Q: A group of passengers & driver on a bus robbed me. Upon discovery, I left the bus. what legal course can i take?
on a greyhound bus going from nyc to raleigh, i had noticed odd behavior from a group of passengers. once I saw that this group was passing objects up the aisle like clockwork, i muttered under my breath 'theyre robbing people in plain sight'. the man, who was next to me, was involved in this group and turned away and stated 'he knows he knows'. nervous, i told the man i did not want any issues where he repsonds with 'someone on the bus is packing' meaning has a gun. this man escorted me to the front of the bus where the driver had an open tote next to him with a pair of my shoes [which were in my carry on above my seat]. the man now stood infront of the driver's plexidoor, the driver pleading with me he has a family to take care of. fearing for my life, i say i need off the bus, he pulls off and I run off, call the poilice, issue a report which only describes me leaving the bus on my own. greyhound refuses to help. and my suitcase was still on bus. there was a camera onbaord.
A: Unless you can identify the passengers who robbed you, you do not have many options apart from reporting the matter to the police (which you did). With regard to legal action against Greyhound, the actions of the bus driver (assuming them to be true) clearly fall outside the scope of his employment which means Greyhound would not be responsible for his actions as a matter of law (under a legal doctrine known as respondeat superior). Unless you can show that Greyhound was negligent in its hiring, supervision and/or retention of the driver such that his actions would be foreseeable (i.e. he had a criminal history, he previously robbed passengers, etc.), there'd be no basis for a lawsuit. You can certainly file a claim for lost luggage with Greyhound, https://www.greyhound.com/en/help-and-info/contact-us/baggage-claim-form
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