Title: I was recruited away from a 6-figure sales job to take a management job at a startup. After five weeks on the job, I was abruptly let go and left unemployed with no warning. I'd like to discuss my legal options (New York, NY; yes, I'm aware it's an at-will employment state)

Question:
So I'll try to make a long story short: for the past year, I've been working in a mid-level sales job paying me $100k+ a year in base salary and commissions. I have repeatedly told recruiters that the only thing that could get me to leave is a management job; sure enough, one called me with a job as the Strategic Sales Manager at a startup in an industry I had previously worked in and was very familiar with. I would be the company's first and only salesperson, and it was my job to build a sales department and a revenue pipeline with large commercial projects.

I started December 4, 2014. This is a slower time of year for generating new business (most December activity is focused on stuff that is already going on and needs to get done by the end of the year, and we did not have anything going on when I started). I spent my time establishing sales processes including internal forms and a CRM system that I fully customized myself over the course of a week. I also worked directly with the owner of the company to implement ideas for sales and all aspects of the company, including product design and marketing (I was the only person at the company with any previous experience in this industry so I was used a lot for my expertise). Despite all this I still managed to fill our pipeline with enough business to potentially take care of our entire first quarter in 2015. All of this was discussed daily with the company owner, and she had no issue with any of it.

On January 9th, a Friday, she pulls me into the conference room at 5pm and abruptly tells me, with no prior disciplining or warning, that I was being "let go." She simply said she "didn't think it was working out," and that she didn't think I had done enough to get meetings and fill the pipeline; when I reiterated the above paragraph to her, she was unmoved. I told her bluntly that I was blindsided by this after only working there for 5 weeks, and said I would be more than willing to work an extra week or two, change in any way that she wanted, and if at the end she still didn't think it was working out I would voluntarily leave. I offered to write up a whole new business plan over the weekend and have it to her by Monday. She said she had to sleep on it... on Sunday, she called and inexplicably said she would not allow me any second chance and that I was still gone.

I am aware that NY is an at-will employment state and I can be let go for any reason or no reason at all. But there must be SOME legal recourse for being pulled away from a successful job and left with nothing on a whim. Clearly 5 weeks was not long enough to evaluate me and terminate me, without warning, so my feeling is she realized how much she was paying me and had second thoughts. However, if she hired me without being able to afford me, this strikes me as fraudulent and I feel like I should be able to recover some kind of damages.

**tl;dr: Was hired away from a 6-figure job by a startup. Was fired for no reason after 5 weeks, and my gut is that they lied about their financial ability/willingness to pay my salary. Now I am unemployed. Can I sue them for anything?**

Answer:
 Suppose you can prove that they were not able to pay your salary. They will undoubtedly argue that they didn't *lie*, they were just overly optimistic about their financials. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?Answer #2: Did you sign an employment contract when you were hired? Not an offer letter, but a bona fide employment contract?Answer #3: I'm sorry about your loss.  Going into a management position at a start-up is a big risk.  One way you can alleviate that risk is by asking to view the company's financials during the interview process.  They may decline or require an NDA but you can ask and their response may tell you all you need to know.  The onus really is on the interviewee to make sure the company is stable and funded.  That's also where the equity talk comes into play.  They could sell 3 months down the line and leave you unemployed with nothing to show for it.

It's also possible that they just didn't feel you were producing commensurate to your compensation.  They're free to feel that way.Answer #4: Like /u/Chey1789 said, the only thing that might help you is if you have a contact (for example, stiipulating that you will work for a period of one year for a salary of XX). Do you have such a contract? Not legal advice, but can you get your old job back?


Title: Father, son kill man over argument about leaving a bed by the trash. Self Defense?

Question:
Somewhat graphic video here (Show father and son shooting, does not show guy in frame getting shot, brief view of guy laying on ground dead): https://amirror.link/9hddgk

https://ktxs.com/news/local/caught-on-camera-abilene-father-son-kill-neighbor-over-trash

Answer:
 INAL but doubtful. They brought guns instead of walking away. There was plenty of other options they had before shooting him.

You just can't stand around picking fights with a gun out and say you had no choice but to shoot him.


Title: I am interested in becoming a lawyer, where do I begin?

Question:
I am 24 with a lot of non-profit work-experience but I never finished school after high school. After many experiences where the people that I wanted to help needed to get more professional legal counsel, I decided that I wanted to be in a position to help from that end.

My questions are WHERE do I begin and what kinds of things do I need to be looking for and asking myself, to know if this is the best path for me?

Thanks

Answer:
 You'll need a bachelor's degree.  English or political science will be good but nearly anything will work.

Then you'll need to apply to a law school and get in.  That's three more years of school, and it will be **expensive**- figure an average of maybe $20,000 per year for those three years in tuition.  Then you'll need to study for and pass the bar exam for your state.

Then you're a lawyer.


Title: My name was not removed from a rental lease for an apartment

Question:
A friend and myself signed a lease for an apartment back in 2009.  It was a 1 year lease and we completed the lease with no issues.  After the lease was completed, we continued to live there month-to-month and we never signed a new lease.

I moved out in early 2012 and notified them in person and had them sign a letter saying that I was removed from the lease but I'm unable to find that paper now.  My friend still continues to live there but will be moving out soon.

There are two problems:

1) The bathroom floor has been getting worse over the years (due to water damage) and now it's so bad that the toilet can't even be used because of the fear of it falling through the floor.  The rental agency first noticed this problem back in 2010 and said they would have it fixed.  They've continued to say this during inspections but we never got anything in writing.

2) My friend recently got an eviction notice and it turns out both of our names were on the lease.  He worked out a payment plan with them so they cancelled the eviction but he's looking to move soon anyways.  He spoke to them and told them I haven't been living there since 2012 and they said "Ok, we'll take his name off".  He didn't get this in writing and told me about this shortly after.

Questions:

1) How can I get my name removed?  I've been out of the country (USA) since early 2014 and have passport stamps to prove it.

2) Are there any laws stating that landlords must keep basic services (toilet) in order?  The original lease states that they will make at least 1 inspection every 6 months.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and provide suggestions.  We're in Montana if anyone needs that info.

Answer:
 1) Where you went has no bearing on this. If you have a document that releases you from liability, then you need to find it. Without that document, you're likely going to be responsible for any unpaid rent, damages, etc.

2) Yes, there are. However, there are also specific processes tenants need to follow to request maintenance and repairs, or to pursue recourse if these things go unrepaired after notifying the landlord.


Title: [Alameda County, CA] Pros/cons of not paying a parking ticket?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Ignoring a legal obligation is nearly never a win if strategy.

Fight it, or pay it.


Title: Legal advice

Question: My manager at work threw a 5 gallon bucket of dirty water at me (scraping my knee in the process) and I punched him right after that. Does my employer have the right to fire me and not my manager when he was the one who technically assaulted me in the first place? I would preferably want to keep my job what is the best way of going about this?

Answer: Lol you can and should be fired along with the manager. You can get fired for any reason at any time and fighting on company time is definitely a valid reason, not that they need one. Yes, they can fire you instead of him. They could have fired him instead of you. They could have fired you both. However, if you want you can file a police report for the assault and hope that they pursue it. Or not because you assaulted the dude right on back and he'll likely return the favor.


Title: Gardener destroyed my parents' 100+ year old olive tree. Any legal recourse?

Question:
My first post here! I'll try to get straight to the point...

My parents hired a gardener to take care of their yard. They had an old and valuable olive tree. Based on the photos [here](http://olivetreefarm.com/price-list.php), my parents' tree appears to be well over 100 years old, and was over 30 feet tall. They don't list prices for their mature trees, but a small 15 footer is already $1600.

My mom asked the gardener to trim the tree. However, he essentially cut off all of the branches with a chainsaw (that is not a trim!). To give you an idea as to how ugly it is... There are five branches extending from the stump. Each branch is lopped off around the 5 foot mark, and is around 10 inches in diameter. Looks something like [this](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NVLDss1vLhI/UsajWWhB7CI/AAAAAAAAYdM/kQsYMrQLaKI/s1600/murder.jpg), but much bigger.

Is there any recourse that we can seek? My mom is extremely passive, but I'm really trying to get her to fight this one.

Unfortunately, this happened about a year ago.

Location: California

Answer:
 Question: was the tree actually destroyed? As in did it die? Or is it just the look of the tree you are objecting too, but it's still alive and regrowing?

