Maple Hired Birch to Work as a Taxi Driver for Maple.After

Maple hired Birch to work as a taxi driver for Maple.After a long,hot summer day of city driving and dealing with other rude drivers,Max,another driver,cut Birch off and slightly dented Birch's taxicab.An enraged Birch pulled Max out of the car and hit him with a brick that was lying on the road.Max suffered serious and permanent injuries and wants to sue.Who is liable in this situation?

A) Maple,under the doctrine of direct liability.
B) Birch,since he was not in scope of employment.
C) Maple and Birch,since the principal and the agent are responsible for the agent's torts.
D) Max instigated the incident and hence will not be successful in the lawsuit.