Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

What your friend did is called conversion. It is both a crime and a civil cause of action. Even though he returned the items, the damage is done, and he has committed the act. From a civil perspective, the boss's damages can't be much (loss of the use of the tools for some period of time, any damage that was done to the tools), but the crime doesn't necessarily go away because the tools were returned. He could definitely face problems for what he did if the boss choses to contact the police and file a police report.

To get his items back, your friend will have to file either a civil lawsuit, or will have to file a police report. I'm not sure he wants to open the can of worms the second avenue will open, so my suggestion is that your friend needs to talk to the boss, and find out what he wants to return his tools and make this just go away. There has to be something more to this, as I can't see why the boss wouldn't return his employee's tools once he received all of his tools back.

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