I ask because what you are describing is textbook pruning for an olive tree. A year ago would put it at the right time of year for pruning (you want to do it in the early spring/late winter, before blooming) and olive trees are commonly heavily pruned, just like the crepe myrtle in your example picture. It sounds like it might have been on the extreme side if the heights you are describing is accurate, but it's still pretty appropriate for the tree. And yes, chainsaws are used for this process.

I just bring this up because it sounds like at worst a miscommunication with the gardener, if your parents really did only want a trim and not a prune, but a heavy prune is usually a good thing for olive trees so he's (probably*) got an easy defense in court.

^(*I'm no legal expert but I'm pretty familiar with this kind of pruning, since we do it to the crepe myrtles in our yard on a regular basis.)Answer #2: can you post pics of the tree in question in it's current state? is it dead? aggressive pruning is standard for olive trees.Answer #3: Do you have before and after pictures?


Title: My MIL told police I molested my daughter. I didn't. (xpost /r/MensRights)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You really need to hire a lawyer ASAP. While there's a chance nothing comes of this accusation, it's pretty unlikely at this point. This is a serious charge and you should not be talking to any investigators without a lawyer advising you.Answer #2: Hire an attorney and evict your MIL.Answer #3: First off, not legal advice, but I want to congratulate you on being 2 months sober. It's difficult, and I promise the urges will lessen. Most importantly, I know you are super stressed. Please, for the love of your wife and kids, please don't start using again. Not even once. Call someone trusted and talk it out of you need to. But you can keep the momentum goto by even during hardship.

If you never touched your kids, then The investigation should reflect that. I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not gonna offer any advice, but just some hope.

As I'm sure you have decided, MIL should be 100% out of your life.

Keep going strong, don't give up. Things look shitty but the best thing you can do is stay strong, stay sober, and look for another job. And whatever your lawyer tells you to do of course.

Good luck!Answer #4: So she created a dangerous situation in front of your children and hit you? Maybe file a complaint about her.


Title: Neighbor recorded video of other neighbor peeking into my bedroom window

Question:
Some background: My mom hired our neighbor "M" to do some lawn maintenance in our front and back lawn. Our next door neighbor "G" saw him peering into my bedroom window and thought it looked suspicious/creepy and recorded a video. She decided to confront him, and "M" said that he was just "taking a piss". She knocked on my door and decided to show me the video, and it's blatantly obvious that he was trying to look into my bedroom. "M" saw us talking by the front door and promptly left with him lawn gear and immediately drove off. My mom has already paid him for the gardening work earlier in the day, if that detail matters.

I don't know what to do. I don't feel safe in my own home, and I'm actually scared to go to bed tonight... Should I take legal action? Please help.

&#x200B;

I'm a 25F located in Los Angeles, CA.

Answer:
 You can report it to the police. It's disorderly conduct.

 [https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes\_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=647.](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=647.)


Title: Some jerk hit my car and literally ran away and will not tell me who they are [NC]

Question: Someone was walking on the side of the road and I accidentally hit them first ok but it was an accident. They cussed at me and told me I had no right to hit them in the leg, but it was raining hard and I accidentally swerved into him. He slammed his fist into my car and now my car has dents in it. He appeared to be aged 17-21 he would not tell me his insurance or license. He called me stupid and said what license you idiot I am walking and do not own that or a car. You need to be careful is what he said but again I went through a blind spot. Legally, can I report him as he put dents in my car and because he refuses to give me his name, age, license and insurance?

Answer: So you hit a pedestrian with your car, and you're upset that he dented your hood? If I were you I probably would not bring this up to the police or your insurer. He probably vandalized your car, but you possibly committed a felony by hitting him.


Title: Received a summons to appear in court for a complaint I filed against a bar on my street...

Question:
Long story short, about 2 years ago I filled out a complaint form on the website of the Pennsylvania State Police regarding a bar on my street. Essentially it was a complaint about noise and constant fights spilling out from the bar into our street.

This weekend I received a summons to appear in court next month, I'm assuming to testify regarding my complaint.  Since I've made the complaint the bar has improved drastically and has made major steps to be more neighborhood conscious.  My question, can I call and withdraw my complaint? I really don't feel like taking off work to go to court, also I've since developed a decent relationship with the owner who has been great at addressing our concerns.

Answer: No, if you've been summoned, then you go. You can call the court number and ask if you can make a statement or reschedule, but if they said you have to come in, you come in. Just be honest - the owner would definitely appreciate you if you went in and honestly stated that.


Title: Neighbors won't stop harassing me

Question: Hi i live in brooklyn ny next door to a group of absolutely terrible people. It all started a few months ago when they had a loud party. I went next door to ask them to turn down the music because they were making a great deal of noise, in fact i said specifically that they were making a great deal of noise and that it was unreasonable to be making such a commotion so early. Ever since that day they have been out to get me. They constantly bang and tap on the walls and when i put my ear against the wall i can hear them laughing on the other side. Another one of their tricks has been to send awful odors from their apartment into mine, i assume this is being done through some sort of manipulation of the air pressure in their unit. lately, their nastiest act of aggression, is putting roaches and roach eggs under my front door, in order to try to infest my apartment. i have outsmarted them this time though, i have put a rubber strip under the door, so they can't do it anymore. i was thinking of setting up a camera in the hallway of the apartment building, right outside of my door so i can catch them in the act with video evidence. what steps must i take to stops these acts of aggression and bring peace once again? the old neighbors were never this bad, they also made a lot of noise but it was never anything like this. its intolerable.

Answer:
 I know this is a reach, but... does anyone think this person might be delusional and/or schizophrenic? I mean, come on, manipulating the air flow to send bad smells? *putting roach eggs* under the door?

I'm waiting for the post "My crazy Brooklyn neighbor thinks I'm harassing her and won't leave me alone! What can I do?"Answer #2: as always in cases like these, check your carbon monoxide levels first.Answer #3: the funky smells could be them spraying for roaches. then that would explain the roaches too.


Title: [TN] If my daughter's Dad is still married and he is trying to take full custody of her, would him being married give me any benefit of having her?

Question: I hope that is worded where everyone can understand. He has been married for twenty years and they have four kids together. They have been separated for three years, I met him two years ago. He wants full custody because I want to leave him. Could him still being married give me any upper hand?

Answer:
 Reviewing your post history, it appears you are looking for reassurance or help building a case to gain shared physical custody of your infant daughter without using a lawyer, or both. Reddit really isn't a good place to get either of those things. I recommend you look for *local* resources. A call to a local women's shelter might get you on the right track; they can probably direct you to resources such as pro bono attorneys.

Good luck.


Title: Physical Therapy Company lied to me about my insurance, let me go to 10 appointments, sent my debt to collections [Chicago, IL]

Question:
Long story short, in 2013, I had hurt myself running. I was young, ignorant, naive, whatever you want to call it. I had an insurance card my parents had given to me, and I was under the impression I was insured, (because every American should be), but it turns out I hadn't had insurance since 2011.

Anyway, I went through a series of doctors to get help. I ended up at a physical therapist. The first day, they needed to make sure I was insured. I told them I couldn't afford the service, I will only do what my insurance covers. Everyday the secretary "did the math" to make sure we didn't go over what my insurance would pay. I thought I was going to be fine.

A year later I got a call from a collections agency explaining that I owed them about $1200.00

I just got another call from them today.

I feel like I got played really hard, and I don't want to pay this. Now that I know how corrupt and messed up the American Medical System is, I feel like an idiot for doing so.

This process for what may not have even really been a fractured shin, ran me almost $5,000.00. The doctor forced me to get an MRI in order for me to get the rehabilitation I needed.

Most of it is paid off except for this physical therapy stuff, which I don't believe I need to pay. Do I have any legal grounds, or am I screwed?

Answer:
 >I was under the impression I was insured, (because every American should be)

> Now that I know how corrupt and messed up the American Medical System is, I feel like an idiot for doing so.

Completely irrelevant political commentary and snarkiness aside . . .

Your post is full of "I thought."  Not once was there an "I verified."  At every doctors office I've ever been to, there is notice posted that the patient is responsible for ensuring insurance coverage.

> I was young, ignorant, naive, whatever you want to call it.

