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Fellow Weekly - Issue 79
WHAT'S THE LAW ™ |
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Welcome to Fellow Weekly!
WHAT'S THE LAW?™
Encouraging intelligent and entertaining debate at your Shabbat table.
Fellow Weekly raises issues of business law and ethics through lively emails by featuring your real-life scenarios answered by our leading authorities and professionals. |
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CASE 179: TSUNAMI!
Brisbain, Australia:
"Look there, shrieked Adelle from her second floor office window. Help! There's a wall of water, the inland tsunami is approaching fast towards the parking lot! Help! Her heart began to race and she was shaking to the core. "I reckon within six minutes the water will overtake the lot."
Six years of hard earned savings, I'll never recoup the loss. How will I ever repay her. How will I ever be able to face her upon her return? If only I would have taken public transportation today...If I race downstairs now, perhaps I can salvage my mother-in-law's SUV, or perhaps not...
Vacationing in Rio de Janeiro, Adelle's mother-in-law asked her to watch out for her truck, and permitted her to drive it to work.
Time is not at a standstill. What must Adelle do?
What is the law?
Please email us with your comments and answers at weekly@projectfellow.org.
Read next week's issue for the answer! |
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LAST WEEK'S CASE
178: Zirconi um?
Nestled along the verdant Judean hills, amidst the rolling aromatic lily gardens, the young girls budded and blossomed, collectively forming a unique landscape of character, spirit, and personality. The Welder Women's School for advanced Judaic studies offered its intercontinental student body an earnest environment of growth and opportunity; nurturing care, comradery, and communal concern. Sharing amongst each other was commonplace and the accepted mode of conduct.
No wonder then, that as Ariella discussed her cousin's upcoming wedding, Ayala was only overjoyed to offer her friend to wear her cubic zirconium bracelet to pull her attire together, for the occasion.
The festivities and celebration lasted deep in to the night as the family and guests gave it their all. Ariella's emotional high ghastly took a sharp dip when noticing her borrowed bracelet had fallen off. Concerted recovery efforts led to no success.
Tearfully embarrassed and loaded with a feeling of guilt, Ariella asked Ayala if she knew the value of the piece. Calmingly, Ayala called her Mom in England to see if she knew. Breaking the piercing silence on the other end of the line, Ayala heard a deafening whisper,
"Ayala dear, it was real!...
What is the law?
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The Answer
Ariella pays no more than for the value of a cubic zirconium bracelet.
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Detailed Explanation
Background:
To appreciate this ruling, it is necessary for us to identify
Let us begin with two examples:
A. A trustee assumes liability by accepting to cognitively safeguard the trust[Choshen Mishpat 291: 2,3]
B. As previously noted, [See Issue 71] the degree of a trustee's liability is contingent upon the scale of benefit he/she derives while safeguarding the trust. (An unpaid trustee bearing the lowest scale whiles a borrower bearing the highest scale.)
The human mind willingly accepts higher grades of accountability in return for further benefits received [Ketzos HaChoshen 291: 4].
Conclusion
The origin for a trustee's liability is greatly rooted in his or her implied willingness to accept accountability for the entrusted chattel. (The Torah categorizes the grades of liability against the respective benefits received scale.)[Ketzos HaChoshen 291: 4]
♦
Zirconi um? implicates the following four laws.
- A agrees to safeguard B's wristwatch after B informs A it is silver. A accepts liability for the cost of a silver wristwatch. Hence, A is accountable for the value of silver at the time of negligence, even if the watch turns out to be white gold [Choshen Mishpat 291: 4, Ketzos HaChoshen 291: 4 ].
- A agrees to safeguard B's gold bracelet for ten years. The value of gold tripled in time. At the time of assuming liability, A ought to consider the odds of appreciation; hence is duly liable for the increased appreciation value at the time of negligence [Ketzos HaChoshen 291: 4].
- A agrees to safeguard B's diamond ring. At the time of assuming liability, A ought to consider that the price range of diamonds and its' like, vary greatly. A is accountable for its true value irrespective of what A may have figured the diamond ring cost at the time of assuming liability [Ketzos HaChoshen 291: 4]
- A agrees to safeguard B's standard looking wristwatch. B does not inform nor mislead A of its value. A discovered post facto that the wristwatch was an antique.
Consider: On one hand when A accepted to safeguard a standard looking wristwatch, A could well assume that it was highly improbable for the watch to be an antique. On the other hand, the possibility did exist.
Dilemma: Does one subconsciously accept upon himself/herself liability commensurate with the probable value of the trust or the plausible value of the trust?
Extensive material has been written on this issue and particular cases should be presented to a competent Choshen Mishpat authority.
Application
Ayala assumed that her bracelet was cubic zirconium. Ariella had no reason to assume otherwise. In the girls' minds, it was not even plausible that the bracelet was real. Thus, Ayala did not assume liability for more than the value of a cubic zirconium bracelet. As such, Zirconi um? Can be compared to law 1.
Consequently, Ayala is not liable to pay more than the value of a cubic zirconium bracelet.
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Enjoy featured articles, educational materials, and back issues on
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Note:
Although we aim to present the correct ruling, varying details are always important and decisively influence every individual case. Our readers are thus encouraged to present their personal cases to a competent authority and not solely rely on the information provided.
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