Liability of stealing food from a dumpster

[aristocatz]

Sorry-really weird title.....no, I'm not stealing food from dumpsters.... just bored & browsing through FB.

Just reading this FB post:
https://www.facebook.com/oleanderband (top post with the typed white sign)

& this comment:
...."while it was nice of you to give him coffee and soup, some companies lock the dumpsters because they can be sued or involved in criminal behavior. If someone eats something from the dumpster and gets sick or dies, or gives it someone else who does - the owner of the dumpster as well as the business can be sued. If someone uses an item (glass bottle) to hurt someone, again, the owner of the dumpster and the business owner can be liable."

How much truth is there to this? If the dumpster has a "No Trespassing" sign on it, are the business owners & the owners of the dumpster really liable if someone took the food from there & then got sick from it? That just doesn't seem right. I know anyone can sue for anything, but if companies are going out of their way to lock the dumpster, because they are concerned about being sued, it sounds like people have successfully sued and won for getting sick from food they took from a dumpster-??

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I'm not involved in it anymore, so I really can't speak to how real this might be today, but I've been amazed at the lengths I've seen grocery stores go through to make food inedible prior to throwing it away just so there are no liability issues with it being eaten from the garbage. It's amazing what companies have to go through to protect themselves from litigation from all sorts of angles.

 

[piccolopat]

People can sue for anything. Even if there is ultimately no liability, the cost to defend is what drives people to settle rather than fight a ridiculous charge. Too bad we don't have a loser pays system like some places. It would deter people from filing lawsuits that are frivolous because they would pay the other party's legal costs if they lost.

 

[mnrose]

My BIL will not throw his product (small business owner makes a consumable good) into the dumpster without mixing it with coffee grounds and other garbage to make inedible. This is only a last resort as he tries very hard to donate excess daily product to soup kitchens and the like. But sometimes, there is no one to pick up the product, even as a free donation and he must trash it. It's sad, but it's what he needs to do to protect himself and his business.

 

[ThisIsJason]

Watch the whole thing (or just 11:25-12:35). Might have some adult language in it. Long story short: no, you can't be sued (and lose). Even if your best friends mailman, who knows a guy who's aunt that knows a lady who owns a fruit stand was sued for 'a ton of money and the person won' is full of crap.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Watch the whole thing (or just 11:25-12:35). Might have some adult language in it. Long story short: no, you can't be sued (and lose). Even if your best friends mailman, who knows a guy who's aunt that knows a lady who owns a fruit stand was sued for 'a ton of money and the person won' is full of crap.

The prohibition discussed from 11:25-12:35 only applies to food donated in good faith. As things in dumpsters are not donated food, it doesn't apply.

 

[kimblebee]

How could anyone prove though, that they got sick from what they ate in the dumpster? It could have been from something they ate two days ago..

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

How could anyone prove though, that they got sick from what they ate in the dumpster? It could have been from something they ate two days ago..

It's amazing what people try to prove in a court of law. What they are actually able to prove is something completely different. Doesn't seem to stop them from trying though.

 

[littlejimmy]

some of my best meals have come from dumpster diving. don't knock it until you try it

 

[design_mom]

I do not know the exact laws, but we also had to destroy food before throwing it away when I worked in a bakery at a grocery store. I was told that it was due to food being an "attractive nuisance" similar to swimming pools. Even if your pool is on your private property, if you don't actively do something to keep people out (tall fence), you can still be liable if they trespass and get hurt in your pool. Even though the food is in a dumpster, if the food is in good condition people might eat it anyway, and the store could be liable. ("Ooh, look! Donuts!!!")

Speaking of dumpster diving, a few weeks ago on "American Ninja Warrior" there was a guy who claimed he only spends something like $25/month on groceries and gets the rest of his food from dumpster diving. That guy must have intestines of steel in addition to abs of steel!

 

[Jaya]

I was once told by a hotel restaurant that I couldn't take my left-overs home with me as they could get sued if I didn't refrigerate them properly and got sick from the food, which led me to wonder how often this happens. It make sense as something for restaurants to be worried about -- say that I get a seafood lunch, have them box up half of it, I put it in my trunk and then go to a movie. It sits out in the trunk for two hours in 90 degree weather and then I go home and have the leftovers for dinner. That night, I get sick. Oh, no! It must been bad seafood I ate at the restaurant! I'm gonna complain! I'm gonna sue them! How would they prove that the food poisoning was MY fault and not theirs? In this litigious society, people will sue for anything, no matter whose fault it is.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I was part of a group years ago that helped in the creation of the vendor agreements concerning defective and out-dated food items and their disposal. All of the companies that supply food to a local supermarket have these agreements and a supermarket is contractually obligated to follow them. I haven't done any of this type of work for years, but it was amazing how detailed the disposal of food could be. Sometimes it's a strange world we live in.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

I was once told by a hotel restaurant that I couldn't take my left-overs home with me as they could get sued if I didn't refrigerate them properly and got sick from the food, which led me to wonder how often this happens. It make sense as something for restaurants to be worried about -- say that I get a seafood lunch, have them box up half of it, I put it in my trunk and then go to a movie. It sits out in the trunk for two hours in 90 degree weather and then I go home and have the leftovers for dinner. That night, I get sick. Oh, no! It must been bad seafood I ate at the restaurant! I'm gonna complain! I'm gonna sue them! How would they prove that the food poisoning was MY fault and not theirs? In this litigious society, people will sue for anything, no matter whose fault it is.

What if I get a carryout from Red Lobster and go home and fall asleep before refrigerating it. Then wake up next day, eat the food for lunch and dinner, and get sick. I can sue them?

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

What if I get a carryout from Red Lobster and go home and fall asleep before refrigerating it. Then wake up next day, eat the food for lunch and dinner, and get sick. I can sue them?

In the United States you are able to sue anyone you want. That's the reason these companies have to take so many strange steps in what they do. It is a means of minimizing the risk involved in doing business.

 

[Arielle22]

There is also a risk involved with people in the dumpster. My sister used to own a flower shop and when she threw out dead plants or flowers, she had to cut them up. She learned the hard way that people will go in and try to retrieve them, certain that they can review the plants.

In addition, people going through the dumpsters usually aren't neat about it and will tear open bags or push items out of the dumpster. Makes for a mess and could attract rodents.