You hired a guard company to transfer the risk — so when a security incident becomes a lawsuit, that's their problem now. Right? In "Whose Liability Is It?", Don Carr and Jim Cords break down why hiring a contractor delegates the task but doesn't automatically move the liability — and why an injured party can still come after the retailer directly. The decider is one clause most operators never read: indemnification. Which direction does yours run? Does it have the guard company covering you, or did you quietly agree to cover them? Why indemnification is only as good as the insurance behind it, why the contractor's standard form is drafted to protect the contractor, and why the org boundary is exactly where duty changes hands — or doesn't. Read the clause before you sign it, not after the lawsuit. 

Loss. Liability. Law.