Hertz Corp. v. Merchants Delivery Service
344 P.2d 1095, 1959 OK 142, 1959 Okla. LEXIS 461 (1959)
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Rule of Law:
A party who comes into possession of personal property accidentally left by its owner becomes an involuntary, gratuitous bailee and is liable for damages if they fail to exercise at least slight care for the preservation of the property.
Facts:
- Hertz Corporation, a rental vehicle company, rented one of its trucks to Merchants Delivery Service.
- At the time of the rental, the truck contained merchandise belonging to Kerr Dry Goods Company, which had been accidentally left inside.
- An employee of Merchants picked up the truck around midnight for the purpose of hauling newspapers.
- The Merchants employee discovered the Kerr Dry Goods merchandise inside the truck.
- Without notifying Hertz, the employee removed the merchandise from the truck and placed it in an alley against a brick wall, approximately 50 feet from a loading dock.
- The employee left the merchandise unattended in the alley, where it was subsequently run over, destroyed, and damaged.
- Hertz Corporation paid Kerr Dry Goods Company $2,095.44 to compensate for the value of the destroyed merchandise.
Procedural Posture:
- Hertz Corporation filed an action in the trial court against Merchants Delivery Service to recover damages for personal property.
- The case was submitted to the trial court on a stipulation of facts agreed upon by both parties.
- The trial judge found the issues in favor of the defendant, Merchants Delivery Service, and entered judgment accordingly.
- The plaintiff, Hertz Corporation, appealed the trial court's judgment.
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Issue:
Does a party who discovers property accidentally left in a rented truck become an involuntary bailee who is liable for damages resulting from their failure to exercise at least slight care in protecting the property?
Opinions:
Majority - Per Curiam
Yes, a party who discovers property accidentally left in a rented truck becomes an involuntary bailee and is liable for the resulting damage if they fail to exercise at least slight care. By accidentally coming into possession of the merchandise, Merchants Delivery Service became an involuntary and gratuitous bailee under Oklahoma law. As such, Merchants had a duty to use at least 'slight care' for the preservation of the property. The court rejected Merchants' argument that Hertz was a joint tort-feasor, reasoning that Hertz's mistake in delivering the truck with the merchandise inside was not the proximate cause of the damage. The proximate cause was the subsequent, negligent act of the Merchants employee, who, after discovering the property, removed it and left it in an unsafe location without notifying Hertz. The defendant's duty was to promptly notify the plaintiff and protect the property by putting it in a safe place; its failure to do so constituted negligence and made it liable for the damages.
Analysis:
This case clarifies the legal duties imposed upon an involuntary or 'finder' bailee. It establishes that a legal duty of care attaches even when possession of property is acquired by accident. The court's focus on proximate cause is significant; it holds that a new, intervening act of negligence (improperly moving and abandoning the goods) breaks the chain of causation from the original mistake (leaving the goods in the truck). This precedent reinforces that the party in actual possession of the goods, once aware of their presence, assumes a duty to act with a minimum level of care, and cannot shift liability back to the original owner or prior bailee for damages caused by its own subsequent negligence.
