OPINION

BLATZ, Chief Justice.

Respondent Edward Anderson (hereinafter "respondent"), individually and in his capacity as guardian for his son, Trevor Anderson, sued appellants Paul Peterson and Anoka Hennepin Independent School District 11 (the "district") because of injuries Trevor incurred from an accident in a high school wood shop class taught by Peterson. The district court denied the district's and Peterson's summary judgment motions based on claims of statutory, official and vicarious official immunity and was affirmed by the court of appeals. We conclude that Peterson is protected by common law official immunity and the district is protected by vicarious official immunity. We therefore reverse.

Trevor Anderson was injured in an accident on May 16, 2000, when he was "ripping" 1-1/2 inch strips of wood on a circular table saw for his Woods II class project, a TV/VCR stand Trevor was a somewhat experienced woodworker, as he had taken the Woods I course and had worked with various power tools outside of the classroom under the direction and supervision of his father. Trevor's teacher, appellant Peterson, had directed Trevor to rip wood strips with the Biesemeyer blade guard disengaged, and to instead use a "push stick." A "push stick" is a device that allows the operator of a table saw to push pieces of wood through the saw while maintaining a safe distance between the operator's hands and the blade. Peterson watched Trevor cut four or five of the strips and then moved to another part of the classroom while Trevor continued to cut.

After Peterson walked away, Trevor completed pushing a piece of wood through the saw with a push stick. However, a "waste" piece of wood, now resting on the other side of the blade, began to move on the saw table. Trevor reached over the blade with his left hand to move the wood scrap, and as he reached over the blade his left index finger hit the blade, amputating the finger at the knuckle.

Respondent brought this action individually and on behalf of Trevor seeking damages against the district and Peterson for their alleged negligence. Appellants each moved for summary judgment: the district on grounds of statutory immunity under Minn. Stat. § 466.03, subd. 6 (2002) and vicarious official immunity, and Peterson on grounds of common law official immunity. The district court denied summary judgment. The court denied statutory immunity to the district on the basis that the decision not to use the blade guard did not involve social, political or economic policy considerations. It denied common law official immunity to Peterson relying on Larson v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 314, Braham, 289 N.W.2d 112 (1979), and therefore denied vicarious official immunity to the district as well.

The court of appeals affirmed. Anderson v. Anoka Hennepin Ind. Sch. Dist. 11, 655 N.W.2d 847, 854 (Minn.App. 2003). The court agreed with the district court that statutory immunity is inapplicable because the conduct at issue did not involve the exercise of policy-level discretion. Id. at 852. The court also held Peterson was not entitled to common law official immunity because his decisions involving the use of a circular table saw without a blade guard did not concern "policy decisions with broad implications," and consequently held the district was not entitled to vicarious official immunity. Id. at 854. Appellants then filed a petition for further review on common law official immunity and vicarious immunity grounds, and we granted review.

The issues before us are whether the court of appeals erred in affirming denial of summary judgment by holding both that appellant Paul Peterson is not entitled to common law official immunity and that the district is not entitled to vicarious official immunity. While denial of a motion for summary judgment is not ordinarily appealable, an exception to this rule exists when the denial of summary judgment is based on rejection of a statutory or official immunity defense. E.g., Gleason v. Metro. Council Transit Operations, 582 N.W.2d 216, 218 (Minn. 1998). On review of an order denying summary judgment, this court must determine whether there are genuine issues of material fact and whether the lower court erred in applying the law. Id. at 218-219. Immunity is a legal question reviewed de novo. Id. at 219.

I.

