Legal Definitions - breaking-bulk doctrine

The breaking-bulk doctrine is a historical legal principle that distinguished between different types of theft when someone entrusted with property later decided to steal it.

Specifically, this doctrine applied when a person (known as a bailee, meaning someone who lawfully possesses property belonging to another, often for a specific purpose like transport or storage) had been given lawful possession of goods that were contained within a larger package or container (delivered "in bulk"). Under this rule, if the bailee wrongfully took the entire container without opening it, the act was considered theft but not the more serious crime of larceny.

However, if the bailee went a step further by breaking open the container and then taking some or all of its contents, that act transformed the offense into larceny. The act of "breaking the bulk" (opening the package) was the critical element that elevated the crime in the eyes of the law at that time.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Scenario 1: The Warehouse Worker

  Imagine a warehouse employee, tasked with moving sealed crates of electronics, decides to steal. If the employee takes an entire, unopened sealed crate and removes it from the warehouse, under the breaking-bulk doctrine, this would be considered theft. The employee had lawful possession of the crate for transport, and while the taking was wrongful, the "bulk" (the crate) remained unbroken. However, if the employee instead opened the sealed crate, removed several laptops, and then took those individual items, this act of breaking the crate's seal and taking its contents would have been classified as larceny.

• Scenario 2: The Delivery Driver

  Consider a delivery driver who is given a large, shrink-wrapped pallet containing numerous boxes of designer shoes. The driver is a bailee, having lawful possession for the purpose of delivery. If the driver decided to steal the entire shrink-wrapped pallet and drove off with it, this would be considered theft. The "bulk" (the pallet) was taken whole. But if the driver stopped, cut open the shrink wrap, and began removing individual boxes of shoes from the pallet to steal them, this action of breaking the bulk and taking specific items would have constituted larceny.

• Scenario 3: The Freight Carrier

  A freight company is entrusted with a large, sealed drum of specialty chemicals for transport across the country. A worker at a transfer station, having lawful possession of the drum for its journey, decides to steal some of the valuable contents. If the worker simply took the entire sealed drum and diverted it, that would be theft. But if the worker drilled a hole into the sealed drum, siphoned off a significant portion of the chemicals, and then resealed it (or left it open), this act of breaking into the container and taking part of its contents would have been considered larceny under the breaking-bulk doctrine.