Liability for Camp Bus and Deductible
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Question
Hello Rabbi, I am the head counselor in a camp in the USA. At the end of the first month of camp, a bunch of campers went home and the Director asked me if I could drive them in the camp bus back to Brooklyn. We are in Connecticut. Driving the bus is not my responsibility and I really wanted to say No, but in the end, I wanted to help and I said Yes. The drive was very difficult. 5 hours in heavy NYC traffic. Finally, on my way back I stopped at a kosher restaurant to eat something. I had not eaten all day. In that parking lot, I accidentally scratched and damaged a parked car and the camp bus also got damaged. For the other car, the camp has insurance, but there is a significant "deductible" that needs to be paid. About $1000. My question is, am I liable to pay for the camp bus damage as well as for the deductible and any other loss that the camp may have, or is there some kind of argument to say that since I was doing this employed by the camp that I am not (fully) liable to pay. Thank you very much.
Answer
Hello and blessings,
Despite the understandable difficulty, you are legally obligated to pay.
I hope that after you approach those in charge and explain to them the situation you described here, they will take it into consideration regarding the payment.
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