Lou Less, the athletic director at Cleveland High School, is reviewing bids from bus companies. The high school needs to use an outside company to...

Lou Less, the athletic director at Cleveland High School, is reviewing bids from bus companies. The high school needs to use an outside company to transport athletes to some of the away games. The contract with the chosen company will be set up as an independent contractor relationship. The Ace Bus Company has, by far, the lowest bid for the services, and Ms. Less decides to take that bid without doing any investigation of that company. If an investigation had been undertaken, the record would have shown that several of Ace's drivers have been cited for reckless driving or driving while intoxicated. En route to an away basketball game, one of the buses is involved in a serious vehicular accident. It was caused by an Ace driver who was driving while under the influence of alcohol. Several of the school's athletes are injured in the crash, and numerous lawsuits have been filed against the school district. Ms. Less feels confident that there can be no liability for the school district in this case, because the contract with Ace Bus Company clearly designates it as an independent contractor, for which the school district has no vicarious liability.