"Watch this for me"

[Reyemile]

I’m sitting in a coffee shop, the guy next to me asks me to watch his laptop for him while he runs to the bathroom, and I say I will. Am I assuming any legal responsibility for the laptop? If it gets broken or stolen, can he sue me? (Okay, he can sue me for whatever he damn well pleases–can he win?)

[Gfactor]

Under those circumstances, you are probably a gratuitous bailee. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=sc&vol=20001115165132.CEDE8&invol=1

You probably owe the guy a “slight” duty of care. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=wi&vol=wisctapp2\2005\2004ap001971&invol=1

[jjimm]

There’s a scam that’s been highlighted on British TV that involves getting you to watch a laptop (or other valuable) for a stranger in a public place. As you’re minding it, someone grabs it and runs off. While you’re freaking out about what just happened, two or three other stooges in the place fleece your shit. Be warned, and be prepared politely to say “no” if asked.

[Gfactor]

Here are some Wyoming jury instructions that describe the relationship pretty well:

A voluntary bailment is made by one giving to another, with [his/her] consent, the possession of personal property to keep for the benefit of the former, or of a third party. The person giving the possession of personal property is called the bailor, and the person receiving the personal property is called the bailee.

A bailor must indemnify the bailee:

First, for all injuries directly caused bailee by the [defects/vices] of the thing bailed; and,

Second, for all expenses necessarily incurred by the bailee about the thing, other than such as are involved in the nature of the undertaking.

A gratuitous bailment is a bailment for which the bailee receives no compensation beyond the mere possession of the thing bailed.

A gratuitous bailee owes to the bailor the duty to use a slight care for the preservation of the thing bailed.

The duties of a gratuitous bailee cease:

First, when [he/she] restores the thing bailed to its owner; or,

Second, when [he/she] gives reasonable notice to the owner to remove it, and the owner fails to do so within a reasonable time. [However, an involuntary bailee cannot give such notice until the emergency that gave rise to the bailment is past.]

The bailee’s liability for injuries to the thing bailed, directly caused by bailee’s negligence, shall not exceed the amount [he/she] is informed by the bailor the thing is worth, or has reason to believe it is worth.

http://wyom.state.wy.us/applications/OCISWeb/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=74137

Obviously, there will be variations among jurisdictions.

[Gfactor]

Here is a 9th Circuit case that talks a lot about gratuitous bailments: Page Not Found (guy caught smuggling money onto an airplane was a gratuitous bailee for the owners of the money; as such he had standing to object to forfeiture)

[Ethilrist]

"Watch this for me."

My usual response in cases like this would waver between “What’s it going to do?” and “Cool… free laptop!”

Not that the latter would hold up in a court of law, but it does tend to get them thinking about what they’re proposing.

[Burrido]

Slight hijack, but could this a “he said/she said” case? Say someone does steal it and if it does go to court, can the bailee can jsut deny that an agreement was ever made?

[Campion]

@Burrido

Slight hijack, but could this a “he said/she said” case? Say someone does steal it and if it does go to court, can the bailee can jsut deny that an agreement was ever made?

Sure; the regular rules of life apply in a bailment case as in any other kind of case (breach of contract, divorce, wrongful death, etc.): people can lie. People also can have different perceptions of the same incident.

In any case that depends entirely on testimony, it becomes an issue of credibility. But there’s nothing different about this kind of case. To answer the OP (by piggybacking on Gfactor’s excellent work) a bailee has some small responsibility for the property. Basically, you need to exercise some “slight care” over the laptop, and you can be held liable if you’re “grossly” negligent (which means that you exercise a lot less care than a reasonable person would).

So it’ll come down to the facts: how did the laptop break or get stolen? How did you react? If you can demonstrate that you acted reasonably, you may be off the hook. If, on the other hand, the laptop broke when you were demonstrating your excellent juggling skills…

[Yllaria]

gratuitous bailments

I’m trying really hard to think of this as a band name, but I just can’t. It’s an odd sounding phrase, and it sticks in the mind, but it doesn’t swing. It kind of sounds like it’s rattling to a stop.

I could picture labeling an odd old cannister with the phrase and sticking it on a kitchen shelf. That’s not nearly as snappy as: ‘band name!’, though. Sorry.

[Alan_Smithee]

Hee hee! I like that a lot! After all, I will probably never actually start my own band. But I may, someday, find myself in possession of a canister. (Maybe, if I’m extra lucky, one someone gave me to watch for him!) If I do, I totally plan on stealing your idea–er, I mean I’ll watch it for you!