Trustee’s Liability for Employee’s Cell Phone Distraction

Assume that Trust Employee is in his/her personal car driving to market to do some personal shopping.  On the way, Trust Employee makes or receives a call to discuss trust business with Trustee or a third party.  Distracted, Trust Employee has an accident killing a pedestrian.  Is Trustee or the trust property responsible for the resulting damages?

The answer might be “yes” under the analogous case of Yoon v. Wagner in which the driver was a law firm employee making a business call.  The law firm settled before trial but the amount of the settlement is confidential.

For a discussion of this case in a non-trust context, see the blog entry of David Giacalone.