Munoz v. City of Palmdale

Opinion

ORTEGA, J.

In this opinion, we consider whether an unpaid volunteer who helped serve coffee at a municipal senior center is exempt, as a matter of law, from being considered a municipal employee for respondeat superior liability purposes. Plaintiff was injured at the senior center .when a coffee pot fell from a serving shelf and spilled hot coffee on her leg. The trial court entered summary judgment for the defendant City of Palmdale (City) after concluding, as a matter of law, that the unpaid volunteer who had placed the pot on the shelf was neither an employee nor servant for…