Sadly, this may be an expensive lesson.  The responsibility isn't on Vendor to make sure than Insurance covers Patient.  Insurance and Vendor don't have an agreement or relationship.  One just sends the other a bill.  Patient and Insurance have a contract.  An agreement.  They have the relationship.  Just because Patient doesn't know how to make sure Patient is covered, doesn't mean it is on Vendor to find out from Insurance.

I'm sorry this happened to you.  I know it sucks, because something similar happened to me (admittedly, with much fewer dollars).  Best of luck.  You might try negotiating a payment plan or settlement amount so you don't have to pay the full amount.


Title: Is there any situation in which a civilian would be allowed to interrogate or speak with an arrested perp in the interrogation room?

Question:
Say some guy kidnaps a woman and then gets arrested. He says "I'll only tell you where she's locked up if you let me speak directly to her husband."

This is for a story I am writing. I need my main character to speak with a man arrested and suspected of a crime. But my main character is not a cop or anything, so he has no legitimate business inside a police station.

Answer:
 It's a fictional story.

If you need him to speak to the guy, then the police will let him speak to the guy.  Plot is the most powerful force in the universe.

Don't get too hung up on making the story 100% real.  If someone wrote a cop story that was 100% real, it would be no fun to read at all.Answer #2: In real life? No, not likely. Could it happen in a piece of fiction? Sure, why not. I'm watching a TV show about Air Force officers in Colorado traveling through a magical circle of water to different planets. This is hardly more believable than a criminal talking to a civilian in an interrogation room.Answer #3: Hell, you could focus on how it's NOT legal (or at least very irregular) to help sell the seriousness of the situation as recognized by the rule-bending police ect.


Title: HELP. Missed jury duty summons in NYC because wasn't aware of letter. What should I do now?

Question:
Help. I'm an otherwise law-abiding citizen and kind of terrified right now. Due to many circumstances outside my control (none of which were medical-related however) I have not checked my mail in a few weeks. Today I did, and discovered my jury summons, which had been for Thursday may 10th. Today is Saturday may 12th. Tried calling but business hours are Mon thru Fri. What can I do? I can't afford to pay a 100/day fine. I also don't want any deliquency on my record, even though I understand how shitty of a citizen I am for failing to show at jury duty, and never would have done that on purpose. The letter itself is not dated, but I *think* I last checked my mail about three weeks ago.

This is my first summons of any kind and also my first f*ck-up. The court in question, if it matters, is NY County Clerk @ 60 Centre St.
Topic:
Constitution

Answer: I did this exact thing. I ended up calling them, apologizing and asking if there was another case I could be put on. They were cool and told me not to worry about it and thanked me for calling and letting them know. I think you’ll be okay too. You’re not going to be imprisoned for this or anything.


Title: I have a neighbor who just moved in recently, and he stares at us when we are outside.

Question: So, any time any of my family goes outside, eventually this new neighbor (moved in with previous tenants.) comes out and starts starring at us. He's probably in his late 20's. Last time we were all outside and he was staring at us, my husband asked if he lived there, because it was a little weird to see someone we didn't know just standing around out front of houses. He was like "yeah man I do." and  my husband responded with "okay, just making sure." Because, like, what else do you say? The thing is, it's not the kind of staring where you look at them back and they look away, he will just keep looking at you, even if you make eye contact which gets really sketchy really quick. I don't feel comfortable being outside with my son anymore. It's really frustrating. I just want to feel comfortable at my own house and I'm not sure what to do about it. I don't want to be rude, I don't know what he's dealing with or his life, but the fact is that it is affecting my quality of life regardless of if it's innocent or not. It's still stressful. We are from Washington. Any suggestions or actions I could take to ensure our safety?

Answer:
 Staring at you while you’re outside isn’t illegal.

You can ignore him.

You can say “stop staring at us you creepy asshole.”

You could offer him a photograph.

There’s no way to address this without a small amount on confrontation.


Title: If you blogged about buying/using prescription drugs illegally in order to detox from heroin with little-to-no withdrawal symptoms, could you get in trouble legally? (GA, USA)

Question:
I recently found out that one of my best friends suffers from heroin addiction. She couldn't take a 2-8 weeks off from work to go to rehab and couldn't go "cold-turkey" and put her life and responsibilities on hold. As a former RN, I gave her advice and answered her medical questions to the best of my ability. I also monitored her during her withdrawals as she tested out her "detox and withdrawal symptom treatment" at home.

She told me that going "cold turkey" takes about a week of horrible withdrawals. For at least 3 days, you have diarrhea and vomiting, can barely get water down, are too weak to do anything for, need to sleep significantly more than normal, are tossing and turning like crazy, have hot and cold sweats, and barely have enough energy to drag yourself into the tub for a "shower bath." After day 3, you still have some symptoms and aren't 100% until earliest day 7, unless you give in because you can't deal with the withdrawal symptoms and end up relapsing on day 2 or 3 when the worst symptoms occur.

I want to blog about her actions during her last detox and attempt at sobriety. She was able to detox at home with little-to-no symptoms, no missing work, and no desire to relapse within the 7 day period. This is a significant finding for those suffering from addiction; however, before I blog about it, I want to make sure that no legal action could be taken against me. The blog post would be about her experience and would not be urging others to do the same without first consulting a doctor/psychiatrist. Everyone's body and prescribed medications are different, so what worked for her could be deadly to someone else.

If she were to write about it, could she face legal repercussions for doing so? If I were to write about it for her, would there be any possible legal repercussions for me? Is there a disclaimer or something that could be written in order to avoid any possibility of legal action?

Thanks in advance for reading and giving your opinions.

Answer:
 If you use language like "this is a significant finding" you are also being misleading. This is not a research study, this is an anecdote. If someone followed it bc it sounds like legit research and it goes horribly wrong....I can't imagine that would be favorable for you.Answer #2: Anytime you participate in a criminal activity and publicize it, you run the risk of those statements being used against you.

There is no disclaimer you can write to absolve yourself or anyone else of responsibility for committing crimes.  Answer #3: >She was able to detox at home with little-to-no symptoms, no missing work, and no desire to relapse within the 7 day period. This is a significant finding for those suffering from addiction

It sounds like you're going to try to sell something. That would be illegal. Simply reporting things is not illegal, so long as you did not actually partake in those things.
Answer #4: First, do you have her permission to blog about her medical situation? If not you are facing possible HIPAA issues since you are a RN.

Simply blogging about yourself or someone else doing drugs isn’t illegal but it could bring that person to the attention of law enforcement which could result in potential legal issues for them if the police choose to investigate.


Title: Gym establishment is trying to sue me for a debt for a contract that I never signed. [Utah]

Question:
So I just received a Complaint from a Collection Attorney firm for a debt that I so call owe on a Personal training contract that I never signed.

A little backstory is I was tentatively seeing this girl a couple years back, that had started working as a personal trainer at this gym and was wanting to start building up a client base and asked me if I'd be interested. All I did was over text I sent her a copy of my DL (and this is stupid I know) a picture copy of my Credit card is what she said she would need to just start the paperwork and then I would need to come in to of course sign everything and make it official.

Thing is I never came in so no contract was ever made. A while back I got a notice that I had a contract with them and they were suing me for the collection of the debt some things got in the way and I was not able to attend the court hearing and they got a default judgment and I was garnished for it and it was paid. So I thought all was done. Now, I've received another complaint suing me for the exact same thing from what I can remember is the same amount that was owed last time and they sent me a copy of the Contract and lo and behold the only information that is on there is information that she could have gotten from my DL with no signatures on any of the document from me or from her and the last 4 digits of my Debit card that was said to be used for the payment agreement that states also needs to be followed by an imprint of the card to consider valid.

Now that you know the situation, my question is, do I have merit to fight it? And what are my options in pursuing this. Thanks for any help you guys are able to give.

Answer:
 > I sent her a copy of my DL (and this is stupid I know) a picture copy of my Credit card

Mistake #1

> I was not able to attend the court hearing and they got a default judgment

Mistake #2 (big, big, big mistake)

> and I was garnished for it and it was paid.

Mistake #3

You need an attorney. By not appearing in court when served, you had a default judgement against you on the first attempt to collect. You let your wages be garnished without fighting and tacitly accepted that you were in the wrong. You need a lawyer now. You need to have them produce a copy of your signed contract, which they will not be able to do. A lawyer can help you end these attempts to collect. For Heaven's sake, do not ignore this again.

