Is the restaurant liable if my car was stolen because they keys were in m coat which was also stolen?
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Is the restaurant liable if my car was stolen because they keys were in m coat which was also stolen?
My girlfriend and I went to dinner and when we walked into the restaurant they asked to take our coats. We gave them over and had dinner. When we finished and asked for our coats, after a short time they came back and told us that they must of been stolen. When I gave them my coat, I had placed my car keys inside pocket. When I went outside, I discovered that my car parked on the street had also been stolen. Is the restaurant liable for the loss of my car?
Asked on December 20, 2018 under Business Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
No, they are not liable for the car.
First, they would not even be liable for the coat unless you can show that their security was deficient in some way. If they did what the average reasonable restaurant does with coat checks, but someone managed to steal the coat anyway, they are not liable: they do not insure your coat, but are only liable if you can show they were at fault.
Second, even if they would be liable for the coat, they would not be for the car. When someone is at fault and liable, they are only liable for the reasonably foreseeable, or logically predictable, consequences of their act or failure. It is not foreseeable that a coat being stolen results in a car being stolen, because in the vast majority of cases, if a coat is stolen, that does not cause a car to be stolen. A car being stolen is not a regular or logical consequence of a coat being stolen, and so the restaurant would not be liable.
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