Being Sued for Lost Laptop

My question involves small claims court in the state of: GA.

Previous employer gave me a laptop to use for logging customer data and processing payments. This was a contracting business, similar to lawn care. The week before Christmas the laptop went missing from my truck. The owner filed a report with the cops, who called me, and I said I didn't have it because it is missing. Nothing else happened from a criminal law perspective; never heard from the cops again.

Now, I've been served to appear in magistrate court and am being sued for $700 and change plus court costs of over $100. There are some misstatements in the document I was served with: he states I was 'renting equipment' and this computer from him. I didn't rent any equipment. I directed other employees to do work with the equipment and got a percentage of the gross sales as a commission. Costs for supplies and gas were deducted. I paid no rental fees and there was no rental agreement for anything. And the computer was not a necessary part of the business model anyway, so I would not have paid to rent that.

At any rate, now I've got to go to court and defend myself. How should I approach this? Am I liable for the loss of the computer?

Why wouldn't you be? Whether it was rented or "loaned", you had the property in your posession and it was your responsibility to secure it.

At common law, and I have not dug into Georgia law to see if it departs from the common law rule, an employer would have to prove that you were negligent in relation to the laptop in order to recover its value. That might be easier if the employer had policies that you violated, such as "A work-issued computer must not be left unattended," or "...should never be left in your car." If the computer "disappeared" from your car after you left it unlocked and unattended, that might support a negligence claim.

Your account, though, makes it sound like your employer is trying to get around the burden of proving negligence by claiming that you were renting the computer. From what you say it does not appear that your employer was in the business of renting computers, or that there would be any contract or payment history that would support a claim that this was a rental.

Were you in fact an employee, or were you an independent contractor?

It's possible, though, that the company may be claiming this was a kind of "bailment".
http://definitions.uslegal.com/b/bailment/

Which would mean that the person in possession, under these circumstances, could be held liable for his ordinary negligence. Which would be the common law rule.

Note, if the company is claiming that the computer was rented they're not claiming a bailment.

Quote:

---

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

---

At common law, and I have not dug into Georgia law to see if it departs from the common law rule, an employer would have to prove that you were negligent in relation to the laptop in order to recover its value. That might be easier if the employer had policies that you violated, such as "A work-issued computer must not be left unattended," or "...should never be left in your car." If the computer "disappeared" from your car after you left it unlocked and unattended, that might support a negligence claim.

Your account, though, makes it sound like your employer is trying to get around the burden of proving negligence by claiming that you were renting the computer. From what you say it does not appear that your employer was in the business of renting computers, or that there would be any contract or payment history that would support a claim that this was a rental.

Were you in fact an employee, or were you an independent contractor?

---

He referred to me as an employee. However, my pay was straight commission and I directed my own work most of the time, so one could argue I was an independent contractor. On the other hand, there were many times I was told exactly what, where and when to do something. There was no contract or payment history on the laptop or any other piece of equipment I used. I was just told to use it and log certain information into it.

Quote:

---

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

---

Which would mean that the person in possession, under these circumstances, could be held liable for his ordinary negligence. Which would be the common law rule.

Note, if the company is claiming that the computer was rented they're not claiming a bailment.

---

Yeah, I don't know why he specifically claimed it was rented when there was no such agreement, verbal or written, and so he can't produce one in court. As for care and negligence, it was in an open truck every day in the field with employees going in and out and it was never said I had to take any extra care such as locking the doors to the truck every time I exited the vehicle or that I had to keep it with me at all times.

It's not really a "one could argue" - you were either an independent contractor or you were an employee. Does he deduct payroll taxes from your wages and issue you a W-2, or are taxes your problem with your receiving a 1099?

It's a cash business. I was paid in cash, no taxes taken out.

Any advice on how to proceed in court?

So you're declaring your full wages and paying all of your taxes, with no withholding by this guy? Or are you taking a "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" "I'm being paid under-the-table so I get to commit tax fraud" approach?

One approach to take in court is to tell the truth. If you have witnesses that can help you with your side of the case, have them come to court with you. If you have documents or other evidence that could help you, take it with you. See if the court has a "small claims brochure" that outlines procedures.

I'm not seeing the relevance of the tax issue to the matter at hand, but no, I didn't declare a thing. No contractor that is paid in cash does, unless he's an idiot. So yes, I committed tax fraud on a few grand.

Yep, planned to tell the truth in court. I read the FAQs on the court website. There are no documents to bring and there is no evidence. I filed an answer to the claim last night online and stated that there was no rental agreement and the iPad was lost during work.

One question I have is do judges usually decide one way or the other in full, or do they routinely make adjustments to the claim amount? He is asking for more than the cost of a used iPad, or a new one for that matter.

Perhaps the idiotic thing to do would be committing tax fraud.

In a case like this I see no reason why the judge would try to split the baby. You're either liable or you're not.

If you want to present evidence as to value, by all means present evidence. If you choose not to challenge his figures, the judge won't have anything else to go on.