BTW.... never send anyone a picture copy of your DL and credit card. What were you thinking? You're lucky you haven't been ID theft victimized 100 times over.


Title: Christmas Presents stolen off y doorstep-help!

Question: Had three packages stolen off of my doorstep (they were Christmas presents unfortunately) Reached out to Customer Service to report them as such, but haven't heard back yet. Are they obligated to honor and resend items, or give me a credit, if I file a police report? Edit: I know there is a typo in title. Can't seem to see how to edit. Apologies! Edit 2: located in Maryland.

Answer:
 Assuming USA, the company who sent you the items has zero obligation to re-send the items.  Your recourse is against the alleged thief.

Call the police.


Title: Question about child support

Question:
So here's the story, ex doesn't want to pay for child support, I have his address but not his social security, he's in the Army, in Washington, the base he stationed in is
Joint base Lewis-McCord, my question is this, do I need to contact his chain of command to get the info I need to apply for child support or do I need a legal representative to do this for me? And if it has to be me doing this, how do I go about it?

Sorry if this is in the wrong place or the grammar/spelling is bad, a friend directed me here and I am on my phone.

Answer:
 Military wife here call the chain of command. They will deal with this. They don't like when people duck responsibility. They are the military.

   He is required to put the child in the Deers system. If his SSN is what is holding you up getting a court order they will deal with it. Also they will serve him with papers if necessary as well if you don't know where he lives or can't get him served. Be aware you may be required to have a DNA test done. They also have to protect their soldiers it is not a reflection of you personally. Unless he's on the birth certificate.

  Sorry to butt in guys. My experience husband almost 20 years in military still active duty. And we have seen this more than once.


Title: Me and a Friend Stole a Card and Bought Food (MO)

Question: So, after a long night of drinking, me and a friend (16) came up with the great idea to steal a card (I'm unaware of what kind of card it was) from a car and buy food from a nearby store. Afterward, we threw the card in the sewer and went home. I know how dumb of a move this was, and it is obvious that we would not have done this if we weren't under the influence. I will not do anything like this again and I was wondering what the chances of us getting caught were. We really regret doing this and feel bad for the victim. We have never done anything like this before and will face the consequences given. I just want to know what those consequences will be so I don't have to worry constantly.

Answer: Someone was able to drain my bank account over the weekend, leaving me with zero dollars to feed my kids. Since it’s the weekend, the bank is taking a bit to sort it all. If I were your victim, I would 100% pursue it while googling how to hex you and your lineage. However your victim has their own brain and we here at Legal advice are not fortune tellers. Your victim may report their card as lost and not even notice the fraudulent charges. Your victim may notice immediately and report it. The place you used it may or may not have cameras. You may or may not be easily identifiable. You can help yourself by stop admitting it online and talking about it though.Answer #2: We are good, but we aren't "we can tell you the future" good. It depends on the investigation. If there was a camera, I suspect the chances are pretty good that you'll get caught. With that being said, stop posting about this online, don't tell anyone and if the police contact you, ask to speak with a lawyer. You could be looking at multiple criminal charges.


Title: My friends mum won't take her name off my friends bank account.

Question:
My friend is 17 and has been recently been earning some good money, she wants to be in full control of her account but her mum won't take her name off it.

Were both worryed that her mum might take some of the money, so if that happens what can we do or what can we do to prevent that?

Answer:
 I am not a lawyer and I do not live in NZ.

Is your friend old enough to open her own bank account, without her mother co-signing? If so then that's exactly what she should do. She should open this new bank account at a separate bank than the one of the shared account. All future deposits should go into that new account.


Title: [NY/FL] Arrested for acc'l weapons possession- how to get weapon back?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > If I was not convicted of a crime, can they still hold on to my weapon?

You don't give the outcome of your matter here.  What exactly were you charged with?  What was the outcome of that case?


Title: [WA] The plumbing in my apartment needs repaired and the landlord said the water could be off for 2 or 3 days. Are they obligated to provide me with another place to stay?

Answer: They aren't required to provide you another place, if the place isn't inhabitable (you would have to check your state's habitability rules but usually working water is a requirement for habitability) they should refund you prorated rent for the period when your home isn't habitable. So if you pay $1000 a month for rent divide that by 30 days and the landlord should credit you $33.33 per day you can't occupy your apartment.


Title: Nurse accused of being prostitute and more. Need help! License at risk.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Retain an attorney immediately if somebody is slandering or libeling you to a professional licensing board! Your livelihood is at stake!Answer #2: Usually libel/defamation cases aren't worth it, because in order to get anything, you need damages.

You actually have them. Potentially massive ones if they make you lose your license, but it's better to shut him down before it gets that far.

Furthermore, in nineteen states, defamation is also a criminal charge. Nevada is one of them, under the definition of Libel - ask your lawyer about talking to the police as well. It's a misdemeanor, but, it's another way to pursue this.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-200.html#NRS200Sec510


Title: Online Bank sent out an unauthorized bill payment and admits mistake but won't return the money!

Question:
NY - Holy shit, my online bank sent out money to a cancelled bill payee because they converted their website, and when they did the conversion, it inadvertently reactivated cancelled bill payees. What can I do? This is a huge chunk of money (rent in a large city).

This is Ally Bank by the way. We use bill pay every month for rent, and because we were moving, we cancelled our old landlord as a payee and cancelled any future payments in late October. However, they sent out a check on November 27th to our old landlord, and obviously, he cashed the check. We saw that this huge payment came out today to our old landlord via a bill pay check, and called Ally because we couldn't find the landlord as a payee and had no idea what was going on. What we learned on the phone was that when Ally converted their website to the new system, it activated old and cancelled payees for some accounts!! So Ally sent this payment out without our knowledge or authorization, it was essentially a "blip" in the new system.

Ally admits this is their mistake, but they asked us to get the money back from our landlord and won't provide us with our money! Like we are ever going to see that money from our landlord, he doesn't care, the check is cashed. They used our money to send out an unauthorized payment and won't refund it! They admit that this was their mistake!! WTF.

What can we do legally? Fortunately, we're not paycheck to paycheck, but I'm sure others are and this is so shitty! It's their fault 100%. What do we do?

TL;DR: Ally converted their website to a new system and it inadvertently activated old bill pay accounts. They sent out a significant unauthorized payment to our old landlord and then told us we had to get the money back! What do we do?

Also, this is a class action waiting to happen.

Answer:
 Don't know how Ally is organized, but banking is one of *the* most regulated industries.  Somewhere out there is a government agency who is in charge of overseeing the bank's practices.

[Here's the form for NY banks](https://myportal.dfs.ny.gov/web/guest-applications/consumer-complaint?hn=1&forward=new).  Federal banks and credit unions may fall under a different agency's jurisdiction though.


Title: Vendor didn't invoice us for 9 months and just noticed. Do we owe them anything?

Question:
Hi. We've been working with a design agency. We have a contract with them that stipulates that they're supposed to be sending us invoices on the first of every month. However, they haven't sent us any invoices for the previous 9 months and they only just noticed (according to them the account manager messed up and didn't have it setup in the system correctly). They're now seeking payment for the previous 9 months.

&#x200B;

I'm wondering what legal problems/exposure we might be in if we refused to pay. Thanks for any help you can provide (I'm guessing this is the kind of thing people are going to say -- take the contract to a lawyer and talk to them about it, but wanted to see if any good sense checks here as well)

Answer: You owe them the money. Their error in not invoicing you does not negate your use of their services. Pay the bill.


Title: temporarily removed from work while under investigation by FBI/CJIS, desperately need advice.

Question:
Disclaimer: i am not including location and using as few identifying details as possible for my safety and due to the sensitivity of the issue.

As stated in the title, I work in the I.T. department in the courthouse in my county.  I work with 3 other people in the I.T. department.  My title is information technology specialist, meaning I just work on computers and not necessarily the network unless the guy I work with (the network administrator) needs help with something.

There are a whole bunch of different departments in the courthouse that all fall under our network and they submit a ticket or call us when they need something and we go help them out.  Well one of the departments decided they didn't want to be a part of our network anymore (I don't know why or what the underlying or past issues were of why this happened) so they hired an outside IT department to come in and separate that department from our network and put them on their own private network.

So over a month or so goes by that the department has been on their own network and when they have issues they generally call their outsourced I.T. guy.  But there has always been this eerie feeling ever since this has happened like everyone knew something was going on that we didn't.

