Title: [MN] Received a job offer, found out they don't hire candidates who test positive for Nicotine.

Question:
I was just given an offer over the phone, but have not signed paperwork yet. In their follow up email, my potential employer noted that applicants cannot test positive for nicotine. To my knowledge, that is not lawful in Minnesota and I am hoping that it was an automated message and the recruiter simply forgot to remove that section.

Here's the MN statute:

181.938 NONWORK ACTIVITIES; PROHIBITED EMPLOYER CONDUCT.
Subdivision 1.Definition. For the purpose of this section, "employer" has the meaning given it in section 179.01, subdivision 3.

Subd. 2.Prohibited practice. An employer may not refuse to hire a job applicant or discipline or discharge an employee because the applicant or employee engages in or has engaged in the use or enjoyment of lawful consumable products, if the use or enjoyment takes place off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours. For purposes of this section, "lawful consumable products" means products whose use or enjoyment is lawful and which are consumed during use or enjoyment, and includes food, alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages, and tobacco.

Subd. 3.Exceptions. (a) It is not a violation of subdivision 2 for an employer to restrict the use of lawful consumable products by employees during nonworking hours if the employer's restriction:

(1) relates to a bona fide occupational requirement and is reasonably related to employment activities or responsibilities of a particular employee or group of employees; or

(2) is necessary to avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest with any responsibilities owed by the employee to the employer.

Sorry for the cut and paste. It clearly lists tobacco as a lawful consumable product, but my concern is subdivision 3(a)(2). My potential employer is in healthcare, but I will be in a cube processing claims all day.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Do they have grounds to rescind their offer or am I overreacting?

Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 Tell them you're a smoker. If they rescind the offer, ask them for a written explanation. If they don't give one, or if it doesn't satisfy you, contact a local attorney who specializes in employment law. Given that the statute allows for reasonable attorney's fees, a hungry attorney will jump on this if they calculate a decent chance of winning. Answer #2: They may have grounds to rescind the offer under 3(a)(2), hard to say for sure though.

Answer #3: I don't see how they could argue that you spending money on cigarettes is a conflict of interest with being a healthcare provider.  It's not like cigarette companies lobby healthcare providers.


Title: DNA donor was never served papers in which he gave up his rights. (Canada)

Question:
Hi all,

My girlfriends ex gave up all rights to his son which I plan to adopt. The papers were never served to him through a mistake of her lawyer and now he's hiring a PI to find her. We've gone into full lockdown mode she deactivated her Facebook I listed myself as single and were playing the long con.

The problem is this man has openly threatened to kill her and kidnap our oldest and he's crazy enough to do it, we have a security system and cameras. But I fear that won't be enough if he finds her, he keeps no physical address and couch surfs so we can't serve him the papers so we can be done with him. What can I do here to protect my family we are literally just scraping by and can't afford an attorney. Are we out of options besides moving away?

Edit: We have tried reaching out multiple times he has phone numbers and such and she wants to keep her location private he only wants to know where she lives

Answer:
 Hiding his child is not the thing to do. That is still his child and he can go to court at any time for visitation and custody.

So really, an attorney is what is needed here.

Edit: also your cannot do an adoption DIY. Answer #2: It feels like OP is withholding or twisting so much information that it's simply impossible to give accurate advice.


Title: [CA] GF’s[20] mom wants to sue currently divorcing husband over “taking her daughter away”

Question: So the situation is that my GF who is 20, lives currently in her dads place with her brother. He is my GF’s legal dad but not biological. He adopted her while he and gf’s mom were together. So now the divorce is happening, mom is trying to get daughter to move out of dads place for whatever reason. And she is threatening to sue for “taking her away from her biological mom” (idk if there’s a legal term, I know it sounds stupid). I was wondering if there’s any possible case that her mom might have?

Answer:
 > I know it sounds stupid

It is. Which is why there is no legal term for it. It is safe to ignore this threat, but dad does almost certainly need an attorney for the divorce.Answer #2: No.  She's an adult, she can live with who she wants.


Title: Access to email during a divorce (Minnesota)

Question:
Burner account, obv.

I am in the middle of a high conflict divorce.  There is an awful awful lot of drama... I am thinking of writing a book about my experience.

While the 'plot' is plenty interesting as it is, one aspect that I think would make the book particularly interesting is that I have the ability to read his emails without his knowledge, so I could give 'his side' of the story too.

This leads me a few legal questions:

1. Is it legal for me to read his emails?  No one else knows that I have access and I do not do anything but read his email.  I do not send messages. I do not delete messages.  I just read.
2. If I publish a book after the fact and use my real name, would I be open to lawsuits for defamation if I quote him?
3. If I publish a book after the fact, could he re-litigate the divorce because it will become clear that I had access to his emails?

I just want to know what I may or may not be getting into before I start writing (or not).

Answer:
 If you have unauthorized access to privileged communications between him and his attorney that could constitute a legal issue.Answer #2: >Is it legal for me to read his emails?

It's potentially a federal crime, depending on exactly how you have access, and it's certainly something that will get you in trouble with the judge if they ever learn of it.  So I would put your authorial aspirations aside and focus on your legal problems.  Starting with hiring a lawyer.


Title: I need advice. pleas help.

Question:
So bear with me on this. I know your gonna think im nuts or some kind of schizoid or some shit but please just bear with me and hear me out. I need advice. I dont know what to do. Im currently in Albuquerque nm and this is a life or death situation.

so suppose you were in a situation where you were being accused of a really gruesome crime. like the worst kind of shit you can imagine. REAL SERIOUS SHIT.  the thing about it though,

all these accusations are never made directly out in the open in a formal manner. Instead local law enforcement or maybe even the fbi comes up with a scheme to basically drive you crazy and destroy you on

 a psychological level. This includes informing the public, my family and the community I live in and basically putting me in immediate danger at all times. surveillance is constant and

 may even be accessible by members of the community who are in no way affiliated with any law enforcement agencies. I shit you not as I type this my upstairs neighbor is watching as i enter

every fucking word. Yes thats right. I know that sounds absolutely bonkers i know trust me but its true. they moved some people into the apartment directly above mine to monitor and harass me.

I honest to God or Buddha or whoever the fuck you worship dont know who these people are. at first it appeared like they were just a young couple but as things "came to light" so to speak its become apparent

that there is more people coming and going and staying at that apartment. Now again I cant fucking prove any of this because they are smart and malicious as fuck. So lets pretend for a second you dont think im a lunatic or an idiot.

What would you do in this situation where danger from members of the community is leveraged to scare you into making false confessions. no DUE PROCESS. just straight up predetermined guilt by the law, my family, and probably a good number of people

in the community i live in. I tried getting a job at a papa johns but the second day there the manager made it very clear to me that he was in contact and "informed" by whoever is orchestrating all of this. Talking about killers and karma and his half baked view

of how the universe works and god and all kindsa dumb shit people dont generally discuss with someone theyv known less than 4 hours. This shit is affecting my livelihood. Cant trust anyone. under constant surveillance. NO FUCKING PRIVACY. What would you do in a situation like this?

Is there any organizations that could possibly help me with this? like I said I cant prove shit. I just I dunno wtf to do and I dont know whats gonna happen when we get to the point where they realize i am never going to confess to some shit I DID NOT FUCKING DO. Now i realize this is all terribly written and the grammar

is fucking terrible. forgive me im kinda slow and the amount of mental stress im under is immense. fucking IMMENSE. I should note this has been going on for a long time but until recently they have been making things more obvious in an attempt to scare me and there is a lot of details I left out I just wanted to get this posted asap so feel free to ask questions. please help me. I dont know what to do.

Answer: Consult with a mental health professional.


Title: My friend and I are thinking of forming a company, but the business model seems shady and I don't know if it's legal.

Question:
We are currently in South Carolina. Here is what I know.

My friend knows a person in China that owns a company which sells products to industries and research labs. That company wants to start selling these products in the US. Our role is to form an LLC here that will "distribute" the products. The company in China will find the customers and establish the sale. When it is time to ship the product, the company in China will ship the product to our company in the US and we are responsible for forwarding that shipment to the customer. The customer will then pay for the products to our company in the US, and we will forward that money back to the company in China. In return we will receive 10% of the gross profit, which could be a lot since industries tend to order things in large quantities.

That is all that I've been told. It does not make much sense to me why the company in China couldn't just sell directly to the customer. Why would they need someone to start a company in the US? We aren't even acting like a warehouse or distribution center, as they will only send us products when there is an order and we ship them off right away. Apparently by doing it this way they make more profit, even after giving us the 10% cut.

The only thing I can think of is that this may circumvent taxes by making it seem like the purchases are from a US company instead of over seas from China. If so, is this illegal or is it normal for companies to operate like this? Maybe I'm just over thinking things?

EDIT:
Ok, let me add in some more info. The person in China is an IRL friend of my friend, not some random internet person. The friend who wants me to partner with her is a colleague of mine and is an intentional student from China.

The person in China who wants us to start a US company here is willing to pay all potential fees such that we have to commit 0 of our own funds. Our lawyer fees and everything associated with forming the company will be paid for. When it comes time to ship the products the shipping fee will also be paid for. We literally have to invest nothing from our own pocket. The product that we are shipping are special magnets from rare earth elements, such as the ones used for NMR instruments and other research/industrial uses.

I do not think it's a scam. The question is whether or not what we will be doing is legal.

