED MOTHER FAILED TO GIVE ADHD MEDICATION TO THE CHILDREN; THE NEGLECT PETITION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING; BECAUSE FAMILY COURT ADDRESSED THE MERITS OF THE MOTION TO REARGUE THE MOTION WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE BEEN GRANTED RENDERING THE ORDER APPEALABLE AS OF RIGHT (THIRD DEPT).
ALTHOUGH CONTRACTING COVID-19 IS COMPENSABLE UNDER WORKERS’ COMPENSATION, HERE THE PROOF THAT CLAIMANT CONTRACTED COVID-19 BECAUSE OF WORKPLACE EXPOSURE WAS INSUFFICIENT (THIRD DEPT). ​
THE EMPLOYER’S WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CARRIER WAS ENTITLED, PURSUANT TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW SECTION 15(3)(W), TO TAKE CREDIT TOWARD AWARDS OF TEMPORARY DISABILITY (THIRD DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

Department of Health’s Reduction of Medicaid Reimbursement to Nursing Homes... No Constitutional Issue Raised by Claim that County Is Paying Too High a “Mobility...