Reparations?

[Mikkel]

While this is a fair point, it's still an assumption. Plenty of pubs in the States, where cars are more ubiquitous. I'm sure that pubs also exist in other areas than Britain/EU.

I assumed this pub was in Canada, my impression was that Dutifuldaughter was Canadian.

[Canarr]

In Germany, the law is pretty simple: you break it, you pay for it.

If you smash something intentionally, that's criminal charges right there. If you smash something accidentally, even without negligence or intent, it's your responsibility to pay for it.

Exception: the owner was grossly negligent in placing or securing the item in question.

I find it impossible to say from the OP's report if that was the case; if not, then the waitress - or, since she was in the employ of the pub and acting on her employer's orders, the pub owner - would be required to pay for the damage. Or, more likely, their liability insurance would cover it (if they wanted to make a claim for 30 bucks.

[Seshat]

If the waitress had been carrying a plate of food when she bumped in to the chair, and dropped the food on the floor in the process, should the people who ordered the food have to pay for a second order of it? If the food was spilled onto someone's lap and damaged their clothing so that it needed to be dry-cleaned or otherwise specially cleaned, should the person wearing the clothes suck it up and say, "oh, guess I shouldn't have worn that skirt today because it might have gotten spilled on," and pay for the cleaning expenses themselves?

No for the food - the food is the restaurant's responsibility until it's on the table and accepted.

Yes for the clothing. If you choose to wear clothing that needs dry cleaning if something normal and everyday (like wine or sauce) gets spilled on it, that's your responsibility, not the restaurant's.

And you can also take reasonable precautions against likely accidents. I have a set of scarves I wear as 'bibs', which cover my clothes. While they're not waterproof, and wouldn't prevent a wine stain, they've protected my clothes against quite a wide variety of other stains.

Just my 2cents.

[tollbaby]

When you said you went along with your friend to pick this Thing up, did you all walk, or was there a vehicle? If there was a vehicle, then the Thing should have been left in the car and the whole problem would have been avoided. (in which case, it's your friend's fault for not leaving it in the car and no compensation is warranted).

[wagegoth]

I think foreseeability is important in this case.

It is foreseeable that in a pub a chair could be bumped by a waitress or another customer.

It is foreseeable that a lightweight patio chair could easily fall or be tipped precariously much more easily than a standard wooden dining chair.

It is not foreseeable that someone will set an antique on a chair in a pub.

Based on foreseeability, there was negligence on the side of J, while there was no negligence on the side of the waitress.

While many pubs would probably contribute at least partially to the repair of the item, simply to keep a customer happy, it seems unlikely that J had a real claim against the pub based on the circumstances.

[Canarr]

It is foreseeable that a lightweight patio chair could easily fall or be tipped precariously much more easily than a standard wooden dining chair.

It is not foreseeable that someone will set an antique on a chair in a pub.

Based on foreseeability, there was negligence on the side of J, while there was no negligence on the side of the waitress.

This is actually a very good point. Yeah, I'm gonna go with that; this was definitely negligence on J's part.