In Campbell v. Security Pac. Nat. Bank (1976) 62 Cal. App. 3d 379, the plaintiff had been injured while resisting the repossession of his car. He sued the individual repossessor, the repossessor's employer, and the bank which had directed the employer to repossess the car. During trial, however, he dismissed his negligence claim against the employer and the repossessor. The trial court then granted the bank's motion for nonsuit. ( Id., at pp. 382-383.) The appellate court noted that such a dismissal, during trial, was necessarily with prejudice. ( Campbell v. Security Pac. Nat. Bank, supra, 62 Cal. App. 3d at pp. 385-386.) It then held: "A dismissal of a cause of action with prejudice has the same effects as an adjudication on the merits . . . . The doctrine of collateral estoppel is, therefore, applicable to preclude litigation of the vicarious liability of the Bank for the driver's negligence, the only basis for the Bank's liability . . . . Where an employee is found not to have been negligent there can be no vicarious liability of his employer . 'Thus, a prior judgment in favor of an employee bars an action against an employer whose liability could be predicated only on respondeat superior. ' " ( Id., at p. 386.)