Topic:
Business Law

Answer:
 nobody legit is going to pay %gross for logistics, it would be some sort of per piece rate paid to you for handling, and you would have nothing to do with the customer's money your payments would come to you from the company

**THIS IS A SCAM.**

I don't care how well you think you know the people you think are behind it, maybe they are willingly scamming you, maybe they are a cutout for the person who knows what is up and they are getting duped too.

eventually what is going to happen is that the payments you got will turn out to be no good, either forged checks, fake accounts, nonexistant banks, or stolen credit cards, then you will be left either owing a ton of cash, or arrested as accomplices and trying to make bail.

Answer #2: >When it is time to ship the product, the company in China will ship the product to our company in the US and we are responsible for forwarding that shipment to the customer.

How are you going to get that shipment to the customer?  This might be the issue:  http://www.intemag.com/shipping_magnets_by_air.html

Edit:  Here's another link:  http://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=shipping  Dude, strong magnets are classified by federal law as hazardous materials for shipping purposes.  They are subject to all kinds of specific regulations.  I am feeling pretty queasy here about a company in China hiring a couple clueless college kids to do it.Answer #3: I don't know anything about the practice but this issue has come up before and the consensus is that you are most definitely being scammed.  Good for you for looking into it more thoroughly and have no part of it.


Title: I found out my work records phone calls

Question: They listen to recordings for quality assurance purposes but I had to find that out after quite a while, as they never informed me beforehand. The customers are not aware of this either. From what I read, CA is a two party consent state. Is this illegal? Do I report it?

Answer:
 It is not illegal. Rick Young v. Hilton Worldwide Inc. et al. was a recent case: "The judge concluded that the claims could not continue because the law was not intended to apply to recordings made by parties to a call or to companies that engage in service observing monitoring of calls."

https://www.law360.com/articles/557666


Title: (UK) I've caused a hole in the wall, the size of a 1p coin and 0.5cm deep - need help getting deposit back (details inside)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If you can see the patch then it wasn't done well.

Hit up youtube or /r/diy or /r/homeimprovement for info on doing the wall right so the fix is blended properly.


Title: [CA] Housemate wants me to pay rent months in advance.

Question:
Hi guys! I'm currently subletting a room from someone until September. When talking to them, I agreed to pay the rent for May and June in advance and then pay a security deposit for the room. However, I can no longer take the room for the summer due to personal circumstances, so I've been looking for someone who can take my spot in the room for June-August, so I don't have to pay the rent for a room that I'm not occupying.

While talking to the person I subletted the room from, we never had a written agreement. I never had to sign any sort of contract, nothing that said anything about having to keep the room and being responsible for the rent and whatnot. It was just verbally said between us two that I would pay two months and security deposit in advance, and I would pay the other two months' rent when those months came.

However, one of the other housemates on the lease has asked me to pay the rent for July and August in advance, before the end of this month, so she can pay the rent to the manager in advance as she would be subletting her own spot in the apartment for the summer and won't be in town. Needless to say, I don't have two months' worth of rent that I can hand over in little notice like this; I'm in college, already struggling financially as it is at the moment. It's not like I have the money, but would rather save it; it's more like I don't have that money at all. I had agreed with the person subletting their spot to pay for July and August when those two months came (which is something I can definitely manage to do), not in advance as her housemate is asking me to do. Apparently, she's also asked the other tenants and summer subletters to do the same. I've told her multiple times that it's unrealistic for her to expect me to pay up in short notice, but she argued that it's unrealistic for me to expect her to pay my rent for me.

I talked to a couple of really close friends about this, and they argued that because I never signed any contract with the person subletting their spot or anything with this current housemate, that there's absolutely no sort of legal obligation for me to have to pay in advance or for me to find someone to take my spot. Basically, I can just back out (albeit not get my money back, which is something I've come to terms to) and just let the housemate deal with it, instead of helping her find someone to take my spot and instead of me having to pay the rent.

I'm not really sure what to do from this point on. I feel pretty bad thinking about throwing her under the bus and not paying the rent for those two months, but I really don't have any money to pay in advance like she's expecting. I've already posted about the room being available in numerous places, had people contact me about it, and even the original person I subletted the spot from has posted herself that the room is available, which kind of makes me feel like it's not really my issue to pay, especially because she's under the lease and I never had to sign any contract to pay anything. But I'm not sure. Looking for some thoughts on what to do.

I've also posted this on another subreddit and do have a consultation with the legal services on my campus in a few days, but wanted some other thoughts as well.

Tl;dr subletted a spot, can't take it anymore, looking for someone else to take it. Housemate wants rent in advance, don't have the money. Never signed any contract about subletting the room or paying rent.

Answer:
 You are living there now?

Give 30 days notice. In WRITING. If you signed nothing, you are a month-to-month tenant and you do not have to find your replacement.


Title: Car wheels stolen, rental company charging us for everything.

Question:
Background: Incident occurred in Houston, Texas; Rented car through Turo WITHOUT insurance; Owner of car lives in Dallas, Texas; Renter of car lives in Virginia.
Car is a red 2010 Nissan Sentra, no wheel locks, alloy wheels, faulty tire pressure sensor according to owner.

Summary:We stayed at an airbnb in an unsavory part of Houston and we woke up the next morning to find that all four car wheels of our rental car had been stolen. (lol sigh)
We call the owner about the issue and tell him that we are paying for steel wheels and getting the car back to him ASAP. After putting our trip on hold for 4 days, we finally pay for and get the wheels on the car and we drive up to Dallas to return the car. That was when he tells us that we have the wrong wheels on the car so he is going to charge us the difference between reselling the steel wheels and the new wheels. Now Turo is trying to charge us for a quote for $2k that includes new wheels, new pressure sensors, and "Ornament D" (The little Nissan insignia that go in the middle of the wheel).

Since Turo isn't responding, the car renter shut down his credit card so that Turo can't charge us until they start communicating with us.

1. Is shutting down your credit card legal to do if the entity is not communicative? Should we instead just accept the charge and dispute the charge?
2. If the owner neglected to tell us about which wheels to purchase when he we told him about the incident in real-time, are we still liable for the new alloy wheels?
3. We have no proof that the pressure sensors are faulty but do we need to pay for that?
4. If we find the same new parts online for SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper, can we dispute the amount and say that we are liable for less?

Help would be greatly appreciated

Edit: Just want to clarify that they are not asking us to pay for the difference in price of the steel and alloy wheels...they're asking us to pay for alloy wheels. Essentially, we just bought them steel wheels without compensation

Answer:
 This is exactly why you **never** rent a car without supplemental insurance or a CC that covers it.

1. This will not work and they will still find you and charge you for this.
2. You're liable to replace whatever was stolen.
3. Best answer is maybe.
4. Sure, but he can not agree, and he can sue you for the full value.


Title: [CA] A sex injury, a slight overreaction, and a subrogation form

Question:
Long story short -- I had rough sex with a casual acquaintence in April, and during one encounter she choked me. I didn't tell her to stop quickly enough (I let it continue to see what it was like), and so I think she bruised my larynx.

Anyway, I ignored the injury for a week but it kept hurting. I had a mild panic attack about the thought of my throat closing up, so I called the nurse advice line and the nurse recommended I go to the ER.

The ER attending though the whole situation was amusing and basically told me that my throat could not close up from a week-old injury. I paid my very reasonable co-pay and left. This girl ended up being a jerk, so we parted ways soon after this incident (but not before we had sex again!). Note that I am perfectly fine now, and this injury had no long term effects.

Now, in July, I received a subrogation form (I googled this term) from an affiliate of my insurer, asking who was at fault for my injury. Technically it was this girl -- as I'm sure my medical records indicate (I told the ER attending the truth). Do I have to fill this form out? And if so, is this girl going to get sued by my insurance company?
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer:
 This is a "no fault" injury. They're asking if you wound up in a car accident / workplace related incident / other type of incident in which they could recoup some of their losses.

Consensual sexual encounters gone slightly awry don't qualify in any realistic sense.

Put slightly more coarsely, I'm pretty sure your lady friend doesn't have a "Fuckin' Insurance" policy.


Title: Should I take this offer?

Question: I'm being charged with Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance in Jefferson County, Colorado. The "substance" I am being charged for is 'etizolam' which is not under any law or statute on record. It came from a clearnet site that takes MasterCard. It is not illegal to possess. The Prosecutor is offering to reduce the charge to a 'Drug petty offense' which is a misdemeanor. If I don't accept the offer, the case will go to trial. I'm worried that by accepting the lesser charge it will affect my hirability for future employment. Should I take this offer or fight it in trial and possibly end up with a Felony?

Answer:
 You're telling us that the DA doesn't have test results telling him what the substance you possessed is... but he's already made an exploding offer that you must accept *now* or else the case is going to trial?

That certainly doesn't sound right.


Title: Involved in a Rear-End Collision

Question:
Hey r/legaladvice, I just had a question regarding a recent accident I was involved in in the state of Florida. I was driving on the highway, with no traffic, at the speed limit of 70 mph behind someone when they abruptly made a full stop in the middle of the highway. It was completely unexpected, and although I pressed on the brake as hard/quickly as I could I was unable to avoid crashing into their car. My airbags were deployed and front of my car was completely destroyed and their car suffered minimal damage; thankfully, I did not suffer any apparent physical harm. The driver of the other vehicle immediately got out of the car and claimed that I wasn't paying attention -- yet, he was the one who stopped so suddenly. Because I was disoriented and in extreme distress because of the situation, I was brought to the hospital. The officer who showed up to the scene eventually came to the hospital and handed me a citation/fine for "failure to use due care". My insurance company is currently evaluating and working with the other company, but I had a couple of questions regarding the incident as I'm actually a resident of another state visiting:

1. Is there any way I come out of this not looking as though I'm the one at fault? I'm aware that most rear-end collisions fall on the person behind the vehicle, but replaying the scenario in my head I don't believe there was anything I could have done to really avoid crashing into him because of his random/unexpected stop in the middle of the highway.

