Engler v. Gulf Interstate Engineering, Inc. and the Role of Control in Vicarious Liability

In Engler v. Gulf Interstate Engineering, Inc., the Arizona Supreme Court adopted the Restatement (Third) of Agency as the test for whether an employer is vicariously liable for the torts of its employee. This Case Note examines the development of Arizona vicarious liability law, and discusses the inconsistencies in how Arizona courts incorporated “control” in their vicarious liability analysis. With Engler, the Court’s adoption of the Restatement (Third) resolves these inconsistencies by adopting control as the primary test for whether an employer is vicariously liable. This clarifies Arizona law while still honoring the policy justifications that underlie vicarious liability.