Jacob Laurence v. Salt River Project

Summary

The court held that dismissal with prejudice of an employee's tort claim does not require dismissal of an employer's respondeat superior claim when the employee claim was dismissed for procedural reasons unrelated to its merits. It substantially overruled the contrary prior doctrine, while retaining the rule that an employer cannot be held vicariously liable when the employee has been exonerated on the merits. Because the employee's claim was dismissed solely for failure to timely comply with the notice-of-claim statute, the court reversed the summary judgment for the employer and remanded.