Owsten Nominees (No 2) Pty Ltd v Gardner (on behalf of Betty Annette Gardner)

Owsten Nominees (No 2) Pty Ltd (the appellant) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the appellant's liability for damages arising from a motor vehicle accident in which Betty Annette Gardner (the respondent) suffered injuries. The respondent had sued the appellant for negligence.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the appellant was vicariously liable for the negligent driving of its employee, Mr. G. A. Gardner, who was driving a vehicle owned by the appellant at the time of the accident. The appellant contended that Mr. Gardner was not acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the collision.

The Court of Appeal considered the principles of vicarious liability, particularly the test of whether the employee's actions were so closely connected with their authorised duties as to be regarded as an unauthorised mode of doing something authorised. Applying this test, the court found that Mr. Gardner's use of the vehicle for his own purposes, which included a deviation from his employer's business to visit his wife, was not so disconnected from his employment as to break the chain of vicarious liability. The court held that the employer retained the right to control the use of the vehicle, and the employee's actions, while not strictly authorised, were still within the broad scope of his employment.

The appeal was dismissed.