Home › Forums › Decaffeinated Coffee › Shabbos guests breaks chair WWYD › Reply To: Shabbos guests breaks chair WWYD
I’d say that this is probably a Choshen Mishpat she’eila (and one I’d rather not comment on). Speak to your local dayan, as to whether he is obligated to pay or not.
To my mind, however, this damage was certainly unintentional and I don’t see how he could have avoided this happening. Bava Kamma 27b says that it is not customary for a person to constantly check the path that he is walking on to make sure that he won’t damage someone else’s item that may be in the way. Therefore, if someone were to unintentionally damage someone else’s item that is in his way as he is walking, he would not have to pay for this item; the principle to be learned from this gemara is that although a person is held responsible even for unintentional damages, this is only if the damage could have been prevented if the person had exercised a little more care. Tosafos call this “Onnus K’Ein Aveidah”, unintentional damage that is similar to losing something. Just as the loss of an item can generally be prevented with a little foresight, so too for a person to be liable for damages it must be damage that could have been prevented with a little foresight. However, this is only where it is expected for people to act with caution. Since, generally, people are not cautious of what may be in their paths as they walk along, there would be no liability in such a case. Likewise, it doesn’t seem like a reasonable expectation for a person to assess the sturdiness of a chair before they sit down on it. If you offer a place for a person to sit in your home, they’d assume it’s safe and secure for them to sit there. The Nesivos and Ketzos both say that a person cannot be held liable for gramma be nezikin; i.e. a person can not be held liable in Bet Din for damage that indirectly resulted from his actions. I don’t see how this guy directly broke your bench, and it’s certainly not vadai whether this fellow broke your bench or not.
I’d suggest speaking to a dayan or a scholar learned in Choshen Mishpat.