QUESTION
Liability for stolen mechanic tools
Asked on Jul 04th, 2019 on Labor and Employment - California
More details to this question:
I am a mechanic in california and I am required to supply my own set of tools. My set at original prices is valued somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand dollars (I intend to inventory and value it accurately asap). I keep almost all of them in a locked tool cabinet that I supply which is kept in a locked shop with an alarm. I have sole access to my tools inside of the tool cabinet, but the shop is accessed by numerous other employees. If my tools were to be stolen, is my employer responsible for replacing them or reimbursing me for the replacement cost? Is this dependent upon their insurance or are they legally liable regardless? It may be noteworthy to say that this question is largely to help decide if I should buy my own tool insurance or not. My tools have not been stolen but another employee's rools have been stolen and our employer refused to reimburse him.
1 ANSWER
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It sounds like you've answered your own question. If your employer has already refused to reimburse another employee for stolen tools, get insurance to cover yourself. If you are required to supply your own tools and you also supply a locked tool cabinet, the employer would not be liable for loss due to theft unless it was reasonably foreseeable to the employer that the theft would occur. Given that theft has already happened once, it may be foreseeable that it would happen again, but this would depend on many circumstances.
Answered on Jul 04th, 2019 at 7:21 AM