2. I considered simply paying off the citation and being done with it, but I noticed that it states the other driver alleged he sustained some sort of injury from it. I always try to look for the good in people, but it really seems like the individual is trying to take me for a ride (no pun intended) and may try to pursue legal action against me; he got out of his car very quickly and did not seem to be in any sort of pain, but his demeanor changed as soon as I pleaded with him to call an ambulance for me since I did not have access to a phone at the time. Would accepting a guilty plea open me up to litigation? And even if it doesn't, would it make more sense for me to try and fight the ticket to avoid points on my license?

I can provide more information, if necessary. Thanks to whoever reads this; I'm just a stressed out college student and this is the last thing I needed right now in my life. :/

Answer:
 1. What you could (and you should) have done is stay far enough back that you could have stopped in time. This is what you got a ticket for, and is why you'll be found at least mostly (if not entirely) at fault.

2. The ticket is legally separate from any civil claims he could make against you. Having the ticket dismissed maybe slightly helps your chances in the civil case, but not really. So if you want to avoid the fine & points, get a lawyer, but I wouldn't expect that to change the outcome with insurance.


Title: [USA] How does Title IX apply to club sports at a public college?

Question:
I'd prefer not to specify the school, sport, or the state it's in, but this is my question:

At this school there is a club team for a certain sport. It competes and is sanctioned in the men's division of a college club league.  On its website and merchandise it's branded as (School Name) (Sport) Team, not (School Name) Men's (Sport) Team. The team website states that the team is open to all students at the university, however the team is made up of all men and has always been. I don't know the specific level of competition for spots at tryouts, but just based on the discrepancy is skill/size/strength/speed between the average male and female player, I don't believe that a female player who had been playing as long as the men on the team or had received comparable training would be able to earn a spot.

Knowing all of that, if there was student interest in having a women's team could Title IX (or other laws) be used to prompt the school to start a team?

Answer: Title IX does apply to [club sports](http://title-ix.blogspot.com/2007/07/fields-explains-title-ixs-application.html?m=1); but there isn't really enough information to go on to determine if there's a violation. Even if it was the "Men's Club Team", as long as there was a proportionally equal number of slots for a "Women's Club Team", even if a totally different sport, then it would still satisfy Title IX. Sort of how the women's tennis team can be used to offset the numbers of the men's football team. It's the total number of athletes, and equality of facilities between the teams that is important, not if one team has more of one gender than the other.


Title: Red light camera photographed me when I wasn’t running a red light? (Culver City, CA)

Question:
Hi everyone, I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I have severe anxiety and this is going to hang over my head until I know it isn’t a problem.

I just had a red light camera take a picture of me when I WASN’T running a red light. I was going to turn right and the light was red and had been red for a while, but the flash went off as I was stopping at the intersection. The light had been red long enough that this wasn’t a typical photo taken when the light was just turning, there was lots of cross traffic in the intersection. I didn’t even turn right until the light turned green AND it wasn’t a “no right on red” intersection so I think it would have been legal for me to turn on red anyway. Culver City red light tickets are something like $500.

My questions are, first of all, will they be able to tell I wasn’t breaking any laws? I’m told they record a few seconds on either side of the flash, is that true? If so, they would see me approaching the intersection, the flash went off around the time I stopped, and then they’d see me continue to remain stopped, and I can’t imagine they’d still be able to ticket me.

And secondly, if they do send me a ticket, how do I get it thrown out? I don’t know why it took my picture, but I was in no way running a red light. Any insight would be much appreciated and I apologize once again for the stupid question. Please feel free to ask for any clarification or further info in the comments if needed. Thank you to everyone in advance.
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 The California red light tickets I've seen were all validated by a human before they were sent out. Even if the camera flashed, the human could look at it and discard it if it was clear the vehicle stopped.

And all of those letters had links to a video file; because otherwise everyone would claim they were making a right on red after stopping.


Title: (USA-TN) If I plug my phone charger into the outside plug on someone's house is this theft?

Question: Curious if there is a petty-petty theft category.

Answer:
 It could possibly be considered theft of service or something similar, but I think your bigger issue would be trespassing.

Somebody can correct me on the theft of service aspect if I'm wrong, I'm not sure on that one.


Title: Accidentally ran through a dead stop light, was pulled over immediately. Indianapolis.

Question:
Last night on my way home I accidentally ran a stoplight. To make this clear, the stoplight was completely dead (not blinking red or yellow, no light at all).

How the events unfolded is what gets me. As I was approaching this light that was dead and I hadn't noticed due to the lack of lights around it and it blending in with the darkness, I noticed two cars sitting on the side of this one way road. I looked closer and realized that they were two cop cars. Upon noticing this, (this behind them) the police cruiser in the back of the two turns on his reverse lights, and acting as a defensive driver, and knowing cops should have their space if they are doing something, I click on my turn signal and move left one lane, but by time I do, I look up and see this dead light and it is too late for me to stop. He immediately pulls me over.

He comes up and demands my license and my passengers license along with the registration and I apologize for running the light as I didn't notice it with everything going on. He doesn't really listen and just goes off and comes back soon enough with a citation. I ask if I may explain what happened and he lets me. I go on to tell him that when he flipped on his reverse lights, my reactions and attention were shifted from the light and I was trying to act in the correct manner in getting over. He then tells me that he KNEW I was going to run the light so that's why he had gone into reverse. I may be incorrect, but to me that doesn't feel right. He then continues to be an jerk, asking me if I know what certain words mean and telling me this story of a girl who ran a blinking red and killed people, to which I was respectful and told him we were fortunate nothing bad happened this time and that with what happened it was honestly a mistake.

I realize I ran the light and disregarded the signal, but it was a complete accident and I'm trying not to have this put on my record.

Is there any way I could fight this? What would be the odds of it being overturned if I went in and told the judge my story?

I don't have a recording of the interaction with the police officer so I don't have proof of him saying he knew I'd run the signal so that's why he was in reverse before I was even past him.

If there's no point fighting this one just tell it to me straight though, I appreciate all your help.

Thanks.

Answer:
 > Is there any way I could fight this?

You can try.  Your defense, which is that you were distracted by another driver and thus didn't see the signal, isn't really a defense; it's exactly the sort of behavior the law is intended to prevent.

I would put the odds of your story getting the ticket thrown out as "low".Answer #2: As a driver, it's your responsibility to be aware of multiple things going on at once.   It's really not an excuse for running the light, nor is anything the cop said to you.


Title: Falsely accused and jailed of assaulting an officer. Need advice

Question:
I was at a party this weekend where things got very out of hand. It was around 12 o'clock at night when 15ish police began to break up the pile of 500+ people.

I knew it was getting out of hand and was waiting to leave with some friends.

While talking to my friend 6 officers come up and arrest me. I spend 2 hours in jail till I find out that a bottle was thrown from my direction and hit an officer. I did not throw this bottle.

An officer I.D'ed me as the on that threw it when there were 500+ people no lights and they were almost 100 yards away.

I spend 3 days in jail and just got bailed out. They have to present there evidence to take this all to trial in the next 7 days.

What should I expect because there should be no evidence because I did not do anything right??

Answer:
 > What should I expect because there should be no evidence because I did not do anything right??

There is not "no evidence that you did it."

There is the testimony of a police officer who says he SAW you do it.  Maybe he is mistaken because of the conditions you described.  But you need a lawyer fast because this is not at all a sure thing for you.


Title: [VA] student's dad died, she needs help, nobody has legal custody?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Grandma had temp custody. She can sign docs.


Title: Principal threatened to ban me from graduation [NC]

Question:
This happened to me last May but I figured I would follow up on it because my younger siblings and friends still attend the high school in question. Last spring a boy was banned from graduation by our principal for missing rehearsal. His mother was pretty up in arms about it and started a change. org petition asking the school to allow him to walk. I commented on her petition with a few choice words about the principal and his policies, but nothing violent or particularly vulgar. Just my opinion based on several specific examples. Within 24 hours my mother got a call where the administration essentially threatened to prevent me from walking across the stage at graduation. I of course deleted it but was completely outraged. Particularly at the idea that the administration was combing through thousands of comments on some website and secretly forcing students into removing their negative opinions.

Of course I know that because I don't have the threat recorded and because they didn't follow through on it, there's nothing illegal in my case. But if the school was to use this tactic on students in the future would it be a violation of student freedom of speech laws? The posting happened off campus, it wasn't disruptive to school activities because classes had already ended for the year, there were no threats or inciting of violence. Is threatening to take away school privileges enough to constitute preventing free speech? Any input would be greatly appreciated for advising my siblings how to act around the current administration.

This happened at a large public high school in North Carolina.
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer: Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences of your speech. You pissed off the people who get to decide who attends their meaningless ceremony, and if they want to throw a little tantrum and take it away from you (or at least hold it over your head to make you behave from here on out, cause cmon it's only October) they may.


Title: [OH] Previous landlord demanding charges for damages after moving out

Question:
I moved out of the residence in June and yesterday I received an e-mail with an attachment with line items of damage I made to the house that they state I need to mail them a check for. I lived in the residence for eight years. The landlords visited once after I had lived there for 5 years. They live in Michigan.