We first address whether Peterson is protected by common law official immunity. As we have explained in numerous cases, the doctrine of common law official immunity provides that "a public official charged by law with duties which call for the exercise of his judgment or discretion is not personally liable to an individual for damages unless he is guilty of a willful or malicious wrong." Elwood v. Rice County, 423 N.W.2d 671, 677 (Minn. 1988) (quoting Susla v. State, 311 Minn. 166, 175, 247 N.W.2d 907, 912 (1976)). The purpose of official immunity is to "protect public officials from the fear of personal liability that might deter independent action and impair effective performance of their duties." Id. at 678 (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts § 895D cmt. B; Nusbaum v. County of Blue Earth, 422 N.W.2d 713, 722 (Minn. 1988)). Consistent with this purpose, common law official immunity does not protect officials when they are charged with the execution of ministerial, rather than discretionary, functions, that is, where "independent action" is neither required nor desired.

We have frequently reiterated our longstanding definition of a ministerial duty as one that is "absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Wiederholt v. City of Minneapolis, 581 N.W.2d 312, 315 (Minn. 1998) (quoting Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (citation omitted)). Thus, in Wiederholt we held that a city sidewalk inspector's duty was ministerial when a city ordinance established "fixed and designated facts," i.e., that protrusion of any sidewalk slab more than one inch above the adjacent slab would require immediate repair. Id. at 316. We have also stated that the mere existence of some degree of judgment or discretion will not necessarily confer common law official immunity; rather, the focus is on the nature of the act at issue. Elwood, 423 N.W.2d at 677. Accordingly, we have held that official immunity would not apply to a physical education teacher's decision how to teach a gymnastic exercise. Larson, 289 N.W.2d at 120.

In determining whether Peterson should be protected by common law official immunity, it is important to identify the specific conduct at issue in the case. See Gleason, 582 N.W.2d at 219. Respondent acknowledges that he is not challenging the decisions to teach woodworking, to use power equipment in the course, to allow Trevor to use the table saw, or even to leave Trevor unsupervised to make the remaining rip cuts on his own. Rather, the specific conduct challenged is the decision to instruct Trevor to make the rip cuts with the blade guard disengaged.

Nonetheless, respondent contends that the decision regarding the use of the blade guard was ministerial. In respondent's view, the ministerial nature of the decision is easily discerned by comparison to other decisions that were made relating to the woodworking class, such as whether or not to offer the course, whether to purchase a particular table saw as opposed to another brand, whether to utilize the blade guard that came with the saw or purchase a more expensive Biesemeyer guard, or whether the students in the course should be allowed to operate power equipment. Respondent argues that this group of decisions is clearly policymaking and discretionary and therefore protected by common law official immunity, and in contrast, that the decision to remove the blade guard was not a "policymaking decision," and therefore not protected by official immunity. In essence, respondent argues that because all students were required to build the project in the same manner, i.e., using the circular table saw with the blade guard disengaged, the instruction was ministerial.

The court of appeals agreed that Peterson's actions were ministerial, reasoning:

Here, rather than exercising policy-making power, appellant Paul Peterson only carried out ministerial functions. Although Peterson exercised independent judgment by deciding how to supervise his classroom and whether to use the blade guard, these are not the type of discretionary decisions afforded immunity. * * *

Although Peterson balanced many different factors in supervising the Woods II classroom, Peterson did not exercise any more discretion then [sic] any other teacher in controlling a classroom — the essence of a ministerial action. Similar to the state employees' removal of a house in Williamson, Peterson's teaching duties with regard to safety were direct and did not involve policy decisions with broad implications.

Anderson, 655 N.W.2d at 853-54. The court concluded that the nature and complexity of Peterson's decision-making were not at a level that entitled him to common law official immunity.

Both respondent and the court of appeals appear to suggest that the conduct at issue can only be characterized as discretionary for purposes of common law official immunity if it approaches policy-making level. Specifically, although the court of appeals acknowledged the distinction between the discretion at issue in statutory immunity and common law official immunity analyses, its emphasis on the absence of "policymaking power" and "policy decisions with broad implications" indicates that, as we did in Larson, the court of appeals here mistakenly relied on statutory immunity standards in an official immunity analysis. Instead, the focus of common law official immunity is to determine whether Peterson's actions called for the exercise of discretion at the operational level or instead were ministerial, constituting merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts.

