Legal Question in Insurance Law in California

Re: What Am I Responsible For?

From your description of events, your employees contributed to their own loss by not using the employee cabinet you designated.

But that doesn't mean you would escape all liability for the loss.

Your insurance is of two kinds: First, you are describing property insurance covering property of others on your premises. It is excess to the owners' insurance (under their own homeowner's or renters) personal property off of the premises coverage.

If they have none, your own may drop down and become primary.

Second, your insurance provides protection against liability claims made against your business. Were the employees to make such a claim, your insurer might defend and cover, or might not depending on the various exclusions for types of claims made by your employees.

As your general business lawyer to discuss this with the employees as they didn't follow the proper procedures you established to prevent just such an occurrence.

Re: What Am I Responsible For?

You are probably not legally responsible for their stolen purses unless you had prior incidents which would lead you to believe that there might be a theft.

As to the insurance issue, that is a bit harder. You need to get your insurance policy and read it to see what is covered. If you do not know or do not understand it, ask your insurance agent or broker to explain it to you or find an insurance attorney and pay for a few hours of time so that you make sure you understand what is and what is not covered by your policy.

Re: What Am I Responsible For?

If you do get sued, immediately provide the suit to your insurance carrier. They will attempt to negotiate it with the respective homeowners carriers and, if they are unsuccessful, they could bring a claim against another carrier down the road. Your insurance company, though, probably will have an obligation to defend you.