DEVIATION

deviation.  1.  Generally,  a  change  from  a  customary  or  agreed-on  course  of  action.

2.Employment law.A departure from one’s course of employment to tend to a personal matter. • A

deviation  from  the   course   of   employment   may  be   an  issue  in   disputes  about  workers’

compensation or about the employer’s tort liability to third parties based on the employee’s actions.

See COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT . Cf. FROLIC. 3.Insurance. A departure by an insured  party

from  a  routine  course  of  action,  resulting  in  increased  risk  of  some  loss  that  the  insured  is

indemnified  against.  [Cases:  Insurance    3059.  C.J.S.  Insurance  §  768.]  4.Maritime  law.  A

departure from the terms expressed in a bill of lading or other transportation contract.

“For  both  geographic  deviations  and  quasi-deviations,  the  contractual  voyage  is  the

benchmark against which the carrier’s performance is to  be  measured. If the parties agreed to an

indirect  route,  the  carrier  commits  no  deviation  in  following  it;  if  the  parties  agreed  to  deck

carriage, the carrier may stow the cargo on deck. All deviations ‘have one common, indispensable

element  —  a  violation  of  the  terms  of  the  bill  of  lading.’  ”  Michael  F.  Sturley,  “Deviation

Defined,” in 2A Benedict on  Admiralty 122 (7th rev. ed. 2002) (quoting Rockwell Int’l Corp.  v.

M/V Incotrans Spirit, 707 F.Supp. 272, 273 (S.D. Tex. 1989), aff’d, 998 F.2d 316 (5th Cir. 1993)).

quasi-deviation. A deviation from an agreed-on shipping term other than a deviation in course

or destination (e.g., an unreasonable delay or the unauthorized carriage of cargo on deck).

reasonable  deviation.A  deviation  that  is  justified  by  circumstances.  •  If  a  deviation  is

reasonable,  the  carrier  does  not  lose  its  usual  limitations  and  exemptions  under  the  Carriage  of

Goods by Sea Act.

unreasonable deviation.A deviation that is not justified by circumstances. • An unreasonable

deviation  causes the carrier to lose  the benefit of its  usual limitations and  exemptions under the  Carriage of Goods by Sea Act. [Blacks Law 8th]