Some of the items they are stating are true, however the prices for repairs seem inflated. One item is re-painting a room that was painted blue and green for a baby. They are charging me $500 to repaint that room which exhausted the entire security deposit. The other thing that concerns me is that two items have "to be determined" on them, which to me means they haven't fixed them yet and are going to come after me in the future for more money if I pay this.
This document is not notarized or legal looking in any way. They did not attach any receipts of the work done or pictures of the damage. On the bottom of the letter, it does state "PHOTOS ON FILE".

My question is how should I handle this?

Answer:
 If you lived there for 8 years, many things are considered normal wear and tear. A quick Google search leads me to see that paint has a lifespan of 2-3 years. Therefore the value they get from that is $0. (Assuming no extra work is required, such as if you painted the walls black.)

As to the other line items, it's hard to give advice without you stating what those items are. If there was damage outside of normal wear and tear, you are still legally responsible for it outside of your security deposit.Answer #2: I would ask for more details, including copies of the photos. Unless these landlords are incredibly old school, the photos are taking on a digital camera and there's no reason that they did not already provide them to you.

it sounds like you are not disputing that you painted that one room. If so, $500 for painting it back sounds quite reasonable.

Without knowing what the other two things are, it's impossible to comment.

The general rule is that they cannot charge you for ordinary wear and tear. And, for things that have a usable lifetime associated with them, they can only charge you for the depreciated value as of the date of the end of the lease. This mainly applies to carpeting. So, if the carpeting was already used when you moved in there 5 years ago, that probably has exceedingly little value left and they cannot charge you for the full cost of replacement.

There's no reason that the statement should have been notarized. All that does is help prove that the person whose name is on the document is actually the person who signed it. It doesn't sound like that's an issue here.


Title: Administered pain meds without my consent.

Question:
I went to the ER for leg pain to make a long story short. The doctor talked about giving me motrin or some anti inflammatory. Little while later i get my blood drawn. A couple moments later a nurse hooks up a syringe to where my blood was drawn.

She says,"this will burn a little" then as she starts,"this will ease the pain." At that point I'm worried because im extremely against the use of opioids and i would never consent to the use of them. I'm fairly certain I was given tramadol. I'm not sure what they gave me, but the way I'm feeling now, I think it was an opioid.

I need advice on what to do about this, I'm still in the ER at this moment.

Edit: I'm from flint, MI

Answer: How about you confirm what you given first?


Title: Friend emptied joint bank account, is there any way to get it back?

Question:
Posting on behalf of a good friend.  Bank account was opened in Texas if it matters.

Long story short, 2 friends sold t-shirts in high school, and opened up a personal account to stow away the money to help grow the business.  A little while later they brought in a 3rd friend, to help with the social media aspect and also gave him access to the account as well.

Fast forward several years, the print-screening business was put on pause since they all went their separate ways after graduating for work/college.  Come to find out this morning, Friend #3 (social media guy) emptied the bank account over the course of the past several months to pay for his rent (~$5k).

Is there any way to get the money back? Or is it a tough love learn from your mistakes kind of situation?

Answer: You would sue the "friend" for the money he has taken. You didn't list your location but it would most likely be through small claims court


Title: Car sold with clean title, later find out it's a salvage. How do I get paid? (california)

Question: So the story is I bought a car from a used car place in california which sold me my honda fit with a "clean title". I was getting it appraised at a toyota dealership to buy a new car and they said the honda is worth only 150$ because it is "salvaged". Now if that is the case, the toyota dealership told me it's illegal for someone to lie and say that the vehicle has a clean title when it doesnt. What's my next step. How do I find the right lawyer? And how can I get the most money?

Answer:
 Did you do a title search on the vehicle when you bought it? Companies like Carfax and the like usually offer a guarantee against the car title being reported incorrectly.

What does the actual title you have say? When did Toyota say it was salvaged? You are going to have to prove that the original dealer knew, or should have known, that the car was salvaged at some point, and then the most you can likely recover is the difference between the depreciated value of a clean titled car and the price you are able to sell it for. Answer #2: This happened to my mother. She only found out that her car was a statutory write off when she went to sell her car and buy a new one - got $1,000 for it when she paid $12,000. The dealerships said there was nothing she could do, despite it not being disclosed to her when she bought the first car.


Title: Slanderous claims on twitter

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Report it to Twitter.  Stop talking to this guy.  Answer #2: Maybe take a social media break if this is causing you great levels of consternation.


Title: Child pawning off a present - stealing?

Question:
This may be a really stupid question, but I'll ask anyway.  My 15 year old brother supposedly pawned off his Playstation 4 my parents bought him for Christmas without their permission.  He's been getting in a lot of trouble recently, and they're pretty tired of his crap.
 Could this be considered stealing in the eyes of law, and could they get it back or get refunded if they found out where it was sold to?  We live in Louisiana.

Answer:
 Not illegal, but if a 15 year old pawned a PS4 I would be more concerned that he is doing drugs.

Edit: Also, pawn shops typically will not deal with minors so more likely that he sold it privately.Answer #2: Not if it was a gift. His to do with as he pleases.


Title: Need Legal Advice Company is forcing my wife to quit on her own

Question:
My wife trained with a company at a different location. Once she was done with training she transfered to the permanent location. State of California.

Amost all of the employees are females. She says they non stop gossip. My wife is a go to work to make an honest living type of girl. She isn't there to make friends. She seperates herself from the gossiping which lead her to be some sort of an outkast. Although since day one the other female employees have given off snotty attitudes. They even hazed her the first first day for being the new girl. Even that is illegal right? Hostile work environment? They told her to use the restroom far far from the store. Yes a joke but she wasn't laughing. She didn't listen by the way and just used the one at their store.

Anyways long story short you can see the type of female employees she has to deal with. Where it's a proven fact that they talk about her behind her back. Here's the sketchy part. She found out that the scheduler is going to slowly deduct her hours so much that she will eventually be forced to quick. She found this out because like I said none of them can keep anything to themselves. She has only one write up and that's for missing one work day due to car trouble, which she was forced to provide a note from the mechanic. I know she's a hardworker who's honest and sadly...she sometimes does their job by cleaning up after their mess.

Can anyone help me help her?

Answer:
 > They even hazed her the first first day for being the new girl. Even that is illegal right? Hostile work environment?

No and no.

> Can anyone help me help her?

You can help her find a new job.


Title: HELP FAST! Hospital fucked me.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 There's nothing wrong here... Unless you had the drain surgically removed (not likely), the "holes" from drains being removed don't get stitched up, they heal over on their own.

FYI the risk of infection is higher if they were to stitch it closed.

Source- I'm a nurse.


Title: [FL] Approved for apartment and placed security deposit, now current tenant refuses to leave

Question: So I just wanted to see if I have any protections here or I'm just SOL. A few weeks ago I applied for and was approved for a condo rental by a management company. I put in my 60 day notice at my current place. I paid an application fee, security deposit, and lease preparation fee, but haven't received the lease yet. The management company said this is because even though the current tenant already gave notice, now she wants to stay and is refusing to move out. They said they don't want to evict her because it would be a long and expensive process, but that they're trying to work it out with her. If they say I no longer can have the place, am I entitled to all of the money back at least?

Answer:
 I'm so tired of landlords padding their eviction cases. They will use this to prove they had someone ready to move in, deposit received, lease signed, all the while knowing the unit wouldn't be vacated. You got played OP. I guarantee you this company has other people's 'fees'. It's a scam. Answer #2: > If they say I no longer can have the place, am I entitled to all of the money back at least?

yes, but you will probably have to go to small claims court to get it.Answer #3: Yes, you should receive back everything you paid to be able to move into the unit. Since you hadn't signed a lease yet, it's likely you won't be able to recoup any other damages.


Title: (US) Destructive illicit affair I had (25f) during University has lead to all manner of issues

Question:
Throwaway here...

During my four years of undergraduate university I messed up and, against my better judgment, carried on a 4 year relationship with one of my professors, who was married. I was a young 17 year-old woman when I started uni and, like most other people, carried with me a lot of baggage from my childhood years. I was young and naive and due to an absent alcoholic father, I found (in hindsight) that I was craving the attention and affection of a "stable" man.  Shortly after I turned 18 after a semester at school this professor of mine came up to me and told me that I was gorgeous. One thing lead to another and I quickly found myself in the midst of a 4 year long affair.

To keep things short and concise I will highlight some of the relevant issues:

His wife (also a professor at the University) found out about the affair (after 3.5 years), though she was not aware to what extent it had progressed. She never alerted University officials.

I believe that this gentleman is a threat to other young women as well. He had told me some time into our relationship that he had had a similar fling with another woman that I had actually known. As well I am aware that shortly after I left the school that he approached another young female student trying to seduce her.

He encouraged and maintained (and ultimately controlled to a T) the relationship and the course that it took. Despite me taking numerous courses with him (at least 6), the relationship never lost any steam. I assert my grades were never artificially inflated due to the relationship yet obviously this sort of "conflict of interest" had numerous costs for my education and psychological well being.

The relationship only ended due to geographic distance separating us when I continued on in graduate school. After roughly 4-5 months of being away from this man I entered into therapy with a psychologist and psychiatrist, and was eventually put on antidepressants. My psychological well being, my ability to navigate interpersonal relationships, my understanding of sexual intimacy (it's hard to view sex as anything good or decent when you are constantly being reminded to "keep this secret" and are rushing around trying to finish sex as quickly as possible due to fear (his fear projecting onto me) of getting caught), as well as my ability to achieve orgasm (302.73 in the DSM-IV) have all been compromised due to the relationship I feel I was manipulated into. I ended my use of antidepressants and therapy about 6 months ago and am taking steps to reengage therapy so as to continue working out these psychological issues.

