[Avodah] Kashrus of a Restaurant Under the Supervision of its Owner

[Yitzhak Grossman]

On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:59:18 -0400
David Riceman <driceman at att.net> wrote:

...

> The second is more abstract.  Laws of agency (shlichus) in the US are 
> very different than those in halacha.  So, for example, the firm of 
> plumbers I employ is bonded, and I don't need to check each plumber 
> individually for expertise and capacity to reimburse me for drastic 
> errors.  But in halacha if he makes a mistake the head of the firm can 
> simply shrug off the problem by saying to his employee "litkuni 
> shdartich v'lo l'avtuni".  There is no practical way in halacha to run a 
> large firm.  So the major kashrus agencies, with dozens of employees we 
> don't know personally, can run only in a non-halachic legal system.

I agree with your basic point, that a principal can generally disclaim
responsibility for his agent's misconduct, as I've written here:

http://bdld.info/2008/09/17/the-villainous-valet/

However, your conclusion, that "there is no practical way in halacha to
run a large firm", doesn't follow.  It is certainly possible to
establish contractual liability of the owner for his worker's
misconduct.  Of course, the arrangements would have to be carefully
constructed by an expert in Hoshen Mishpat to avoid problems of
asmachta and possibly other concerns (just as a legal contract should
be reviewed / crafted by a legal expert), but I see no reason why this
should be impossible in principle.

Yitzhak
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