Tognazzini v. San Luis Coastal Unified School Dist

In Tognazzini v. San Luis Coastal Unified School Dist. (2001) 86 Cal.App.4th 1053, the state mandated that all school district employees be fingerprinted, and the defendant school district required its employees to comply, although the employees had discretion to choose when to do so. (Tognazzini, supra, 86 Cal.App.4th at p. 1056.) An employee of the defendant school district decided to be fingerprinted on a Saturday and intended to proceed home immediately afterward. (Ibid.) Her car collided with a motorcycle on her way home, causing injuries to the motorcycle rider. (Ibid.) A jury found in favor of the defendant and the trial court denied the plaintiff's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. (Ibid.) On appeal, the court held the employee was not acting within the course and scope of her employment at the time of the accident because she was not hired to run errands, the specifics of fulfilling the fingerprinting requirement were left entirely up to the employee, and she complied with the requirement during nonworking hours. (Id. at p. 1059.)