This man and I were caught by the cops sneaking around together (its a small university town) and they "knew" full well what was going on

He bought me a burner phone so that he could call me and keep in touch with me without his wife (or university) finding out

This man did untold amounts of harm and damage to me psychologically and physiologically (imagine never being able to achieve orgasm with your new husband) and I feel that he manipulated me and scared me into continuing a relationship that I often dreaded being involved in it. I desired the attention of boys/men my own age but he was always right there cutting down even the slightest inclinations that I might get enough confidence to leave him by making comments about how no guys my own age would ever want me. He viewed me as being one of the young and weak members of the herd that resides on the fringe, he was counting on me never gaining the strength or confidence or will to right all these wrongs (or even recognize them for what they were) that were done to me.

This man is still working at this university, still peddling the same "game" to the young co-eds, and I refuse to allow another impressionable young woman be destroyed by having this man come into their lives as a trusted professional and educator and wind up being used, abused, and damaged by his own selfishness, narcissism, greed, and lust.

/r/legaladvice, what can I do? I intended on calling the University president today and telling him my story and that I wanted to see the University do what it needs to do to separate itself from this scum. As it became clear that I am literally PAYING the price of this encounter with this educator, I wondered if there was a legal avenue I could take to gain restitution for whats occurred. Do I have a leg to stand on when it comes to me filing suit against the University?

edit: Alabama is where this all occurred
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 > He viewed me as being one of the young and weak members of the herd that resides on the fringe, he was counting on me never gaining the strength or confidence or will to right all these wrongs

This isn't a Lifetime movie starring Sally Fields. You engaged as an adult in a consensual relationship with a man you knew was married.Answer #2: >what can I do?

People like you are why I am scared to date women.  You engage as an adult in a multi-year relationship.  Now, years after the fact, you want to destroy the other person.  Scary stuff.Answer #3: I'm sorry, I'm having trouble understanding the issue here.  Other than this being a relationship you regret, what legal issue exists?  What's your question?


Title: Landlord trying to prove house is his, in need of serious help.

Question:
This is a long story, so sit back. My mom works in an office. She meets a lot of people everyday. She’s a social worker. Around a few years ago she met this immigrant man, let’s call him (Anthony). So over the years my mom and this man Anthony developed a close friendship. In her job she has this local community garden where people would volunteer. Anthony would volunteer and go to the garden and help out everyday. My would also help-out in the garden in her spare time. He is an older man. He’s in his late 60s and my mom in her mid thirties. He views my mom as like a daughter to him. Anyways let’s go to 2018. 2018 comes and there is a big revelation. Anthony is getting deported. He doesn’t mind. But he asks my mom for a big favor. The only person he can trust is my mom. He wants my mom to fight for his case as she has papers. It’s not the deportation case though, it’s something else. Here’s where the story gets interesting. So let’s go back in time. 10 years ago Anthony won a lawsuit. In his job he got his rib damaged. He somehow managed to win the lawsuit and won 1 million dollars. This was a shock to my mother, she never knew this. With a million dollars Anthony decided to buy a home. You see the problem when he bought the home is that he was an immigrant. He didn’t want to risk getting deported so what he did is ask someone he knew with papers to buy the house for him with his money. He bought the home under her name first, and his name second. He lended her 200,000 in down payment to pay for the home. What he did next is rent her the home, and Anthony would be making money. Now let’s go to the present she hasn’t payed Anthony any money for the past few years. He’s hired a lawyer to fight for his case but so far it’s been unsuccessful as he has the house under her name, and his name is second. (I don’t know how that stuff works excuse my ignorance). He’s also an immigrant so that’s another problem. He’s also getting deported in a few months. So the big favor he asked my mom is to fight for his house. He asked my mom as he is the only person he trusts. He told her that he doesn’t want the person that lied to him to keep it. He wants to give my mom the house as gift for all their years of friendship. He wants my mom to represent his case and fight for it even when he gets deported. Here’s my question, what can my mom do to help? Anthony said he’ll give my mom all the letters and paperwork to represent his case. Even sign the house to her? (I don’t know how that works) What does Anthony need to do to prove the house is his? Any advice will be helpful!
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 >  He wants my mom to represent his case and fight for it even when he gets deported.

NOPE. Nope nope nope nope nope. NOOOOOOPE. #Nope.

Anthony gets a lawyer to fight for him. Not a social worker. Not a friend. Not anyone who is not a **lawyer**.

Do. Not. Fuck around with unauthorized practice of law.Answer #2: He needs to rely on his lawyer. If his lawyer isn’t good, he needs to get another. The attorney can continue to work the case after he is deported. Your mother can’t do much for him unless she’s been admitted to the bar.


Title: Is a contract legally binding if I never signed?

Question:
I got a membership at a place called spa and fitness place where they told me I could cancel anytime, so I paid the $60 a month and began using the services.  At the time they just asked for a credit card to put on file, my email, and a liability statement about the dangers of tanning beds.

I decided to cancel after two weeks because of medical reasons and they're now saying I need to pay for 60 additional days adding $120 to the bill.

When I went in to sign cancellation papers, I asked to see my contract upon joining because I never saw it before.  They managed to pull it up with all the policies.  My informations typed up at the top but all the lines to sign and initial in the contract are blank.  Whats my options if they never gave me a chance to go over it?

Answer:
 > I decided to cancel after two weeks because of medical reasons and they're now saying I need to pay for 60 additional days adding $120 to the bill.

If they can't produce a copy with your signature, they can't enforce it, unless you orally agreed to whatever fee it is you're objecting to.Answer #2: You don’t have a contract. They told you it was $60/month and you could cancel at any time. That’s all you agreed to verbally, and that’s the only thing you’re bound to.

Tell them that they never showed you a contract, you didn’t sign one, and if they charge you a penny beyond the $60 you already paid, you’ll do a chargeback. And if they charge you, do a chargeback - short of them forging your signature, the credit card company will side with you.


Title: My dog was attacked by another dog and now we incurred surgery bills of $3000+. Tried talking to homeowner but he refuses to open the door and talk to us.

Question:
My gf was walking our dog (I wasn't there) around the neighborhood when a dog ran out of a yard (gate was opened) and attacked our dog unprovoked. We took him to the vet and they had to perform emergency surgery which costs us over $3000.

At the time, a lady saw the attack and asked my gf if she was okay. Unfortunately, my gf didn't get her contact information for a witness since we didn't know the severity. She confronted the owner and he just grunted "mhm" and walked away.

My gf recently tried to go back to the house to ask the guy to pay for the bill, but when he sees her, he proceeds to shoo her away and is dismissive - refusing to talk. She tried to get information from the neighbors but no one really talks to the guy (claims they are unfriendly).

What are my options if I want to file a civic suit (small claims)?

I currently have the house address and tried to search for any information online but don't have much of a lead. I will try to contact my county's accessor office tomorrow to see if I can get any more information about the owners.

Is the address sufficient to file the suit or do I need to find the home owner contact information or dog owner information?

Thanks.

Answer: I would first file a complaint with your local humane society to notify them of an aggressive dog that is not being secured properly. I would then possibly get in touch with a lawyer to see what your options are. I’m sure you can find the information of the current owner from the address it just might take a bit more work then a google search. And then go through the formal process of a lawsuit. If it gets far enough he will be served with legal papers. This is will at least get the ball rolling on what with be a long process.


Title: I need a copy of my child's mothers death certificate.

Question:
I am currently live in Florida.
The mother of my child died last month and unfortunately we were never married. Her mother received copies of the death certificate which I was told I needed if I wanted to apply for social security to help with childcare. The mother will not let me have a copy of the death certificate and vital statistics told me that I am not an eligible requester. I have no idea what to do here and I am getting upset. Please help.

Answer:
 Go in person to a Social Security office. Take with you any documentation you have. If you have your child's birth certificate and social security card, bring them as well as any newspaper obituaries and the mother's SSN if you know it (may be on your tax returns).

Social Security is automatically informed of deaths from the state/county vital statistics offices and should be able to confirm the death that way.

Pack a lunch. Visiting a Social Security office is almost as much fun as visiting the DMV. Answer #2: Try VitalCheck which is an online certificate provider for all 50 states.

The people who work at the state departments of records can be difficult. I think VitalCheck has found some ways to bypass them as they do this in bulk.

As a father representing the deceased’s child you should have no problem.

Sorry for your loss. Answer #3: Also, ask the FUneral Home to get you a copy
Be prepared to pay $ 10-15.00Answer #4: You can order a death certificate without the cause of death.

"Anyone may order copies of Florida death certificates; however, Florida death certificates containing the cause of death information are only issued to the decedent's immediate family (parent, spouse, adult child, adult grandchild, adult sibling). If you are not a member of the decedent's immediate family, you must submit proof of entitlement demonstrating tangible interest in the estate of the decedent. Please fax this documentation to 877.550.7428. (Note: Cause of death becomes public information 50 years following the death. Prior to that time, cause of death information is considered confidential.)"

Go to
https://www.vitalchek.com
to order the death certificate.


Title: HOA wants to list my friend on the HOA bank account. Is there any legal reason not to?

