Breach of Fiduciary Duty by Bank

Question

My friend brought into his California bank several hundred pounds of change he'd been saving for 20 years, mostly quarters. The bank said to call them in a week. Long story short, they "lost" the change and have offered him $2,000. He thinks it's worth perhaps $2,500 and is going to bring a small claims case against them. Can he also bring a claim for breach of fiduciary duty?

Answer 1

Yes ... your friend can "bring a claim" for anything he wants, but that is almost completely irrelevent.

The question is can he "win" a claim against a bank? And the answer to that question is, without any doubt, "NO".

Fiduciary duty???  And how do you suppose you are going to prove that a fiduciary duty ever existed??  What?  Is your friend going to use his nickels and dimes to hire an expert witness?

Banks have whole law firms full of lawyers that are easily able to stomp your friend until there is nothing left except for a greasy spot on the sidewalk.  Your friend will lose the case before he even knows he lost it.

How is he ever going to prove that he ever owned "several hundred pounds of [mostly quarters]".  The whole thing sounds pretty hard to believe.

When a judge hears that your friend turned down $2000 settlement, he is probably going to throw your friend out of court.  Take the two G's or else he's going to be very sorry.