it might have COST $30K, that doesn't make it WORTH $30K
Posted on 11/30/2019 4:07:19 PM PST by simpson96
It all started with a handbag.
Maryana Beyder’s wasn’t just any ordinary bag, though. It was a pink Hermès Kelly clutch, since discontinued by the pricey French fashion house. Beyder’s husband had gifted her the purse, worth $30,000, as a 30th birthday present.
So after a waiter at a posh New Jersey country club spilled some red wine on the luxury handbag last year, the real estate agent sued for negligence, demanding that the Alpine Country Club pay her the eye-popping price of her spoiled handbag.
That lawsuit had already made local headlines, but on Monday, the club in Demarest, N.J., responded with a surprising move of its own: It’s now suing its own employee — the waiter who allegedly spilled the wine — in the latest legal development after a dinner gone downhill.(snip)
Members of the club are reportedly required to pay a $65,000 initiation fee, plus $19,000 in annual dues.(snip)
In court documents filed Monday, the country club insisted it wasn’t liable for the damage to her purse, the Record reported, in addition to suing its own employee.
Errico said she was appalled that the country club has chosen to take on the cross-claim, a motion in which one defendant sues another in the same proceeding.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The Country Club should pay for a cleaning service.
Maybe $100.
Assumed risk for the handbag owner.
I'll tell you -- if something happens to my wallet, I would shrug it off. It's $40 -- I'll get another. But if you freak out because your purse is damaged, then maybe you shouldn't have such a nice purse. Shame on you for buying things like that. You obviously can't really afford it, because you can't afford to lose it.
I think there’s more to this story.
In any event, if you own a $30,000 anything, insure it.
Have a restaurant and want your entire kitchen staff quit en masse at the most conspicuous and embarrassing time? Sue your own waiter for an accidental spill.
There is a big difference between having the money to buy something and being able to afford it. If you can’t afford to send your girlfriend’s $30,000 handbag back to France for professional cleaning because of a wine spill, you can’t afford the bag or the girl who “needs” it.
it might have COST $30K, that doesn't make it WORTH $30K
The country club will have a heck of a time hiring top waiters if they are left out to dry. The club had previously suggested the handbag was a knockoff, and not worth $30K.
I’m not normally one to say one has too much money. You have a $30,000 purse? You have too much money...
I’m sure the emeralds and rubies that must have studded the $30,000 purse can still be salvaged.
“That lawsuit had already made local headlines, but on Monday, the club in Demarest, N.J., responded with a surprising move of its own: It’s now suing its own employee — the waiter who allegedly spilled the wine — in the latest legal development after a dinner gone downhill.(snip) “
Frim my earlier link:
The lawyer for Alpine Country Club, Kenneth Merber, released a statement on the case that questioned the authenticity of the bag, “The pleadings raise issues regarding the property damage Plaintiff claims she suffered, the authenticity of the handbag and its value. Plaintiff has not provided any receipt pertaining to the purchase of the subject handbag,” Merber also said the club was not seeking damages from the waiter in the case. “Alpine Country Club is not making any claim against and is not seeking any damages from any of its employees, including the waiter who allegedly caused damage to Plaintiff’s handbag, pertaining to the subject incident.”
“The country club will have a heck of a time hiring top waiters if they are left out to dry. “
They aren’t.
I don’t think this lawsuit flies...employers are ultimately liable for the actions of their employees, especially concerning foreseeable accidents in the workplace. And, you can’t hold employees liable for honest mistakes on the job. Ask anyone in manufacturing, where employee mistakes can cost much more than a $30k handbag.
When joan rivers was doing the fashion police shew her daughter, Melissa, was on once in a while she was a producer.
They were talking fashion commenting on the $35,000.00 crocodile handbag some red carpet celeb as sporting.
They all exclaimed thirty five thou...!!!
Melissa said, without cracking up, I might add, “35 thousand. For that you could get a crocodile and train it to carry your stuff around.”
LOL!!!
Let’s file this one under “first world problems.”
For that kind of membership fee, I'd expect quality from the service and loyalty from the club.
That means:
The proper resolution should have been:
The customer did not receive $84,000 worth of service, and the club didn't meet its obligation to the customer.
-PJ
The employer is not filing. The owner of handbag included the waiter in their lawsuit.
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