In fact, the record establishes unequivocally that the decision whether to instruct Trevor to make rip cuts with the blade guard disengaged was dictated by an established protocol that made the decision ministerial from Peterson's perspective. In his affidavit submitted in support of summary judgment, Jon Trost, Department Leader for the Technology Education Department at Coon Rapids High School, stated that the department staff determined the best practice in making rip cuts on wood with a width of four inches or less would be to proceed with the Biesemeyer blade guard up, and therefore disengaged, while simultaneously using a push stick to guide the wood through the saw. The staff determined this to be the best "policy and procedure," rather than leaving the blade guard down and engaged because, in the staff's view, a push stick cannot be used when the guard is down and it is possible for a student's fingers to come within four inches of the blade.

The existence of this protocol was also noted in the affidavit of Michael Lindstrom, the district's Technology Education Facilitator and Assessment Facilitator. Lindstrom averred his familiarity with:

the unwritten policy in the Technical Arts Department at the Coon Rapids High School whereby persons using the table saw and ripping strips of wood 4 inches or less must use a push stick and occasionally have the Biesemeyer guard up so that the push stick may be used by the operator and the operator can see the piece of wood being cut; this is an accepted safety practice adopted by the faculty at the Coon Rapids High School and is consistent with district practice for technical arts curriculum.

The Woods II "Circular Saw Safety Test," a true or false test, on which students must attain a perfect score before being allowed to operate the circular table saw, reflected this protocol. The test asked if the following statement was true or false: "Absolutely no cutting operation can be performed on the circular saw without the guard over the blade." According to the answer key, the correct answer to the question is "F," indicating "false." Prior to taking the test, students were taught that there are instances, as where a student is ripping a piece of wood less than 4 inches wide, in which the guard should be disengaged and the student should use a push stick to guide the wood.

Further, at his deposition and in his affidavits submitted to the court, Peterson stated that he was aware of the protocol at the time of the accident. In response to being asked in his deposition whether the decision to operate the saw with the guard up at the time of the accident was made by Peterson himself, he answered, "No, this is the way that it is done. It was a decision — I don't know if you want to call it a curriculum decision or a discretionary decision on the part of the school. It's the way it's done throughout the district." Peterson stated that the original decision regarding blade guards was made "years ago" and that he was aware of the protocol because it was discussed in staff meetings regarding safety policies at the beginning of the school year and throughout the year.

Although respondent disagrees with the substance and underlying safety rationale of this protocol, he offered no evidence that it did not exist or that it did not direct Peterson's actions in supervising Trevor's use of the circular saw to make the rip cuts. The record establishes that there was a protocol in place that required teachers at the Coon Rapids High School to instruct students to disengage the blade guard and use a push stick when making rip cuts on wood less than four inches wide. This protocol governed Peterson's actions at issue in this case and established a duty that was "absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937). Given the protocol, Peterson's decision to instruct Trevor to complete the rip cuts with the blade guard disengaged because the wood strip was less than 4 inches wide was ministerial in nature.

