Respondent superior

A delivery rider, rushing to make his last drop of the day, jumps a signal and hits a pedestrian. The pedestrian doesn't sue the rider alone — she sues the app that employs him, and wins. The rider chose to jump the signal; nobody made him. So why does his employer answer for a choice that was entirely his? This topic, and the maxim next to it about acts of nature, are both about who the law makes stand behind an act once the immediate cause has been found.

In two minutes

Respondeat superior — let the master answer — makes an employer liable for a servant's wrong committed within the course of employment, even though the wrong was the servant's own free act; vis major does the opposite, releasing everyone from liability when the true cause was nature acting alone.

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