I went into work today as usual and was working along and then suddenly 3 officers barge through the door telling us to stand up from our terminals and leave all county cell phones behind (they pay for our county cell phones) and to go out into the hall.  No one is telling us anything and we are just sitting there dumbfounded, dazed and confused, and not knowing why we are being removed or what they are looking for.

The next thing I know more officers are entering our office and a few other people in suits and then comes the guy that they outsourced to take over the one department and hands us all "termination of access" documents stating that we no longer were allowed to access the network, with a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo printed all over it that I do not understand.

Still no one could explain to us what was going on or why and we sat there for about what felt like an hour waiting for human resources to come to us and explain what was going on.  When she finally came, she sat us down and explained to us that as of right now all of us still had our jobs but that we were under investigation by the FBI/CJIS for something she couldn't really talk about other than there has been a "breach" and data on the network has been compromised and they are investigating whether it was internal or external and once they find out that we will move forward from there.

However this feels like a major conflict of interest because the guy that they hired for outsourced IT for that one department, they contracted him for a short period to become the county IT department while this investigation is under way and he is helping the investigation process and was the one that apparently "found" the breach somehow.  Does that not seem like a major conflict of interest?

As for myself, I am not worried what so ever (regarding what they are looking for) because I know that whatever they are looking for I did not do.  I have never done anything or would never do anything to jeopardize my job or my family as far as their investigation goes.  HOWEVER I have downloaded and played games on my computer when I would come in early before work started or on my lunch hour after I would eat.  Which, I don't see that as much different as the old ladies that play solitaire on their computers in between working, 99% of the time i would go work on a computer they had solitaire open in the background in the middle of the game or browsing facebook.  The only thing I am worried about is that I had a few torrents downloaded on my work computer and the FBI/CJIS is coming to investiagte this.

I am not worried that whatever they are looking for will be related or linked to me, because I would never do anything like that and never have, but what are the legal ramifications if the FBI finds torrents on my computer, will they put me in prison?

My head is so overwhelmed with emotions right now that I can't even think straight.  My job is everything to me, this job was the biggest blessing in the world to me and if I lost it, it's my way of life for my family and kids.  There are no jobs around where we live that pay anything nearly as close to what this job pays, they also said that even after we do get "cleared" they aren't sure what that means for us as far as letting us keeping our jobs or just letting us go.  They also said this investigation could take up to two weeks if not more.  I am desperate for advice...

Answer:
 >Which, I don't see that as much different as the old ladies that play solitaire on their computers in between working

Solitaire is on their computers, what you did is definitely not.Answer #2: All you can really do at this point is wait it out and see how things shake out.  They're investigating some sort of breach, and the fact that they removed you all from the premises means that they have cause to believe that it originated in the IT department.

Whether that comes back on you or not depends entirely on the nature of the breach.  Maybe the network administrator went rogue (or is grossly incompetent), in which case you're probably in the clear.  On the other hand, if a torrent you downloaded contained a trojan horse that compromised the integrity of the network, you're probably looking at termination as a best-case scenario.

At the very least, the torrents on your computer are almost certainly a violation of your organization's AUP and should result in some sort of reprimand.Answer #3: Op, just a word of caution.  I'm sure you're aware that some downloads contain viruses that would allow your network to become compromised.  I'm not saying it's likely, but you may want to research lawyers in the area.  If they can't find the source , the person who downloaded unauthorized stuff onto the system is a good person to blame. Answer #4: It might be that the external IT guy is infact FBI himself, brought there to do work without alarming anyone, could that be possible?


Title: You must NOT dry your clothes EVER

Question:
I'm sorry if this is the wrong subreddit for this, I have been trying to decide where is most appropriate to post so please let me know if it should be elsewhere!

I have just received a tenancy agreement for a new house, and as far as I can tell the wording forbids you from hanging out clothes to dry... Anywhere.

This isn't a request for any legal/contract advice and I can see what they are trying to say whether the wording is quite right or not. What I, a petty individual who thinks they have a decent grasp of the English language would like to know is... Purely for the sake of argument, am I right?

"Not to hang any washing, clothes or other articles outside the Premises or otherwise than in such place as the Landlord may designate or permit and not to hang or place wet or damp articles of washing upon any item or room heater."

Answer: It says anywhere outside you can’t hang them unless the landlord designates a spot, and not on a heater or “item” like furniture inside. But if you want to hang them in like a laundry room or bathroom I don’t see where it says you can’t.


Title: [IL] School took back financial aid after semester was over.

Question:
What happened was for the school year of Fall 2014. I received govt. financial aid but I guess my account was audited to verify information. I did nor do have access to my parents financial documents and thus cannot provide their documents.

My Fall 2014 semester was fully paid for and I am enrolled as a full time student for Spring 2015. However I wanted to transfer out of the college but I cannot send my transcript to the other schools because they put a hold on my account. The hold is basically a charge, for the value of my financial aid, that was put back on the Fall 2014 balance (Note: this was charged a couple weeks into the 2nd semester). Now I have that hold.

I personally do not qualify for any loans and my parents do not have credit scores that would be of any help. Other than that, the rest of my relatives are overseas and wouldn't be of much help with this. I am concerned because the reason I am transferring schools is to go to a cheaper school and this ironic event occurs.

I am contemplating to just drop out, find an job and pay the balance off. I have explored the waters of bankruptcy but I don't think the dollar amount would be worth it.

My main questions is: could they charge me for a semester that has already passed?

Thanks!

Answer:
 >could they charge me for a semester that has already passed?

They charged you when you registered. You paid with financial aid and then lost that aid. You need to pay for the classes/education you received.


Title: [Washington State] Auto mechanic totaled our car but still wants us to pay for repairs

Question:
We took my wife's 2005 toyota to a transmission shop to get a new transmission put in.  We knew it was going to be about $3000 worth of parts and labor.  My wife dropped off the car and they performed the work.  The shop manager's son then took out the car for a final test drive when he rear-ended a honda CRV, smashing the front end of our Toyota and totalling it.  We found out about the collision when we got a message from our insurance (USAA) about a claim on our policy.
We took it kinda slow in figuring out how to deal with this as it's not a straight-forward situation.  We were not in possession of our vehicle  when it was involved in the collision.  The shop's son was definitely at fault as he was on his phone when he rear-ended the other vehicle.  Our insurance tried to tow the vehicle to a body shop to get an estimate but the shop wouldn't release the vehicle because the transmission repairs were still unpaid.  In working with our insurance we were offered a non-salvage amount.  But our insurance is still saying that we need to pay for the new transmission because it happened before the loss.  They can't give us the settlement because the autoshop is still claiming possession of the vehicle.  This whole thing doesn't seem right.  It seems like the claim should be on the shop's insurance, not ours, and that we definitely don't owe anything for the repair since they destroyed our vehicle while in their possession.

The car was old and had lots of miles on it, so we're not trying to get a lot of money for it.  But it doesn't seem like we should have to pay for the repair.  The repair was verified by a USAA adjuster.  It was indeed performed before the collision.  But that seems like it should be irrelevant.

Any thoughts?

Answer:
 /u/bromesis, IANAL, but you're getting some pretty bad advice here.

You didn't pay (or didn't just pay) the mechanic for a new transmission. You paid the mechanic to complete his end of the contract.

The contract was that (1) you give him the car, (2) he put in a new transmission, and--and this is the crucial part that many people are overlooking--(3) he return the car to you with that new transmission.

His end of the contract isn't complete until he does (1) through (3). Because he engaged in *illegal conduct* with your car, not only did he fail to complete his end of the bargain, but he also severally damaged your car.

So, no, you shouldn't owe for the transmission. You might owe for the labor, but I can't imagine a judge in a million years thinking that the mechanic is owed for the labor whereby their illegal conduct destroyed your car. The shop, simply put, has unclean hands here.

TL;DR: Contact your insurance and see what the shop says. If the shop tries to charge you anything, speak to a business attorney before doing anything.


Title: [CA] I secretly recorded my boyfriend hitting me, but I recorded it without his consent. Can I ever turn him in or am I out of luck?