The dissent disagrees with this conclusion that the protocol established a ministerial duty for common law official immunity purposes. Relying on a phrase included in Cook v. Trovatten, of what constitutes a ministerial duty, the dissent would define ministerial duty narrowly to include only duties "imposed by law," which the dissent construes to mean based on "a statute, ordinance, rule or other official action." However, we have routinely omitted the "positively imposed by law" language in describing what constitutes a ministerial duty. See, e.g., Gleason, 582 N.W.2d at 220; Wiederholt, 581 N.W.2d at 315-16 (Minn. 1998); S.W. v. Spring Lake Park Sch. Dist. No. 16, 580 N.W.2d 19, 23 (Minn. 1998); Watson v. Metro. Transit Comm'n, 553 N.W.2d 406, 414 (Minn. 1996); Elwood, 423 N.W.2d at 677. Moreover, in applying the standard, we have not required that a duty be imposed by law in order to be ministerial. See Olson v. Ramsey County, 509 N.W.2d 368, 373 (Minn. 1993) (concluding that implementation of case plan developed by individual social worker ministerial); Williamson v. Cain, 310 Minn. 59, 61, 245 N.W.2d 242, 244 (1976) (finding demolition of house ministerial); Larson, 289 N.W.2d at 121 (concluding that spotting and teaching a student's gymnastic exercise ministerial). Most important, there is no sound rationale for so limiting the scope of ministerial duties. The definition we have routinely stated is that the duty must be "absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Wiederholt, 581 N.W.2d at 315 (citations omitted). Beyond satisfying this characterization, it is inherent in the concept of ministerial duty that the duty must dictate the scope of the employee's conduct. Because the common law official immunity analysis always involves evaluation of government employee conduct, that control will most often emanate from a statute, rule, ordinance or other official standard. But there is no logical reason that a sufficiently narrow standard that does not meet an "imposed by law" criterion should not similarly make the conduct ministerial if the employee is bound to follow the standard. See Cook, 200 Minn. at 224, 274 N.W. at 167. The record in this case amply establishes that both Peterson and his superiors considered his conduct governed by the departmental protocol, and it therefore created a ministerial duty consistent with our precedent.

Our conclusion that Peterson's conduct was ministerial rather than discretionary does not end the inquiry in these circumstances. Respondent's claim is that Peterson was negligent in allowing Trevor to make the rip cuts without the blade guard in place. Therefore, the ministerial duty that respondent contends should deprive Peterson of common law official immunity — that is, to require the blade guard to remain in place for the rip cuts — is directly contrary to the ministerial duty that in fact existed in the form of the departmental protocol. In other words, the act that respondent alleges was negligent was actually Peterson's compliance with the departmental protocol.

When addressing the discretionary-ministerial dichotomy in the context of common law official immunity in past cases, we have simply stated that immunity is limited to discretionary conduct and is not applicable to ministerial conduct. See, e.g., Spring Lake Park, 580 N.W.2d at 23. But in those cases, the liability was alleged to arise from the failure to perform a ministerial duty. See, e.g., Wiederholt, 581 N.W.2d at 317 (holding that a city sidewalk inspector who failed to perform the ministerial function of ordering immediate repair of a sidewalk as required by a city ordinance was not entitled to common law official immunity); Olson, 509 N.W.2d at 373 (concluding that implementation of a case plan for an abused child and his mother was a ministerial duty and common law official immunity would not apply against allegations of negligent implementation of the plan). We have not previously confronted a situation where, as here, the liability is alleged to arise from compliance with a ministerial duty.

Although we have not addressed this situation in the context of common law official immunity, in a case involving statutory immunity we concluded that a challenge to officials' conduct in complying with established policy is a challenge to the policy itself. In Nusbaum, 422 N.W.2d at 716, the plaintiff argued, inter alia, that the state should be liable for the conduct of its traffic engineers in failing to post a new speed limit sign at the end of a restricted speed zone. Instead, the engineers had followed a state policy embodied in the state traffic sign manual. Id. The court explained:

Where the state engineers followed that policy, a challenge to their conduct is merely a challenge to the policy. Therefore, Nusbaum's claim based on failure to post a new speed limit sign is precluded because the courts or juries should not be allowed to second-guess the policy decision.

Id. at 723. In other words, the court held that where a decision was made at the policy-making level and was therefore protected by statutory immunity, that immunity would not be vitiated by imposing liability alleged to arise from conduct that merely followed the policy.

We see no reason for a different result when common law official immunity is at issue. Accordingly, we hold that a teacher, like Peterson, does not forfeit official immunity because his or her conduct was ministerial if that ministerial conduct was required by a protocol established through the exercise of discretionary judgment that would itself be protected by official immunity. To hold otherwise would deter teachers from complying with school protocols, forcing them to second-guess such decisions. Moreover, if the adoption of a mandatory protocol had the effect of stripping employees who follow it of common law official immunity because their conduct was therefore ministerial, schools and school districts might be dissuaded from utilizing collective expertise and professional judgment to make discretionary operational decisions in favor of ad hoc decision-making by individual teachers in all circumstances. Importantly, this holding preserves existing case law that denies common law official immunity when the liability is alleged to arise from the failure to perform or from the negligent performance of a ministerial duty.