Question: My friend recently bought a home in a "townhouse community" which consists of only 4 units (Virginia). Of the 4 units, she owns one, one is being rented, one is being sold, and one has had the same owners for a number of years. They require that 2 names be put onto the bank account, and seeing as there are currently only 2 permanent residents, they asked that her name be listed on the account. Is there any legal reason not to do this? If the HOA was sued for whatever reason, would it put my friend in any financial risk?

Answer:
 A lot of non-profit-type entities have a bylaw or policy that says they must have two signers on their bank accounts.  This practice greatly reduces the risk that one bad apple somewhere down the line will decide to steal all the money from the entity by writing themselves a check with no supervision.

If your friend decides to take on this job, she should be aware that she has to be fiscally responsible.  Your friend needs to take the role of signing for payments seriously.  So if the OTHER signer wants to take money out of the HOA account, your friend should be asking "why?" and be confident that it's a valid reason and not any sort of fraud.  Otherwise your friend could end up getting sued for her part in the fraud.

Most people are honest and a 4-unit HOA probably doesn't have a lot of money to steal anyway, so I doubt there would be a problem.


Title: Don’t want to lose my license

Question: I messed up pretty bad, I had a clean driving record for the first 4 years I had my license, and in the last month I managed to accumulate 4 tickets. 2 of them were disregarding a stop sign, one was passing on a double yellow, and the last was riding a motorcycle without an endorsement. I know it’s more than likely that I will lose it for a given amount of time, but I need to know how to get ahead of this and if there’s anything I can do to try to keep my license

Answer: Get a lawyer, that's your best play.


Title: Confused if I should call cps??

Question: So I just went to lunch with my husband and he disclosed to me that a co-worker bragged to him that he has started being the main disiplinary for his "stepkids" (they are not married). He said that the 11yo male has problems with hitting and that he has been giving him the choice of 30 push ups or 30 spankings.Aparently the school that the kid goes to has made a report to child protective services over some sort of transgender misunderstanding and the grandmother told cps that they should check him out, but should I call? I know deep down what he is doing isn't right and really scares me for that 11yo already having behavioral problems. I'm just really confused if this is warrant enough to call CPS and make a report. and if it tells you anything about the character of this guy he has been talked to several times at work about bringing his dog into work and leaving it in the car for his full 8 hr shift. please please any advice would help. thank you

Answer:
 I personally wouldn't involve CPS with something I haven't seen first hand. Guy could just be lying. Answer #2: You don't say where you are, but in some areas corporal punishment is not illegal.  And there *is* a difference between a legal spanking and an illegal beating.Answer #3: Is he spanking the kid with a belt or paddle? This is considered abuse in many states.

I also imagine that hitting the kid 30 times would leave marks (and potentially bruising), which is sort of a *de facto* standard for abuse.

And what if he can't finish the 30 push-ups? He gets hit?

Not to mention the irony of teaching a kid not to hit others by, well, hitting him.

I would report it. The guy is a sicko for bragging about something like this, and if he is bullshitting, serves him right to have CPS or the cops show up at his door.


Title: Wife from America wants to immigrate to Canada to live with me.

Question:
Hello all.

My now-wife and I met in 2014. She is American, I live in Canada. A year later, she moved up here to live with me, but the entire move was rushed and stressful, and the first year together was difficult and emotional. When she first crossed the border, she wasn't issued a stamp or a visa. She ended up overstaying her visit shortly before we were married (the marriage was in my city), and stayed with me for another year. Effectively, she overstayed for about a year and a half. She went back home in September of last year. We never divorced, we never formally started her PR application, and I never claimed her on anything other than naming her my beneficiary for my RRSPs. We never received any kind of notice directing her to leave the country.

We now want to try again, now that we are both mature, and this time we want to do it properly, because we had no idea what we are doing before.
I definitely am going to see a lawyer for consultation, but see below. In the meantime, any help on my situation would be great.

As I see it, her options are to either move back in with me first and make an inland application, or stay where she is and make an outland application. Naturally, we just want to live together as soon as possible; but,

* How likely is it that she will be allowed back into the country if she attempts to drive over? What can we do to increase her chances? Should she apply for a visitor visa beforehand?
* would it hurt to try to cross the border anyway and then apply from outside the country if she is denied?

Now, I also need some advice on how to lawyer shop. To be frank, the immigration consultancies around my city are sketchy as hell. Most of them are tiny, cheap hole-in-the-wall establishments in the poor part of town that I never see last more than a month. I went to one of them and just got a terrible vibe about the place (it was literally a former fastfood joint that was barely renovated and had no windows) so I left before arranging an appointment. I have a recommendation from the commissioner that married us, but their consultation fee is $350/hr and the retainer is $3000. I expect it to be expensive, but $350/hr just for consultation? I hope I can get some advice on how to find somewhere more reasonable, and what to look out for.

Thanks a lot guys.
Topic:
Immigration

Answer:
 Just from my experience of bringing a foreign spouse to Canada. Do the application BEFORE she comes. Processing times are a few weeks-months as opposed to 18 months +.  We never used a lawyer but did everything legally so it probably won't hurt to get at least a consultation.

Just follow the directions on the Government of Canada immigration website to a T. Have TONS of proof you are married/have kept in touch while you guys lived separately. We basically printed every vacation photo we ever took together and wedding photos and sent it off.

It's an expensive process, the doctors visit/security check/processing fees/notorization etc all adds up. Paying a lawyer so you only have to do it once might be better than having to do it again if she's denied the first time.


Title: My parents have repetedly threatened to send me away to my relatives in India. Is that legally possible?

Question: I am technically a minor, but I am less that a year away from becoming 18 years old, (10 months). So due to petty reasons ( I don't partake in illegal activity, not a trouble kid) they repeatedly threaten me to send me off to live with my relatives whenever we argue. I want to know if this is legally possible. My relatives aren't bad people, nor are my parents, but I really don't see the point of doing so, as I plan to live in the US for the rest of my life, and complete college here as well. I am almost mid way finished with my senior year (3 and a half weeks till the first semester/half school year ends). I apologize fo the block of text, I'm really just not thinking straight right now and just need an answer. I appreciate your guy's time and input.

Answer:
 Yes. You are minor. Your parents decide where you live. Forcing you on a plane doesn't seem like an easy thing IMO. But legally yes. Answer #2: Legally, they can attempt to send you to India. However, if you don't comply your parents won't be able to get you onto the plane.

If you're concerned for your safety though, chat with your school counselor.


Title: Surprise son (9 yr old), biomom wants me to be on birth certificate. What do?

Question:
So, about 3 years ago the birth mother of my son (9 yr old) contacted me via facebook and said surprise, you're a dad. She hid it from me for the 6 years he existed. Ever since, we have been trying to build a relationship and make up for lost time. She gave me an out early on, but I definitely want to know my son and it was important to me to get to know him. We are still in that process trying to make up for lost time. Recently, the mother of my son has said she thinks I should be on the birth certificate in case something bad happens or she is otherwise unable to help him with legal things that require a parent / guardian. The mom works in Family Law, and I am totally ignorant of the ramifications of this. I am already in the process of finding a lawyer to get advice, but in the mean time I wanted some reading material.

Please ask me any questions you want if you need more details on the situation.

Answer: Paternity test comes first, no debate about it


Title: [CO] Can I get in trouble for lying about what I’m using a personal loan from a bank for?

Question:
I’m planning on applying for a personal loan to purchase a motorcycle. Yeah, yeah, use your own cash for toys and use loans for homes/vehicles, I’ve heard it before. Anyways, I’m not applying for a normal vehicle loan because

1) I’m not paying atrociously high insurance rates on a cheap toy
2) If I get a normal vehicle loan I’ll be forced to have full coverage which again, will cost me $2500+/yr
3) I’ll pay the little bit of extra interest and if I wreck it, I’m fine with being fully responsible to finish paying it off

The bank wants me to provide plans/reason as to what the funds are for. If I tell them the loan is for paying off some debt or home improvement or whatever I choose, and I use those funds to instead buy said motorcycle, is there any repercussions that can be done? Do banks require proof of purchases with personal loans? I would think once I have the money I’m free to do as I please, but do they require verification that I used the funds for what I said I was going to?

Answer: That would be fraud.Answer #2: Fraud remains illegal, so yes.


Title: [CA] hi owe taxes from when I was 13, but I never worked at that age and was still in elementary.

Question: I am 21 currently, I got a letter saying from 2011 I have unpaid tax (123$, taxes,66.73 interest, 226 collection fees) what is my first step in finding out where this tax came from?

Answer: Dont pay it. Call the IRS directly to confirm the letter. Do not call a number on the letter.


Title: Can I surreptitiously audio record my meeting with a city employee in their office?

Question: I’m afraid they will bully me and lie.

Answer: Your location is needed. In Canada, this would be ok. In the US, states are usually considered "one-party" or "two-party" consent states with regard to audio recording. In one-party consent states, you'd be fine. In two-party consent states, you wouldn't be allowed to. Search "your state" + one-party/two-party consent to see


Title: Who legally owns a minor's posessions or the posessions of a dependent adult?

Question:
My parents have always told me that they own everything I have and the money I've saved up isn't really my own, because I'm minor and they're my parents. Even gifts and things other people have given to me. This seems unfair to me and reminded me that I'm basically a captive. I am 18 now but not cheering for that because it means my parents can now kick me out of the house and I can be convicted as an adult, etc., but I'm also wondering whether I still don't own my posessions since I live with my parents and am their dependent.