Question: I have tons of videos of him screaming at me and hitting me. You cant see him actually hitting me in the video, but you can hear the slaps/hits, and me showing all the redness on my leg afterwords. I also have pictures of tiny bruises on my face, my bloody nose, the cut under my eye, the swelling on my upper lip from another incident. I also have other bruises that he’s given me on my shoulder etc from other times he’s punched me. If I were ever to turn him into the police someday, would these even be useful? I’m not sure what the law says is okay or not okay. We live in California

Answer:
 You don't need any of the videos to make a report.  You should make that report.

California has the strongest all-party consent law in the USA: an illegal recording can't be used as evidence at all in any proceeding - except for charging you with making an illegal recording.  In other all-party states the recording could be used but you could also be charged with making it.

As is, California offers an exception to the two-party rule for recordings reasonably believed to be evidence of:

> the crime of extortion, kidnapping, bribery, any felony involving violence against the person, including, but not limited to, human trafficking, as defined in Section 236.1 , or a violation of Section 653m , or domestic violence as defined in Section 13700 .

So, you are quite likely in the clear for these recordings.Answer #2: You don't need the video at all. Call the police right now.

Why are you waiting for "someday"?Answer #3: And why is he still your boyfriend?  Never ok.

Step 1) un-boyfriend.  Forever.

Step 2) call police, report.   They’ll tell you if they want the videos, and can use video.

Your ‘can use in the future’ makes it sound like you want future ammunition.  You don’t need anything for the future.  Do step 1, and then Step 2....nothing needed in the future at all.Answer #4:  [https://www.cpedv.org/domestic-violence-organizations-california](https://www.cpedv.org/domestic-violence-organizations-california)

Please seek help so you can prepare to leave.


Title: [TX/VA] I (16) want to move back with my mom (TX) because I hate living with my dad (VA)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If you do not return to your father, he COULD file a motion against your mother, and have her held in contempt of court.

The proper way for your mother to handle this would be to petition the courts for a change in custody.  If granted, THAT order would have the same force of law.  And your dad can be held in contempt if he does not honor it.

At your age, your wishes are likely to be taken into consideration, even if your father contests the change.

Running away is NOT a good solution.  If anything, it will give your father cause to contest a motion for change in custody by claiming that your mother is being neglectful during her residential time, and is unable to control your behavior.


Title: [NYC] Company didn't give me a CoLA for transferring to NY but gave a coworker one. Is this illegal?

Question:
I've been working as an hourly IT professional for a retail company for about 8 years. Originally I lived and worked in NJ. I was asked to transfer to NYC about two years ago and accepted, no promotion or raise was given. When I asked if I should receive a Cost of Living Adjustment, I was told that because I was not moving my household location to another state (I was still living in NJ) I was not eligible for one.

I did eventually move to Brooklyn earlier this year. No CoLA was given but I did not think to pursue one due to a lot of stress in my personal life at the time.

The day after Xmas, I was covering for another building in NYC and saw a coworker who I used to work with in NJ. She told me she transferred to the store and was still living in NJ. She mentioned that she received a Cost of Living Adjustment for transferring even though she still lives in NJ.

Were any laws broken here? If so, am I eligible for back pay based on the CoLA I should have received? Or are companies legally allowed to give some employees CoLA but not others since (I assume) this is their policy and they make the rules, and (I assume) there's no real laws against this?

Much appreciated for any advice.

Answer: Hey, my unqualified advice is yes they can. As a professional you have to negotiate things like this. Maybe your colleague said no unless they paid it. Much the same as companies discourage employees discussing salary with each other as people may be paid drastically different amounts for the same roles.


Title: Roommate may secretly still have my check that she "lost", and demanding a new one.

Question:
Michigan - My roommate put the utilities under her name, and every month I would pay half of the share. She recently lost one of my checks for $58, but I strongly believe she is secretly holding on to it somewhere, and waiting to cash it. She is demanding a new check, which I normally wouldn't have a problem giving, but I do not trust her as she has proven to me in the past that she's money-hungry (purposely doing the math wrong on what I owe for utilities). I checked with my bank, and it turns out my checks do not void, and it costs $30 to issue a stop payment which is only valid for 6 months (knowing her, she would cash the old check the day after the stop payment expires).

I no longer live with her, and mailed the very last utility check to her yesterday with my sister's address, as I do not want her to know where I am located.

She is threatening to sue me if I don't give her a new check. From my perspective, it's her mistake. If I had given her an envelope of cash, and she lost the envelope, what is the logic behind giving her another envelope of cash? I would then be out DOUBLE!

Yes, I know I can always sue in the future if she were to double cash both old and new checks, but it's way too much of a hassle.

If she ends up taking me to court, I hate to admit that the judge would most likely rule in her favor, claiming "well just sue her back if she cashes the old one in the future".

There is no documentation stating I lived at the complex (we rented from my brother-in-law under a verbal agreement), no utilities were in my name, and we had no documentation stating I was obligated to pay half of utilities (it was just insinuated). Would there be any way I could play it off by saying something along the lines of, "idk who this person is, I have never lived with her, and she can't prove that I did"?

Lastly, let's say she does in fact have the original check - how is the judge able to determine whether or not she has the check? what can I do to prove that she is lying, and simply out for more money? I don't want to be sued for $58 by someone who may still have my old check, and she would get even more money returned to her with court costs. Not to mention that I have an almost perfect credit score which could be affected if I lose.

Answer:
 "I'll gladly cancel the previous check and issue you a new one if you cover the $30 cancellation fee the bank charges."

See where that gets you with her first.


Title: I just found out my company is telling our offshore contractors to register their birth year as 1999. Are they doing something illegal?

Question:
I work for a large organization. I just found out today that they are having all of the offshore IT contractors from India register their birthday as having the year of 1999. Are they doing something illegal? Are they bypassing some sort of law or restriction? It seems very odd that they would be asked to register their birthday as 1999. That means instead of their actual birthday, these new contractors are considered 15/16 years old. Is my company doing something illegal? This is highly suspicious to me. Basically, they're telling our offshore contractors to lie about their age.

EDIT: I found out why. Managers kept inputting the wrong year, so it bypasses an internal age verification when registering for certain access.

Answer:
 1999 would make them 17 or 18 depending on month/year. Not 15 or 16.

That said, "register" it where? With the US government, with the company, with some internal system?


Title: [CA] Is my ex-tenant extorting me in an effort to drop my case?

Question:
California.

I have two ex-tenants who I just recently filed against in small claims for unpaid rent / utilities. They know each other, and know I am suing both of them.

I have a very strong case against both of them (they had leases, they broke the lease by moving out early, I mitigated my damages). Both the cases are separate and unrelated.

After being served, one of the ex-tenants contacted me via email and essentially said "Are you sure you don't want to take my offer? I will contact [the other party] and I will testify against you" - his offer to me was if I dismiss the small claims action he will sign a NDA and not testify against me. The way he is talking about it, he will lie to the court in his testimony.

My question is, does his attempt to make me dismiss my case against him by threat of testifying against me constitute extortion, or raise to any level of criminality?

Answer:
 That's (likely) not extortion in the legal sense. It's not even a very credible legal threat - unless one of your tenants knows something material that would damage your case against the other, there's no reason either of you should be calling them to testify, and plenty of reason that their testimony might not be allowed.

It might be worth talking to an attorney for trial strategy, but in small claims things are relatively informal. If you catch him lying to the court, you will be given a chance to question him and can use that to show that his testimony is not credible. Small claims judges are generally pretty familiar with motivated lying, and can often smell bullshit a mile away. Keep a copy of that email, though, just in case.

You don't have any standing to bring perjury charges against your former tenants - that's at the court's and a prosecutor's discretion - but if your case is as solid as you believe it to be, it's likely that one lying witness won't matter.Answer #2: Save the email and present it in court. Not a whole lot you can do beyond that.

You can contact the DA in your jurisdiction about this, but they'll probably tell you it's just a civil matter.


Title: Was i legally sexually abused or molested ?

Question:
I'm writing this from my phone, so please bare with me.

Between the ages of 9 and 16 I had some interesting encounters with my step father who is much older than me. There was about a dozen incidents, however I'm just going to list the ones the stand out the most.

Age 9: he called me downstairs when we were home alone, and asked me if i wanted to watch a movie. In ignorance, i complied. The movie was absolutely not appropriate for a 9 year old, here is its contents taken off of IMDB http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0215129/parentalguide?ref_=m_tt_stry_pg

Age 9: I was home sick, alone again. I had a fever, so I was watching tv on the recliner, in a long Tshirt and my underwear. He walked in the house, home early from work. When he saw me sitting there, he walked over to me and "grabbed" my labia through my panties with his thumb and index finger. He made a "popping" noise with his mouth when he did it. I don't know if this was a bad attempt at being funny, but I remember that I was extremely uncomfortable when it happened.

