A Louisiana appeals court ruled that an employer was not vicariously liable for its employee's actions in Torrence v. Lewis, No. 05-CA-72, 2005 WL 1278350 (La. App. May 31, 2005).

Dwight Torrence, a Gabriel Properties employee, was standing on a deer blind, directing dump truck traffic at a construction site and issuing receipts. Robert Lewis, a dump truck driver employed by Jones Bros. Enterprises, entered the site and took a short cut to dump his load. Torrence told him not to use the short cut again or he would not issue a receipt. However, when Lewis returned with another load, he again took the shortcut, and Torrence refused to issue a receipt.