Location: CT
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Sorry, I don't have a reference for this, but is asked in this forum on a pretty regular basis. I'm not a lawyer, just some guy on the internet.

The way I understand it, until you turn 18, you don't actually own anything (except for very specific cases involving child actors and some special kinds of trust accounts). Your parents have full legal control of everything you consider "yours" and even all the money you earn.

They are still legally obligated to *care and provide* for you, however, so each state has laws about what exactly they have to provide (pretty much food, shelter and clothes).

Everything you earn or receive as a gift after the age of 18 is legally yours, even while still living at home. I would immediately open a new bank account in your own name, so they can't access the funds.

The problem is all the money you earned and stuff you bought or were given *before* you turned 18. I suspect legally it still belongs to your parents, but practically speaking it will be more of a "who has it right now" kind of question. If they've already taken it away from you, you don't have much legal recourse to get it back. But if you are quick and take all your stuff when you move out, they also would have a difficult time legally getting it back (and they'd look like total assholes while doing it).


Title: [MA] Turned down for a job because I have kids

Question:
I had a phone interview for a job today, and I thought it went well.  I have a great Resume, I answered each of his questions well I thought.  But the recruiter called me back after the interview to say the company decided to pass.  Then he followed up saying "They were worried that with you having 2 kids, you may not have the time required to be successful" since it is a startup.

Obviously I wouldn't want to work for this guy, but the thing urks me a lot.  Is this type of filter allowed?  Should I hide the fact that I have kids in future interviews?

Answer:
 Are you ready, able and willing to put in the 60-70 hour weeks that go with working in a startup?

The company's concern that you may be unable to do that may be a legitimate reason for them to pick another candidate - very few people thrive in a startup environment.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/massachusetts-employment-discrimination-31772.html

You may check with the Commission Against Discrimination at 617-994-6000 on whether you having kids falls under the marital status protections available under MA laws, which apply to all companies with 6 or more employees.

http://www.mass.gov/mcad/

Do you have previous early stage company work experience?Answer #2: The real question is, did the company not offer the job because you have two kids, or because you are a **woman** with two kids. If the job goes to a man with kids, they may have a problem. Answer #3: It doesn't mean that the size of the company justifies discrimination on any level but here, this wouldn't necessarily be discrimination.  They didn't hire you due to protected class status (gender, sex, age, national origin, religion, etc).  They chose not to hire you because you have 2 kids and they are looking for someone who can put in long hours without it impacting their family lives.  As the other poster indicated, the hours may be long and the likelihood of employment success is low.  Here, consider it a plus.

As for disclosure of kids in future attempts, no, because you shouldn't have to hide your family.  If it is a question, discuss how it makes you a more well-rounded and dedicated individual.  "Family-oriented" and "Committed" also come to mind.  Answer #4: Unfortunately family status is not listed IANAL, under protected classes in employment discrimination in Massachusetts.

http://www.mass.gov/mcad/resources/employers-businesses/emp-guidelines-discrim-gen.html

However this site will be a great source to look through.


Title: (USA, IN) Is it legal to force employees to sign a new policy handbook?

Question: My employer is trying to force it's employees to sign a new policy book. I signed one when I initially was hired. I don't agree with many of the new policies and wouldn't have agreed to the new policies had they been in the book I originally signed. I am told I will be fired if I don't sign the new one. Is this legal since I already singed one when I was hired?

Answer:
 No one can force you to sign anything. But they can certainly fire you for not signing. Answer #2: You’re welcome not to agree to the new policies. And you do so by resigning.

It is legal to make signing the policies a condition of your remaining employed. Answer #3: If you don't like company policy, new or old, I suggest you start looking for a new job.  Yes, your employer can require you sign acknowledging company policy.


Title: [KY] Can relatives be forced to pay debts after a person dies? What happens to the dead person's property?

Question: Sorry if this has been asked. I didn't see it in the Megathreads. I have credit card debt, a Direct Parent Plus loan, and some medical bills. Nobody has cosigned for any of my debt. If I die, can my adult children or still living parents be forced to pay my debts? All property I own is worth less than $10,000. If I have a will but owe debt, do my kids get what I specify or do creditors get first shot. Sorry if this was asked before. I appreciate your time.

Answer:
 Please consider calling this number if you are thinking about harming yourself:

 1-800-273-8255Answer #2: Your estate pays for your debts before you heirs inherit.  If there's more debt than assets, then the assets in your estate pay as much of your debt as possible and the rest goes away.


Title: Is there anyway for me to move out at 17?

Question:
I live in Oklahoma if that helps any.

So I have very emotionally and occasionally physically abusive (Hair pulling,punchings, being hit with a belt until I bleed) mom and step dad. I can't live with biological father as he is very mentally I'll.He is also often homeless. I want to move out so I can get away from that kind of enviornment. I have a job that I support myself, a car I paid for myself, and my boyfriend's parent said I could stay with them. (even if we broke up, I'd still have numerous places to stay). I don't want to call CPS because I'm afraid they'll send me to my real father's or put me in foster care.

Is there anyway I can move out without being considered a runaway? Or do I have to just wait until I'm 18.

Answer:
 NAL; that said, I hate to suggest it right after you said you don't want to, but it sounds like your best options might be police or CPS. There are a lot of well deserved nightmare stories about CPS, but there are 10x more success stories. If you explain your father's situation to them, they'll likely have lines to resources to help him as well; even if they don't place you with him, and technically place you with a foster family, as you're 17 they may very well likely have no problem with you going where you please, given your self-sufficiency. Administrative proceedings take a bit, so you'll likely be well on your way to 18 by the time the paperwork settled anyway. I'm not in your state, but I believe there is a process in some states for self-emancipation if there's a history of issues or abuse; CPS may have a line or answer on that, and if they do, they may also be able to help you file.

Bottom line, the healthiest thing do do with abuse is to get away from it. As you're looking to move out regardless, calling CPS or the police (especially after a physical incident) may not be the preferred option, but it may accomplish the same goal. Please also remember there is no shame in seeking support from a licensed therapist, and as always, document everything as you are able. On a quick cursory glance, Oklahoma looks to be a one-party consent state for recording; do more research first, but assuming that's accurate, you shouldn't get in trouble for recording conversations you are a part of.Answer #2: Honey from what you said they hit you with a beat until you bleed? Why would they reorder you as a runaway?


Title: Probation or jail. Please help me

Question: I'm 19 years old and have never been convicted of a crime. Here's the deal. In the past four months I've been pulled 3 times and have been charged with 3 ubderrage drinking charges which is a petty crime in NC, 2 simple possessions, an open container and paraohanelia. I have a lawyer who yells me I'm not going to jail due to me being a first time offender. I have a full time job and am signed up for classes at a college. From what I understand I will be put on probation and have to take a bunch of classes. These all have been put on the same court date. Someone give me some advice. I'm not a bad person just have had a rough time and made some mistakes. Please Dont be hateful. I'm extremely anxious and nervous. I'm scared and am losing sleep over this. Someone help me.

Answer:
 >Someone give me some advice.

Get control of your substance abuse problem.  I was in college once and got blackout drunk plenty of times so I am not judging you morally, but if you have 3 underage drinking charges, 2 simple possessions, an open container, and a paraphanalia charge then you are way beyond simply being a college party guy.Answer #2: > Someone help me.

Do you require a hug? /u/boathole is available for all your needs.

Do you require liquor and possibly a handjob by a VERY ugly Iraqi prostitute that looks strangely like Adam Sandler and Gary Busey had a love child? /u/zapopa is available for all your needs.

Or you can actually ask a legal question.... Better yet. Don't. You have a lawyer. All your legal questions should be going to him/her. That's why you cut them a fat check.


Title: Wasp nightmare

Question: I have a big wasp problem at the place I rent in Missouri, and my landlord will not do anything about it. They get into my bedroom every day and cause a lot of problems. I asked my landlord to help pay for an exterminator but she hit me with a “I don’t really have the money for that” even though she rents units to multiple people in the town I live in. She just wants me to deal with it entirely by myself but money is tight and I didn’t cause the wasp problem. Do I have any options here or am I screwed?

Answer:
 It depends on the nature of the problem.

If this is a "there is a clear nest right outside my window" case, then the fastest/best solution is to just buy a $6 can of wasp spray, wait until dusk, and hose it down from a safe distance.

If this is a "they're in the walls" case, then you might want to entertain further legal action.


Title: [TX] Online sexual harassment

Question:
My girlfriend with a mental condition (schizophrenia) has a friend who constantly makes her feel bad until she sends a sexually explicit image to her. If she doesn't respond to him (he lives in New York) then he berates her and curses at her.

This past day there were over 45 missed calls from him while we were spending time together. I didn't know she was doing this until she told me he was yelling again because she hadn't answered today, and I finally snapped and called him out on it. He eluded to having the images which led to my learning she had been doing this, and then spoke of how he got annoyed and mad at how she didn't send these images so he got mad. Today was the first day I learned of this. Once she learned I knew about what she did for him she cut herself so deeply she is in the ER and the other guy was unapologetic at his actions. I'm not sure if this has any legal grounds. Would it be helpful to call the police and report this? We are both 20 years of age so are rather inexperienced. Apologies if this is written badly. I'm a mess.

EDIT: Some tenses changed meaning.

Answer:
 I'm going to ask you an important question, and I don't want you to be offended by it, but I recognize that you might be. I'm sorry if this hurts you.

Being honest with yourself about the situation, is it possible that your girlfriend has some kind of online/phone romantic relationship with this guy?


Title: Can my health insurance sue my parents?

