Apply the rule

Alder Ridge Solar, Inc. employs Maya Lindgren as a field sales representative and provides her a company car for visiting customers in a three county territory. Company policy permits reasonable personal use of the car after work hours. On May 21, 2026, Maya finished her last customer visit at 4:30 p.m. Instead of driving fifteen miles back to the office to file her reports, she drove thirty-eight miles in the opposite direction to attend a friend's birthday dinner, planning to file the reports the next morning. At 5:40 p.m., still on the way to the dinner, she ran a red light and struck a cyclist, Ben Achebe, who sustained $95,000 in damages. Under her employment agreement Maya was on the clock until 6:00 p.m. that day.