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Santorii v. MarnezRusso
Arizona Court of Appeals, August 23, 2016
Arizona’s real estate statutes do not create an employer-employee relaonship between brokers and agents,
nor do they impose a non-delegable duty on the broker to supervise an agent’s driving.
Real estate agent was returning from a sales appointment when the car he was driving crossed the
center line and struck Santorii’s tractor-trailer, killing both men. Santorii’s wife brought a wrongful death
lawsuit against MarnezRusso, alleging that the real estate broker was vicariously liable for the agent’s negligence.
The court of appeals armed summary judgment for the broker because: (1) Arizona’s real
estate statutes do not create an employer-employee relaonship between brokers and agents; (2)
the same statutes do not impose upon the broker a non-delegable duty to supervise an agent’s
driving; and (3) based on the undisputed facts, the agent was an independent contractor of the broker.
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