Q. I checked in my coat at the beginning of a wedding. When I came to collect it at the end of the wedding, two different people were now manning the coatroom. It seems that one of them had mistakenly gave my coat to someone else. Can I sue the hall for my lost coat?
A: A person who entrusts an item to another, but knows that he will not guard the item himself, but rather his family members or workers will guard it, relies on them, as well (C.M. 291:21-22).
If one of the family members or workers was negligent, the claim, in principle, is to him, when he can be made to pay. In this case, though, where it is not known which worker made the error, you cannot claim from either. However, if the common practice is that the hall is responsible for the coat check, we follow the minhag hamedinah (Beis David C.M. #1; Erech Shai 291:26; Pis’chei Choshen, Pikadon 4:3[16]).