Accordingly, that the conduct at issue is ministerial is not necessarily enough to deny official immunity. The ministerial-conduct bar to official immunity arises when the allegation is that a ministerial duty was either not performed or was performed negligently. See Lodl v. Progressive N. Ins. Co., 646 N.W.2d 314, 321 (Wis. 2002) ("If liability is premised upon the negligent performance (or non-performance) of a ministerial duty imposed by law or government policy, then immunity will not apply."); Hancock v. W.S. Dakota Juv. Servs. Ctr., 647 N.W.2d 722, 725 (S.D. 2002) (stating, "[A] state employee who `fails to perform a merely ministerial duty, is liable for the proximate results of his failure to any person to whom he owes performance of such a duty.'") (citation omitted).

Because respondent's claim is essentially that Peterson is liable because he followed the departmental protocol, the claim is in reality a challenge to the protocol itself. The question then is whether the adoption of the protocol was discretionary in the sense necessary to give rise to common law official immunity. While respondent contends that the requirement to keep the blade guard in place should be ministerial, it is clear that both the decision to establish a protocol and the decision regarding the substance of the protocol — that is, to require rip cuts on boards less than 4 inches in width to be performed with a push stick and the guard disengaged — involved the exercise of the staff's professional judgment as educators and woodworkers. In fact, at oral argument respondent acknowledged that the required "false" answer, regarding whether the blade guard must be used at all times on the Circular Saw Safety Test, was correct because not all woodcutting procedures could be performed with the blade guard in place. Therefore, professional judgment was required to decide which procedures require the guard and which do not in the first instance. We are not prepared to say that the exercise of that judgment is so ministerial that common law official immunity should not apply.

Although the dissent addresses the issue in the context of the individual conduct of the teacher, the crux of the dissent's opposition to our ruling is that the decision embodied in the protocol, that is, to have the students make rip cuts of less than 4 inches with the blade guard removed, is not entitled to official immunity because it did not involve the exercise of "significant independent judgment." While it is true that not every decision that entails any discretion is entitled to common law official immunity, our cases do not support the dissent's elevation of the test to "significant" independent judgment. The dissent relies primarily on Terwilliger v. Hennepin County, 561 N.W.2d 909 (Minn. 1997), and Larson, but we do not agree that those cases establish a heightened test that would deny common law official immunity for the discretionary decision at issue here. First, as observed at note 5, supra, in denying official immunity for individual teaching decisions in Larson, we mistakenly applied statutory immunity standards in our analysis. We decline to extrapolate from that analysis, as the dissent would, that the court really meant that teaching decisions are too routine in general to qualify for official immunity. In Terwilliger we denied official immunity for a decision that clearly involved the exercise of professional judgment — to treat a mental heath patient on an out-patient basis. But in doing so we relied on the fact that the defendants were "only implement[ing] Hennepin County's established public policy." 561 N.W.2d at 913. We also expressed concern about creating a shield against malpractice liability not available to private practitioners. Although the dissent would carry this concern to teachers, whereas the practice of medicine is primarily a private-sector, proprietary activity, teaching, despite the existence of many private schools, is primarily a public-sector endeavor.

In addition, the concern expressed by the dissent that our decision "empowers government employees at any level to establish their own policy to create immunity for their behavior" ignores important aspects of our rationale. First, establishment of a protocol would not create a ministerial duty unless it legitimately controlled the conduct of employees. Second, an employee following the protocol would not be protected by common law official immunity unless the decision adopting the protocol involved sufficient judgment and discretion to qualify for official immunity. Third, a claim of failure to fulfill the resulting ministerial duty or negligent performance of the duty would not be protected by common law official immunity.