Age 11: I got into an argument with my mother. He attempted to restrain me by grabbing me from behind, arms crossed with one hand on each of my breasts. He held them there for what seemed to be way too long, especially considering that I wasn't physicality out of control or anything. I also wasn't wearing a bra under my shirt at the time.

Age 11-14: whenever I would bend over in jeans, he would insert his finger into my butt crack.

Age 9-13: on more than one occasions I would take baths and forget to lock the door, he would walk in "accidentally" and instead of turning around and waking away, he would just stand and stare. He has done this to my younger sister as well.

Age 16: he was drinking at a family party, and groped my breasts in an attempt to be "funny".

Was I molested or sexually abused? I live in Massachusettes, I don't know what the law says about sexual abuse here.

Answer: I'm going to go out on a limb here and say making anybody watch a Tom Green movie is a form of abuse.


Title: (Washington DC, USA) personal information regarding my university grades and academic standing were shared with another student.

Question:
**TLDR**: a fellow student and former friend got overzealous over positions in a club we were both in and asked his friend who was a part time student worker in admissions to look up my grades and academic standing. I filed a complaint with the school and they've been pretty glacial in their investigation and haven't responded to any emails in the past 3 weeks.

**questions:** What would I get out of filing a disclosure violation complaint with the department of education (discussed at the bottom of the page [here](http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html) ). should I seek legal help first?

**Full story of what happened:**

My sophomore year (april 2013)  a friend of mine, let's call him Robb, had a position in a club that we were both in and was appointing his successor. It had been assumed and he had even stated to me all year that I would be appointed because I was the most qualified. Towards the end of the year though Robb started to have misgivings.

 I had spent most of the year dealing with mental health problems and Robb thought that meant that I couldn't handle the position. In order to justify this Robb asked his friend, who I'm calling Jacob, to use his position as a student worker in the admissions department to look up my grades and academic standing and share it with him. Despite doing well my freshman year, I was doing poorly in some courses and planned to Withdraw from classes for medical reasons (and get a retroactive withdrawal for my classes from the previous semester, nulling out those grades)  and then take the summer to recover. I hadn't shared this information with a single person other than my parents.

When I confronted Robb about why I didn't get the position, he said he thought I couldn't handle it. I got worked up and asked what he knew about it and kept pressing him on the issue until he said "well aren't you on academic probation." I got really upset and left at that point. Honestly, I thought I was going a little insane because I didn't understand how he could have known. that, ultimately sent me on a depressive spiral that still effects me.

After summer had ended, I decided to take time away from school and accepted a full time, salaried job in, ironically, the same field that the club position was for. This spring semester (starting January 2015) was my first semester back at the university. It was around this time that I found out through several of Robb's and my mutual friends that Jacob had accessed and shared my grades with Robb.

I submitted a complaint to the university around January/February, and while they were seemingly helpful at first, the investigation has been slow and I haven't gotten a response to my emails in 3 weeks.

I'm mostly just trying to figure out my options really?

Answer:
 > I'm mostly just trying to figure out my options really?

Your only remaining option is to file a complaint for improper disclosure under FERPA.  There is no private right of action here - in other words, you can't sue the school.  Only the Department of Education can take action.Answer #2: Not legal advice, just life advice. Let it go dude. Move on with your life, and cut out anyone you deem toxic. It will overall be a lot better for your mental health not to dwell on the past.


Title: Nurse withholding prescribed medication because of Vape

Question: One of my loved ones broke his back, leg, and foot in a motorcycle accident. He has had friends sneak in vapes and here starts the controversy. He’s hooked and has an adverse reaction to the patch. Other hospitals allow vaping. A nurse withheld his pain medication unless he gave her his vape. My parents spoke to the nurse manager and she doesn’t really care about him vamping as she stated “we have patients shooting Coke in their IV’s about three times a week” (inner city). Compared to that, the vape is small potato’s. Still, some nurse under her are apparently robocop. Can the nurse legally withhold pain medication to a person with 4 broken bones because of a 3 inch vape?   He is WRONG, I just feel that’s a little harsh.

Answer:
 The nurse has a responsibility not to administer medication that might be contraindicated for something the patient is taking.  If the vape contains some kind of CNS suppressant, for example, it could be dangerous to give the patient benzos (valium, etc.) or opiates.

There are medications that would be dangerous if given to someone with nicotine in their system.

That's not to say that this was a genuine risk under the circumstances, but the nurse is going to have "cover" for her actions.   A nurse also needs to be careful believing things that a patient tells her about what other medications the patient might be taking.  People routinely withhold information about meds -- even legal ones.Answer #2: I take it he handed over the vape his friends snuck in? And he got his pain medication?


Title: Hypothetical: Is it legal for businesses to charge people to park in their lots for sporting events, concerts, etc.?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >Is this legal?

Absent a law or ordinance banning the practice, private property owners are free to charge for parking.

>Do they have to have a permit for this, or is an outside company typically hired to direct traffic into those areas?

That would entirely depend on the local jurisdiction and how the property owner wants to handle it.


Title: The universal age for porn on the internet is 18 despite local age of consent, could two 13 year old Mexicans (as an example) still exchange nudes offline and be legal?

Question: It seems like the obvious answer is no but at the same time I can't help but wonder.

Answer:
 It would come down to how Mexico legislates child porn, but I strongly suspect it would be illegal.

There is no universal age for legal pornographic recording. Websites use American norms because many sites operate out of the US, that’s all.


Title: [SC,USA] Fired waitress for theft, have proof, still demanding a check

Question:
This waitress has been stealing from the register since at least June, taking well over $300 from us, in such a way I wouldn't notice unless I was looking at my shift activity through the computer. The day prior to her firing alone, she stole over $40. We let her go and told her we weren't going to involve the police, just that she wasn't going to work here any longer. No bad language or violence. Her last paycheck would have been roughly $10-15 because she had asked to borrow some before pay day, taking into account the $40 she stole that day. Do I still need to write her a check or can I continue ignoring her demands?

P.s. I also have video proof of this waitress stealing from a coworkers purse
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 > Do I still need to right her a check

Write.

You owe her for the time she worked, regardless of why she was fired.  You'd be smart to write her the check and then try to recover, if applicable, later.Answer #2: Write her the check. You owe her the wages she earned.  If you want to pursue what she stole, you can file suit.Answer #3: You can't self help yourself to her pay check like that, absolutely not.

> in such a way I wouldn't notice unless I was looking at my shift activity through the computer.

Then maybe you should be doing your job better so this doesn't happen. Theft is theft but when employers don't use tools at their disposal to catch it, it's hard to feel sorry for them. Answer #4: 1. Cut her a check (it's friggin' $15 and she did earn it)
2. Report theft to PD, show them video
3. Sue her in small claims for the amount stolen (or as much of it as you can document). Answer #5: Write the check, give the video to the police.


Title: Landlord raised our rent, but not the rent of our neighbors next door in identical apartments. Is this legal? San Diego, CA

Question:
I live in a multi-unit complex and our new property manager is a total dick. All of the units are identical in size and configuration with the only difference is some having new countertops and flooring. Ours is actually the only one that hasn't been upgraded in any way.

Our landlord has raised the rent on about 75% of us but left the rest alone. This means that some of us are being hit with a rent increase up to $700 more than our neighbors. We've experienced multiple rent increases over the last year but 1/4 of the units have faced no rent increase despite all of us being long term renters and have gone from a lease to month to month tenancy.

I should note that our new property manager is pretty tyrannical and on a power trip. The people that aren't having their rent raised are the people that either put up with the insane tyranny or are all attractive women. Everybody else got hit with the increases.  I know we have virtually no rent control laws here, but is there anything illegal about these rent increases under some discrimination or retaliation laws/statues?

Answer:
 What your landlord is doing is legal.  So long as he isn't discriminating against a protected class, your landlord can charge whatever he wants for the units.  He could lower everyone's rent by $100 and raise your rent by $5000 and there is nothing wrong with that.

