Jennifer Cox, Appellant (plaintiff) v. Evansville Police Department and the City of Evansville, Appellees…

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court held that a city may be vicariously liable under respondeat superior when an on-duty police officer sexually assaults a person by misusing employer-conferred authority, provided the assault arose naturally or predictably from the employment context. Whether that connection existed was a fact question, so summary judgment for Fort Wayne on that theory was properly denied. The court also held that the common-carrier exception does not apply because the relationships between the cities and the assaulted women lacked a contractual passage arrangement. Justice David concurred in the result without a separate opinion shown in the record.