Because adoption of the protocol was a discretionary decision entitled to common law official immunity and because Peterson's liability is claimed to arise from his compliance with the protocol, he is entitled to official immunity unless his action was a willful or malicious wrong. In this context, malice "means nothing more than the intentional doing of a wrongful act without legal justification or excuse, or, otherwise stated, the willful violation of a known right." Rico, 472 N.W.2d at 107 (citation omitted) (holding respondent could not have committed a willful or malicious wrong because no clearly established law or regulation prohibited his conduct at the time he committed the act in question). We have established a high standard for a finding of a willful or malicious wrong in the context of common law official immunity, by requiring the defendant to "have reason to know that the challenged conduct is prohibited * * *. [T]he exception anticipates liability only when an official intentionally commits an act that he or she then has reason to believe is prohibited." Id.

Respondent contends that instructing Trevor to perform the rip cuts with the blade guard disengaged was a willful or malicious wrong because it was in violation of an Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulation that requires use of a blade guard on a ripsaw. However, Minnesota OSHA regulations apply to workplaces for the protection of employees. See Minn. Stat. §§ 182.65, subd. 2, and 182.653 (2002). Respondent has not directed us to any provision of OSHA or the regulations promulgated under it that make OSHA regulations applicable to machinery operated by students in a school setting. The court of appeals has applied to OSHA regulations the well-established principle that violation of a statute does not constitute negligence per se unless the victim of the harm was intended to be protected by the statute and unless the harm suffered is of the kind intended to be prevented by the statute. Zorgdrager v. State Wide Sales, Inc., 489 N.W.2d 281, 284 (Minn.App. 1992). Further, the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota has stated that federal OSHA regulations only govern duties owed to an employee by an employer, not duties owed to a third party by an employer. Banovetz v. King, 66 F. Supp.2d 1076, 1081 (D. Minn. 1999) (citing Prince v. Thomas, 25 F. Supp.2d 1045, 1049 (N.D. Cal. 1997) (stating, "[T]he federal OSHA requirements have been held not to apply in a case between an employer and a person who is not an employee.")).

In arguing that violation of the OSHA regulation was a willful wrong, respondent relies exclusively on a decision by the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas in which the court held that a state health and safety regulation could be used to establish the standard of care applicable to a school teacher who removed a blade guard resulting in injury to a student in his carpentry class. Lundell v. Czajkowski, 6 Pa. D. C. 4th 40, 47 ( Pa. Com. Pl. 1990). The court held that allegations of violation of the regulation were sufficient to nullify governmental immunity for the teacher where immunity is unavailable for willful misconduct. Id. at 42. The court based its reasoning on the language of Pennsylvania's health and safety statute and held that the statute's protection was not limited to employees, but extended to anyone injured as a result of a violation. Id. at 43. The court did not discuss the standard necessary to establish willful misconduct under Pennsylvania law, but rather appeared to hold only that the health and safety regulation could be used to establish a "reasonable person" standard of care and that would be enough to remove the protection of immunity.

As explained above, under Minnesota law a public official commits a willful or malicious wrong by "intentionally commit[ing] an act that he or she then has reason to believe is prohibited." Rico, 472 N.W.2d at 107. In that context, we first note that Peterson was acting in compliance with an established school protocol. Moreover, there was no clearly-established law in Minnesota that put Peterson on notice that state OSHA regulations were applicable beyond the employer-employee relationship. The Pennsylvania lower court decision relied on by respondent cannot be said to provide that notice. Moreover, its persuasive value is limited because of different statutory language and the court's failure to discuss the standard necessary to establish willful misconduct. We cannot conclude that Peterson intentionally committed an act that he had reason to believe was prohibited by instructing Trevor to make the rip cuts without the blade guard; no "clearly established law or regulation prohibited his conduct" in doing so. Rico, 472 N.W.2d at 107. Consequently, his conduct was not a willful or malicious wrong.

In summary, we hold that there are no genuine issues of material fact, the court of appeals erred in applying the law, and Peterson is entitled to common law official immunity because (1) respondent's only claim against him is that he followed a protocol set by the Technology Education Department that would be entitled to common law official immunity and (2) his conduct was not a willful or malicious wrong.

