Balinovic v. Evening Star Newspaper Co.

In my judgment the issue is not one of private, consensual agency.1 Not all vicarious liability rests on consent of the principal, express or implied in fact, whether to the existence of the representative relation or to the particular activities of the agent which result in the claim of liability. Plaintiff does not contend that defendant consented in fact to the driver’s criminal-chasing activities. He says that liability arises regardless of such consent and because, at the time of the injury, the driver was discharging a duty imposed by law upon the defendant, not merely as part of its…