Short answer. Yes. Article 2100 says the pledgee is responsible for the acts of his agents or employees with respect to the thing pledged. So the pawnshop cannot escape liability by blaming a staff member who lost or damaged your item — the responsibility for its people is the pawnshop's own.
What the law says
The pledgee is responsible for the acts of his agents or employees with respect to the thing pledged.
Civil Code, Article 2100 — No Sub-Deposit; Liability for Agents. Read the full provision →
The pawnshop answers for its staff
Article 2100 closes an obvious loophole. A creditor holding your pledged item might try to shift blame to a clerk or handler when something goes wrong. The law does not allow it. The article states plainly: The pledgee is responsible for the acts of his agents or employees with respect to the thing pledged. Because the pawnshop chose to hold your item and chose the people who handle it, it carries responsibility for what those people do with it. If an employee loses or damages your item, the pawnshop stands in that employee's place as far as your claim is concerned.
No sub-deposit without your consent
The same article guards against another risk — the item being passed off to outsiders. It provides that The pledgee cannot deposit the thing pledged with a third person, unless there is a stipulation authorizing him to do so. The creditor must keep the item himself, not hand it to some third party for safekeeping, unless you agreed to that in the pledge. This complements the responsibility-for-employees rule: the pawnshop must maintain control of your property through its own organization, and it remains accountable for how that organization treats the thing. It cannot dilute its duty by farming out custody without authority.
Why the rule is strict
A pledge only works because the creditor takes physical custody of the security. With that custody comes a real duty of safekeeping, and it would be hollow if the creditor could disclaim it whenever a subordinate was the one physically at fault. Making the pledgee responsible for its agents and employees ensures the duty is meaningful — the business that benefits from holding your item also bears the risk of how its people handle it. This protects you, the owner, who has no control over who the pawnshop hires or how it supervises them.
What this means for your claim
If your pledged item was lost or damaged by an employee's act, the pawnshop is the party you look to, and it cannot dodge by pointing at the individual worker. This works together with the creditor's general duty to keep the thing with proper diligence and its liability for loss or deterioration under the Code. Article 2100 does not by itself fix the exact amount you can recover, which depends on the item and the harm, but it settles the threshold question: responsibility for the staff's handling of your item rests with the pawnshop itself.