II.

Having decided that Peterson is entitled to common law official immunity, the final issue presented in this case is whether the school district is vicariously immune from suit. Generally, if a public official is found to be immune from suit on a particular issue, his or her government employer will be vicariously immune from a suit arising from the employee's conduct and claims against the employer are dismissed without explanation. Pletan v. Gaines, 494 N.W.2d 38, 42 (Minn. 1992) (citing Northernaire Productions, Inc. v. County of Crow Wing, 309 Minn. 386, 390, 244 N.W.2d 279, 282 (1976); Johnson v. Morris, 445 N.W.2d 563, 569 (Minn.App. 1989), aff'd, 453 N.W.2d 31 (Minn. 1990); Koderick v. Snyder Brothers Drug, Inc., 413 N.W.2d 856 (Minn. App. 1987), overruled by Kaiser v. Memorial Blood Center of Minneapolis, Inc., 486 N.W.2d 762 (Minn. 1992)). In dicta, however, this court has noted, "[N]ot infrequently a governmental entity is required to compensate for the harm done by a public official even though the official is not held personally liable." Holmquist v. State, 425 N.W.2d 230, 233 n. 1 (Minn. 1988) (citation omitted). While some courts choose to extend immunity to the employer on a respondeat superior theory and other courts hold governmental entities can only take advantage of their own immunities, the question of whether to extend vicarious official immunity to a government employer remains a policy question. Pletan, 494 N.W.2d at 42.

Since Pletan, this court has further refined its vicarious official immunity standard. The court applies vicarious official immunity when failure to grant it would focus "stifling attention" on an official's performance "to the serious detriment of that performance." Olson, 509 N.W.2d at 372. This standard grants vicarious official immunity in situations where officials' performance would be hindered as a result of the officials second-guessing themselves when making decisions, in anticipation that their government employer would also sustain liability as a result of their actions.

In considering vicarious official immunity, we focus on the decision by the Technology Education Department to establish the blade guard disengagement protocol in the first instance, as vicarious official immunity would flow from that decision, not the actions of Peterson in implementing the protocol in a non-negligent manner. Such an analysis is not outside the purview of this court. This court has recognized that a government employer may be entitled to vicarious official immunity when an employee (or in this case, a group of employees) was not named in the lawsuit. Wiederholt, 581 N.W.2d at 316-17. To deny a government employer vicarious official immunity simply because the official was not named in the suit would allow plaintiffs to defeat immunity by declining to name the official as a defendant. Id. at 317. See Watson, 553 N.W.2d at 415 (stating that the government employer was entitled to vicarious official immunity despite the official not being named in the suit). Consequently, the fact that respondent did not choose to sue the Technology Education Department that made the discretionary decision that is challenged should not deprive the district of vicarious official immunity.

Here, policy considerations support the conclusion that the school district is entitled to vicarious official immunity. In S.W. v. Spring Lake Park Sch. Dist. No. 16, 592 N.W.2d 870 (Minn.Ct.App. 1999), aff'd without opinion, 606 N.W.2d 61 (Minn. 2000), the court of appeals was unwilling to extend vicarious official immunity to the school district because doing so would reward the school district for its failure to develop and implement a basic security policy that would have applied in the circumstances of the case. Id. at 877. In this case, instead of leaving the discretionary decision about use of the blade guard to each teacher in each situation, the Technology Education Department adopted a protocol based on the collective knowledge and experience of the staff. Consequently, the district should be entitled to vicarious official immunity because to rule otherwise would create a disincentive to use collective wisdom to create such protocols and policies. In turn, this would also appear to cause the type of "stifling attention" to the actions of the Technology Education Department that would deter them from making such protocol determinations, which would, in turn, place stifling attention on the work of the teacher. Olson, 509 N.W.2d at 372.

Accordingly, we conclude the court of appeals erred in its determination that the district was not entitled to vicarious official immunity.

Reversed.