Question: Hi all. Throwaway account. I tripped at my parents house (my own clumsiness, slippery socks, shag carpet and holding laptop in both hands) and the fall caused me to lose consciousness, went via ambulance to ER, got CT scan, all was fine just diagnosed with concussion. I got a form letter saying from my health care provider that they paid medical benefits for the incident but that now they need to determine if another party is responsible for the payment. The letter was in conjunction with what looks to be law firm. It's asking me questions about whether the incident occurred on my property or someone else's property (if the latter, they request address) or if it's work-related or car accident. Because of my own clumsiness, could they actually sue my parents to make them pay for the medical expenses? Maybe this is just due diligence and all will be fine but it freaks me out a bit. I would of course being the one paying it, as it's not my parents' fault! Any insight much much appreciated. Wondering if I should get a lawyer now to help me answer this form.

Answer: They're really looking to sue your parent's home owners insurance. You are bound by your policy to cooperate with their attempts to do so. Answer all questions succinctly and honestly, and let the insurance companies handle it.


Title: [Ca] CHP gave me a speeding ticket (which I thought was) for 3MPH above speed limit. Officer up'd the ticket by 7MPH above that. Court in 3 days.

Question:
(Questions at the very bottom)

I got pulled over about 450am on a Monday morning in October, heading to work. I commute from the town up the hill and it's a 20 minute drive down hill from the town I live in, to the town I work in. I JUST got into the "work town," passed the 1st stop light and then his lights come on. I pull over immediately, window down before he walks up and turn my car engine off. I drive a 2010 Chevy Malibu, no body damage, windows are not tinted.

Normal conversation; "Do you know why I pulled you over?" "No, I don't." (Honestly did not know and I didn't really see anyone following me either) "I pulled you over for speeding." CHP officer asks if I knew the speed limit, I reply "Yes, the speed limit is 45MPH" because I assumed the violation was in the area he just pulled me over in. "Well, yes, the speed limit HERE is 45MPH, but you were speeding down the road in a different speed zone." On this road, in a 3 mile stretch, the speed changes from 55 to 50 to 45 (as you get closer to the "work town").

The officer claims that he "saw me" going 73MPH in the 50MPH zone, then immediately says that he clocked me with his radar going 53MPH.  Officer claimed that my tags were expired as well, said they were 2014 and that's also a reason he pulled me over (explanation coming). The officer asks if I have any warrants or felonies before even asking for my license and insurance. I have neither.

I hand over my license and registration after he asks for it. The officer asks me what I'm doing driving from "live in town" to "work town" at 5am. Explain I'm heading to work. He asks for my current address and writes it down on some paper he pulls out (I used to live in the "work town," so my license has my old address, even though I moved 2 years ago). He asks "Are you sure your car is registered?" I found it odd that he asks me this again, as if I'm lying to him, and I say "Yes!" He then explains that I had 2014 tags showing but I know im registered until the end of 2015. Looks like someone stole/removed my latest tag. Officer walks away to run my info.

Officer comes back after a few minutes with the ticket already written out. Explains he's giving me a ticket for speeding. My tags check out and I'm good. Insurance is good. License is good. In my head I'm like "wtf, you're seriously writing me a ticket for 3MPH above 50 at 5am and there's no traffic?" I don't say much. Just listen to him explain that I will get something in the mail. He asks for my signature and we're on our way.

As soon as I get to my desk at work, i bust out the ticket to look at it in better lighting. Officer wrote that I was going 60MPH in a 50MPH!! "WTF?!" He also writes the location of the violation, which is near the small creek the road goes over before getting into the "work town." The creek is about 3 miles/4 minutes back up the road from where I was pulled over (I drive this road twice a day, 5 days a week so I've been keeping track of the time and distances of all the locations). ALSO... this location of the violation is approximately 15 seconds (at 50MPH)/ or 1/5 of a mile AFTER the speed zone changes from the 55MPH zone to 50MPH zone. ALSO... There's a radar device in-ground at this "speed change" location that alerts you of your speed. The officer never mentioned the radar device at all. If I was speeding (even if I was going 73MPH) I would expect him to pull me over immediately. I've seen many times people pulled over in this 3 mile stretch so it is something that could have been done, so it was weird for him to wait 3-4 minutes to turn on his lights.

Fast forward to November, I receive the paperwork in the mail to pay $269 or to plead not guilty. I notice that the date of the violation is incorrect as well now. It's showing the violation for the Thursday before the incident. I filled out that I am pleading not guilty and sent the paperwork back on 11/19. Finally on 12/16 I receive a reply saying I have court on 1/4/16 (less than 3 weeks notice).

MY QUESTIONS

• Is it legal (or a common action) for the (an) officer to change the speed of the violation even though he verbal said he clocked me going 53MPH and not mention to me that he changed it on the ticket before I signed it?
• The officer was subpoenaed, so if he shows up and testifies that he "saw me going 73MPH" can I counter with saying something along the lines "It's not what you know, it's what's you can prove and you were attempting to prove to me that I was going 53MPH with a radar device?"
• I didn't ask during the stop if i can see the radar (which maybe I should have), but is that something I can bring up in court?
• Can I ask to see when the radar device was last calibrated in regards to the traffic stop date to ensure it's accuracy for when it was used on me?
• If I point out to the judge the discrepancy of both the increase of speed I was ticketed for AND the incorrect date of the violation, would that have any legal advantage to me?
• As for the distance/time that it took the officer to pull me over (again 3-4 minutes/3 miles), is there some kind of time or distant limit that the officer has to pull me over in?
• I can get a print out of my punch in at work for that Thursday proving I was already at work. Would that allow for the charge to be dropped or  will the judge allow for the trial to continue because I'm attempting to correct the date of the violation?
• What about the 3 week notice? Is the court supposed to allow a period of time to make sure I can make the court date or is there no minimum amount of time given? (I feel 3 weeks is very little notice to allow for me to get the time off from work).

Thank you in advance for any advice & help you can provide. If you want/need more info, let me know!

Happy New Years!!

edit: Thank you to everyone who has responded. I'm writing everyone back as quickly as possible.

Answer: If you care, why don't you just get one of those traffic ticket fighting agencies? They'd have the best chance at quashing this ticket.Answer #2: Doesn't California still have traffic schools if you receive a speeding ticket? They had them when I lived there 20 years ago.


Title: [Texas] Is it illegal for my employer to make its employees pay back wages that were “paid in advance”?

Question:
I work for a community college in the state of Texas. There's recently been an "issue" where, come September, employees will have one of a few options for paying back their wages to the college because the college has stated that "[we have been] paying its benefit-eligible employees in advance."

Their example is that:

"benefit eligible employees are paid for working April 1st - 30th, but receive a paycheck on April 25th".

It has been my understanding that multiple school districts, colleges, and university systems operate in this manner? I sometimes do not actually get paid on the 25th depending on what day the 25th pays on; sometimes I get paid a day or two before and sometimes I get paid a day or two after. I don't claim to be an expert in matters of payroll and HR but my paycheck, which is salaried, has never been affected to the point where I've somehow been given more money than what I was due because I was paid "in advance".

My college's informative powerpoint that was distributed at a meeting and via email goes on to quote this:

"Paying in advance is violating state law:"

"A political subdivision, including a college district, shall not lend its credit or gratuitously grant public money or things of value in aid of any individual, association, or corporation." - Tex. Const. Art. III, Sec. 52;

Again, I'm not expert on law which is why I'm asking you ladies and gentleman. But what exactly does "lending" and "gratuitously [granting] public money in aid of ..." have at all anything to do with "paying in advance"?

Later on in the slides they state that they must change the pay period from the 1st to the 31st to the 16th to the 15th and that "[institution] must recapture the advance pay we have been receiving since beginning employment".

Last but not least the slides go on to list a few choices employees have for "repaying" these "undue" advances...such as giving up 50% of your paycheck in September, paying it back over 6 or 10 months, giving up vacation days, etc.

Also, if an employee separates before September 30th, they will deduct the remaining balance from our last paycheck, convert the remaining vacation, or in the "worst case", they'll turn the debt over to a collection agency.

In my eyes, something just seems fishy here and this doesn't seem right at all. I don't know what's really going on but to me it honestly seems like this whole ordeal is basically a cover up for something that somebody screwed up in HR/Payroll/Financial Office and now this is some clever way of using the employee's to cover it up. Why should the employees be held responsible for these kinds of mistakes?

Thank you.

Answer:
 I think this is actually easier than you think.

They are moving the pay period half a month. They want everyone to be slightly behind, which is pretty normal for how most businesses pay. To get everyone aligned, they are proposing several options.

One option is rapid realignment. They could not give you half a month's pay. Part of that is already pre-paid and the other part you would get at separation (again, pretty standard). This gets your pay period and check in sync all at once.

However, they also know that some people live pay check to pay check. Not getting half a month's pay could be devastating for cash flow. So, they are willing to adjust slowly over months and only taking a few days pay each month or cash out some vacation to set things to the new pay period.Answer #2: > But what exactly does "lending" and "gratuitously [granting] public money in aid of ..." have at all anything to do with "paying in advance"?

That part is easy.  They're paying you on the 25th for hours you haven't worked yet.  The state apparently doesn't allow this.  That's not terribly uncommon.

I'd suspect, just based on this discussion, that they are looking to recoup losses only from those employees that were actually overpaid - i.e., people who were paid early for work they didn't perform.  If you actually worked between the 25th and the end of the month, and were paid on the 25th for those days, you should be good.