Responsibility for an agent's injury to third parties is placed on the party that hires, directs and controls the agent. Price v. TLC Health Care Inc., 2004 OK 8, ¶ 8, 85 P.3d 838, 841. Concerning hiring, directing and controlling, the trial court made findings which clearly support Dealership was not Ford's actual agent.

And case law in other jurisdictions has specifically rejected this premise. See, e.g., Price v. TLC Health Care, Inc., 85 P.3d 838 (Okla. 2004) (lessor of nursing home who had no control over the agents who delivered medical care was not liable for negligent or substandard care provided to nursing home residents). The Bankruptcy Court's finding that, as of the date Shumaker sought employment, HCN was not adverse to the Townsend Estate or the bankruptcy estate was not clearly erroneous.

Responsibility for an agent's injury to third parties may be placed on the party that hires, directs and controls the agent. See, Thornton v. Ford Motor Co., 297 P.3d 413, 419 (Okla. Civ. App. 2012) (citing Price v. TLC Health Care Inc., 85 P.3d 838, 841 (Okla. 2004)). Therefore, the court concludes that the vicarious liability claim survives dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6).

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has held that "this provision is a special rule of the common law doctrine of respondeat superior." Price v. TLC Health Care, Inc., 85 P.3d 838, 841 (Okla. 2004). The Oklahoma Supreme Court has further held that to hold an employer responsible under the doctrine of respondeat superior for the tort of an employee, "the tortious act must be committed in the course of the employment and within the scope of the employee's authority."

In re Fundamental Long Term Care, Inc. , 2020 WL 954982, at *9.Id. at *8 (citing Price v. TLC Health Care, Inc. , 85 P.3d (Okla. 2004)). The interests of HCN, Lyric, and HQM were too remote to impact the bankruptcy estate, and the entities were never considered litigation targets in the case.

The second sentence, however, is ambiguous as it could include other persons or entities which profit incidentally from the facility's operation. Price v. TLC Health Care, Inc., 2004 OK 8, adopted contemporaneously with the case at issue. ¶ 10 Rules of statutory construction are employed when legislative intent cannot be ascertained from the language of a statute, as in cases of ambiguity.