Store Clerk Stole My Wallet - Is the Store Liable

[obytheway]

Last person out of convenience store (corporate). Upon getting in my car my wallet falls out of my pocket. Clerk had followed me out to smoke and picked it up when I drove off !! ( this has been proven because she was caught on tape using my credit card while on duty she also got the contents of my wallet ) I realized 1-3 minutes down the road & came back & asked her & the manager if they found my wallet they both said no ! I came back about 30 minutes later & and was again told no! I came back a few hours later after shift change & that manager looked at the tapes & saw what happened !This happened on Christmas Day & needless to say ruined our day !

[jk]

what was your question?

If you think the business has any liability here, you are wrong. But just for fun, why do you believe the business would bear any liability? How were they negligent?

[obytheway]

It was their employee who knowingly used it after I had been back asking about it. I guess it just pisses my off !

[jk]

ok, so was the business aware the employee was a thief?

Unless the company did something to cause the loss or failed to take action to prevent the loss once they were made aware of the possibility, they were not negligent in their actions. No negligence, no winning lawsuit.

[obytheway]

The 2nd manager said that employees drawer had been short a few times and that manager had been trying to catch her !

[KeyWestDan]

Obviously you should have the clerk arrested. If the clerk is convicted, you could ask for restitution. Probably though you didn't actually have to pay for the fraudulent charges and don't have much to really claim.

You could sue the clerk individually, but although you were terribly inconvienced, it would be difficult to prove much in damages. Trying to collect, if you won, would be a different discussion. If the lost cards were used where the person works, obviously this person is a total moron and I would not hold out much hope she will ever have any money.

Frankly, someone has to be pretty stupid to drop their wallet and not immediately realize it. Obviously you need to be better organized.

So you want to sue the store? Yes, deeper pockets, but again, not much in the way of damages. You could try your luck in small claims court.

BUT, what tort? Exactly what tort could you claim? Is that what you are asking us?

About the only thing is negligent supervision or negligent hiring. Of course, if you got that to trial (I doubt it would survive that long), a judge or jury would likely find the store only 10 percent liable.

Now you might think, "Oh, I will only sue the store." Well, if it was my store or I its attorney, I would file a cross complaint and bring the clerk into the case, thus the jury would find me or my client liable for only a small percentage of any judgment. Of course, your chances of winning would be slim to none.

The jury would probably find you 50 percent or more negligent anyway, kind of like an auto accident where blame can be divided up among the parties.

In Summary: NO PAYDAY FOR YOU.

[jk]

well, she worked with her and couldn't prove it. How do you think you could prove it?

a suspicion does not make negligence. In fact, the manager was doing all she could to get rid of the bad employee apparently.

[obytheway]

The first manager ( store manager told me she was a model employee spoke great things about her ! The 2nd manager smirked & laughed about it when told of that statement ! Almost like the first two had something going on together !

[jk]

if you can prove it, go for it but I suspect it will not be easy and unless you lost a great deal of money (which the most you should have lost is the cash + no more than $500 for a debit card, 0 for any credit cards, and the cost of replacing the wallet, license, etc), it would cost you far more that what you would get, if you did win, which is highly doubtful.

[obytheway]

Thanks for your time & advice !