Who is responsible for the damages on my car that happened while I was at work?
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Who is responsible for the damages on my car that happened while I was at work?
I work at a bar and grill as a bartender. Last night while I was working, there was a fight in the parking lot which resulted in a decent sized dent in my driver’s door. I had my manager pull the security footage from that night, but my car is out of frame which is ridiculous because I parked in front of the building. What should I do? Who is responsible? Should my employer have some kind of liability
insurance for this type of incident? Also. the cops were called so there should be at least an incident report filed.
Asked on June 18, 2017 under Accident Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
No, your employer is NOT responsible for damage caused by persons not under its control and/or for the criminal acts (e.g. fighting, assault, vandalism, etc.) of other people. Your employer is only responsible for damage or losses which it causes, not those done by others, and therefore they do not need to have insurance for this (and if they have insurance, their insurer would not have to pay, because they are not liable). This is why you should have your own collission or comprehensive insurance, to pay for losses like this: you can't always count on other's insurance.
You could sue the person(s) who caused the damage, if you can find them (and if they have money to pay). You can make what is commonly known as an OPRA request (e.g. "open public records act") the police for any police reports; your police department's website should have information about doing this.
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