Issue: Would an employer be liable for injuries sustained by the employee’s daughter who, at the time of the accident, was riding with her father in a car owned by the employer and furnished to the employee for his work?

Judgment: Herbert Klatt was a division field agent for Commonwealth Edison Company and worked out of the Dixon office. He had been with the company for 40 years, and his work consisted of securing right of ways, securing permission to trim trees, etc. He was pretty much his own boss. His normal working day ended at 5 p.m., and if he finished his work in the field prior to that time, he was expected to return to the office and work there until 5 p.m.

On the day of the accident, he checked out of the Dixon office at about 9 a.m. to go to Freeport, where the company had two engineering projects going. His daughter was a student nurse at Rockford, Illinois and on her days off, she resided with her parents in Dixon.

At about 2:15 p.m., Mr. Klatt called for his daughter at the dormitory to take her home. By pre-arrangement, he had agreed to pick her up if he had business in that area.

It was not disputed that Mr. Klatt had deviated from his direct route from Freeport to Dixon. However, the accident occurred at a time when he was within three miles of Dixon with about two hours left of his working day.

The court ruled that, even though there had been a slight deviation, he had returned to the course of his employment when the accident happened.

The employer produced a bulletin which had been distributed to all employees in 1941 (and a copy of which was found in Mr. Klatt’s desk) prohibiting employees from carrying persons other than employee or passengers engaged in company business, in company-owned cars or trucks.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the daughter for $85,000 and also returned a verdict on the third-party complaint in favor of the employer against the estate of the employee.

On appeal, the higher court found that Edison, if required to the pay the judgment recovered by the employee’s daughter, was entitled to recover the amount so paid from the estate of the employee.

Klatt vs. Commonwealth Edison Company , Appellate Court of Illinois – December 1, 1964 on rehearing February 18, 1965 – 204 North Eastern Reporter (2d) 319 (Rough Notes Magazine, October, 1965)