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Fellow Weekly - Issue 91
WHAT'S THE LAW ™
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Welcome to Fellow Weekly's
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 191: The Baffled Babysitter XII: A Smashing Duet!
Excitement in the Jerusalem Berman home was building up ever fervently, as the family progressively geared up for what promised to be a Passover season to remember. A thorough cleaning of all places where leaven was had throughout the year preceded Mrs. Berman's marathon cooking efforts for thirty mouths a meal. Sara the babysitter was back at her duties, tending to the children and pitching in where help was needed. Today, though Mrs. Berman had hired Sara's friend Ayala to lend a hand as well.
At the behest of Mrs. Berman, Sara carefully removed the glass shelves from the refrigerator to scrub them and soak them with bleach in the bathtub. After her arduous work, Sara rinsed the shelves, drained the soiled water, and laid the sparkling clean shelves out over a fresh yellow towel to dry . To hasten the drying process, Sara plugged in a fan to blow over the drying shelves. Meanwhile, a warm and peaceful aura reigned in the air.
Twenty minutes thereafter, a piercing shattering of glass was heard on both sides of the apartment. Sara had taken one of the shelves and attempted to place them back into the refrigerator, when the shelf fell from her hands to the floor. Meanwhile, chasing after the twins, Ayala tripped over the fan's cord, tumbled onto another shelf, whereby cracking it in half. A Smashing Duet!
Is Sara and/or Ayala required to pay for the damages?
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
Case # 190 The Baffled Babysitter XI: Swallowed Shoelace
Scrubbing, dusting, washing, and vacuuming. Stop drop roll! With the upbeat festive music playing in the background, the Green household joyfully and systematically cleansed and readied their home for the upcoming Passover holiday. It appeared as though the children had rehearsed their roles for years. And as for Mom...her sheer excitement was infectious. "Passover cleaning avails us quality family bonding time, as well as abilities to set small and big goals and feel accomplished," Mom was oft to say.
Mrs. Green even borrowed an additional vacuum cleaner, a Eureka SmartVac 4870MZ from her next neighbor, Shira Stein and asked Bracha the babysitter to vacuum the den. Bracha picked up the toys in sight and began her chore.
Five minutes later, Bracha heard an awful sound....and then the machine suddenly stopped. Vacuuming beneath the bookcases, the machine had swallowed a shoelace, three marbles and some broken shards of glass. A repair was due.
Who swallows the repair cost? Bracha , Mrs. Green or Mrs. Stein?
What is the law?
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The Answer
We present you here with a concise ruling. For a more intricate elucidation, please see the detailed explanation below.
If the damaging articles were in an unexpected place and could not have been seen, Mrs. Stein would absorb the loss. Otherwise, Bracha is liable.
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Detailed Explanation
Swallowed Shoelace! implicates the following four laws.
1. A borrower is liable to recompense for damages due to a)negligence, b)theft or loss outside of negligence, or c)accidental causes [Choshen Mishpat 340:1]. 2. Yet, a borrower is absolved from recompensing for damages incurred in the course of normal usage [ibid.][See Issue 77]. A lender lends out an article to be used, not to stay in the closet! 3. Generally, a borrower (trustee) may not entrust a transportable deposit in the custody of a third party [Choshen Mishpat 342:1 Rambam, Kesef Mishna Sechirus 1:4]. 4. Exceptions:
[See Issue 75 for a list of all four exceptions.]
- In the Primary Trustee's Presence : Without increasing the risk factors, a primary borrower /trustee may allow a secondary trustee to use/watch the deposit if the article remains under the guard of the primary borrower [Kesef Mishna Sechirus 1:4].
Example: In her presence, a host may generally allow a responsible guest to read a book she borrowed from a neighbor.
Application
As long as Mrs.Green or adult members of her household are home, she is permitted to allow others to use items which she borrowed.
It is an act of negligence to vacuum without picking up articles from the floor which could damage the machine.
If however, the articles which caused damage were in an unexpected place, and could not have been seen, the damage ensued is viewed as damages incurred in the course of normal use. Consequently, the borrower is absolved from paying for such damages.
Thus, if Bracha was negligent, she is liable to pay for the damages. Otherwise, Mrs. Stein would swallow the loss.
Answered by: The Yesharim Research Center
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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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