Legal Environment of Business 8th Edition by Henry Cheeseman

Exercise 1

Agency Brendan Bosse and Michael Griffin were part of a group of four teenagers eating a meal at a Chili's restaurant in Dedham, Massachusetts. Chili's is owned by Brinker Restaurant Corporation (collectively "Chili's"). The cost of the meal was $56. The teenagers decided not to pay. They went out of the building, got in their car, and drove away, heading northward up Route 1.
A patron of the restaurant saw the teenagers leave without payment. He followed them in his white sportutility vehicle (SUV). The teenagers saw him following them. A high-speed chase ensued through Dedham side streets. The patron used his cell phone to call the Chili's manager. The manager called 911 and reported the incident and the location of the car chase. The teenagers' car collided with a cement wall, and Bosse and Griffin were seriously injured. The Chili's patron drove past the crash scene and was never identified.
Bosse and Griffin sued Chili's for compensatory damages for their injuries. The plaintiffs argued that the patron was an agent of Chili's, and therefore Chili's was liable to the plaintiffs, based on the doctrine of respondeat superior, which holds a principal liable for the acts of its agents. Chili's filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the patron was not its agent. Is the restaurant patron who engaged in the highspeed car chase an agent of Chili's? Bosse v. Brinker Restaurant Corporation, d.b.a. Chili's Grill and Bar, Web 2005 Mass.Super. Lexis 372 (Superior Court of Massachusetts)