Taking the Plunge

A toilet became clogged at a Walgreens store, after which an employee gave a customer a plunger to clear the clog. An accident happened later. The Fifth Circuit agreed that the customer was not an agent of Walgreens:

“Gonzalez’s only evidence of an agency relationship is that Perez gave the customer a plunger after Alexander granted Perez permission to do so, and that the customer apparently attempted to unclog the toilet with that plunger. While the customer arguably acted on Walgreens’s behalf, ‘a party is not an agent simply because he acts on behalf of another.’ … [W]hile Walgreens’s permitting the customer to plunge the toilet on its behalf was no doubt imprudent, that does not answer the agency question. ‘Authorization to act and control of the action are the two essential elements of agency.'”

This unusual fact pattern provides an excellent illustration of why proof of agency requires proof of a right to control. Gonzales v. Walgreen Co., No. 24-50403 (June 16, 2025).