Our part time maintanence person has just been arrested for theft of items from tenants units. Am I, as the business owner, legally responsible for reimbursement to these tenants? Morally, I feel responsible and will be offering tenants something, but I'd like to figure out my legal exposure.

JFR:

My first call would be to my attorney. I can understand and appreciate that you feel responsible to your tenants. What you don’t want to do to yourself is, because of a good heart, you somehow get brought into any civil or criminal litigation that may result from this arrest.

You could be sued anyway because he was your employee. You could end up being subpoenaed and asked to do a deposition regarding the background screening that you did on this employee prior to hiring him. If he already had a criminal background it could place you in some type of jeopardy.

I would certainly want legal counsel during any questioning by law enforcement. Some people think that is not necessary, but you never know how an answer to what a layman considers an innocent question that comes back to bite you. Having legal counsel with you has nothing to do with cooperation.

The second call would be to my insurance agent. You want to inform them of this situation in advance and to get their guidance. If you should be sued for any reason you want them ready to defend you.

I admire you that you want to help your customers, but don’t get blind sided despite what you want to accomplish.

MisterJim444

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MrJimm444,
Thanks for the advice.Talked to our attorney today.