Where you may find some relief is in the notice requirements.  For month-to-month tenants, a landlord must give 30 days notice for rent increases of 10% or less.  For rent increases in excess of 10%, the landlord must give you 60 days notice before he can charge the higher rent.  This California Tenant Guide does a good job of explaining how to calculate rent increases and notice requirements: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf

If your landlord continues to do these things, you should probably start looking for a new place.  You can't fix crazy.


Title: [Texas Employment law] I have the responsibilities of and am evaluated as a manager, but I get paid as an assistant manager.

Question:
My actual title is assistant manager. I get paid as an assistant manager. My employer introduces me as the manager of my location. I am evaluated as a manager. I have all of the responsibilities of a manager. There is no other manager at my location. Nor is there another assistant manager. I am in charge. I manage the staff. If anything goes wrong, I am held responsible because I am seen as the manager.

Is it legal for my company to compensate me as the assistant manager in Texas law?

Answer:
 >Is it legal for my company to compensate me as the assistant manager in Texas law?

Yes.

If you want to get paid more, you can ask and your employer can refuse. You can refuse to work at the current rate, and demand a higher salary.

Your legal option here is to ask for more money.


Title: Sexual assault by client

Question:
Bear with me ...reddit illiterate.
 I'm currently working as a support worker in a home with 4 clients, and I am alone with said clients the majority of the day. One of my clients is a man who is rather handsy with female staff. Upon meeting him I was informed I would have no issue, as he understood that no means no. It indicates on his client file that he should not be alone with female staff, however this is obviously being overlooked.
 I have been working there for a few weeks, and have found him to be very handsy and have had no luck in redirecting. I am fully trained to work in my field and feel confident that I'm using the proper techniques to avoid this. As he hasnt been responding to them, I've made it a point to not allow myself in close proximity to him.
  Moving forward to today...
By hour 3 of my shift I had been groped several times by him. He has taken to ask for assistance with something, and when my hands are occupied with the task he will grab my breasts. After being groped several times he attempted to corner me in my office area ( all while I was directing him out) presumably to grope. As his behavior has really escalated, I contacted my supervisor as well as other upper management, and my union.
 I do plan to take tomorrow off, and also intend to acquire a doctors note for it if possible. I was given the remainder of today off.
Is there anything else I should be doing to ensure I dont lose my job over this ? Am I all good ?

Answer:
 Reporting this to your union and your employer was the right thing to do here. You should not lose your job over this, and if the employer makes noises in that direction, go straight to the union. Your employer has a duty to keep you safe at work, and that includes safe from sexual harassment and sexual assault. That is exactly what this client is doing. It may not be culpable on his part due to whatever his medical condition is, but its still not something you should tolerate.

&#x200B;


Title: [LA] What constitutes haboring a fugitive?

Question:
LA as in Louisiana.

A friend of mine, T, has been letting another friend, Z, stay with them. Z is on felony probation in another state, but they have been keeping up with their PO and court. Z was arrested for DUI last time they were in the state the probation was served in, and left to T's house after. Today T found out that there's now a warrant for Z's arrest.

Did T commit a crime by letting Z stay there? Will they be committing another crime if they allow Z to continue to stay? Or if they ask Z to leave but don't report them? T is willing to comply with the police but doesn't want anything to fall back on them; they signed bond papers for Z when they got another DUI in LA.

Answer:
 The key here is *knowledge* and *intent*. If T is intentionally keeping Z away from law enforcement, then it becomes an issue.

So, at this point, T can be charged if they allow Z to remain.


Title: Is child support worth it?

Question: Me (22) and my sons bio father (23) have a child together but he wants nothing to do with me or my son which is fine. I live in AZ. Since he wants nothing to do with my son, can i make him term his rights? He's not going to change his mind, and i doubt he will pay his CS or ever ask to see my son. So rn there is no court order as it pertains to custody, and i do not feel like there is a reason to pay for a lawyer to get the court order because nothing will change. He doesn't want my son he made it clear he wont be changing his mind as well.

Answer:
 You generally cannot terminate a father’s rights unless there is another party willing to take over (you get married and your spouse is willing to adopt, etc).

Get child support so you have money to support your child.Answer #2: You have nothing to lose by getting a child support order. In fact, if terminating his parental rights is something you want to pursue, it would probably be the smarter thing to do because you have to have a ground for TPR. One of those grounds can be failure to support. Having proof he's not paying child support would help. Having said that you're young and he's young. The court likely isn't going to want to terminate his parental rights unless someone is willing to step into his role. Right now he has plenty of time to change his mind. There's no point in having to raise the child without extra support from him. Answer #3: He has no legal obligation to be a father to his child, but he does have a legal obligation to pay for his upbringing. You can file for child support with the courts which will help to ensure that he pays what he owes. Seek a local family law attorney to help you with this. There are legal practices who work for low or no fees that may be able to help. Google <your city/county> and "legal aid" to find such a practice.


Title: Boyfriend caught for possession of marijuana again

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > He’s not a bad guy. we’re college kids everyone smokes a little weed when they’re in college.

Well, not everyone.

And if he's in college, I'd think he'd be smart enough not to keep in the goddamned car if he keeps catching criminal charges with it.

The courts are going to eventually get the (absolutely correct) idea that the slap on the wrist type fines are not getting through to him and are going to try something a little heavier to get his attention.


Title: What can I do to help my student and his son who are now homeless due to a restraining order?

Question:
I’m an adjunct professor, one of my former community college students is a single father who lost his job right before COVID, hasn’t been able to get a new job because of COVID but doesn’t qualify for unemployment, and has now been ejected from the room rental he was sharing with his son.

The girl he was renting the room from first tried to put his stuff out, but my student called the Sheriff who stopped that nonsense. The girl then tried to evict him legally, but there’s been a moratorium on evictions due to COVID. Tensions were brewing amongst the roommates in the house (even without quarantine stress) because he wasn’t able to pitch in for rent and bills. They start not only saying nasty stuff and catty comments to him, but to his 6y/o son. They were telling the son that his father is lazy and a moocher. The final straw was when the two girls ordered a pizza and went and taunted the kid with it, saying that he couldn’t have any.

The boy starts crying and my student looses his hat and goes and yells at the girls. Nothing threats or anything he says, just general “fuck you messing with my kid”.

The one girl whose parents own the house (where she’s technically his landlord) goes and files a domestic violence restraining order. Because apparently here being roommates counts under the Violence Against Women Act, she’s saying she feels threatened an unsafe. To be able to do this, she also had to go to the courthouse and file to press charges against him, which she did. All of it is clearly just her trying to get him out of the house.

Student and his son were kicked out of the house when the girl handed him the protection order, she said he had to leave or she would call the police. They are currently living in a Honda Civic. They can’t get into any shelters or even day centers to be able to shower because of the protection order against him. He is worried that he will end up losing custody of his son.

I’ve known this student for several years and at one point he and his son were staying on my couch (can’t currently take them in). I believe his account of what’s happened here. He’s a very average person, never super angry and never been accused of anything that I know of. He was always very respectful and was well liked amongst the department. There’s no part of me that believes that he’s trying to somehow leverage his gender to scare and intimidate his female roommates. It really sucks that this is happening to him and I don’t know what can be done.

Location: Maryland
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Wait, in your post history a few months ago you said were a 23 female  a year ago you had no job and no apartment. Now your an adjunct professor that's know this student for several years AND the student staid at your apartment?


Title: Someone is threatening to sue me for messaging his assistant, asking her if the suer really has cancer and tourettes.

Question:
So this guy on a large group chat always talks about how much money he has and how he has cancer. He makes a lot of inappropriate comments about/towards women, and when he was called out for it, he blamed it on tourettes.

Many have met him in person and say that they're not really sure if he's ill and doesn't "tic", but of course nobody wants to accuse someone of faking illness, especially if he really is sick. I messaged his assistant two messages, asking if his claims were true. She did not reply, and I did not further message her or contact her.

He is now saying he will contact his attorney for me doing so. I have screenshots of him stating several times of his cancer, and once for tourettes, so I did not think I was sharing public information. I don't feel like I harassed her, either, as they were not aggressive messages.

Does he have any sort of legal case?

Answer: Lots of people threaten to sue but almost no one ever does. I don't see how he would have standing to sue over anything you have described. In the unlikely event you are actually served don't ignore it.


Title: [CA] My brother was detained and his car searched over a fix-it ticket.

Question:
Today my brother said he was in his car behind the building he works in, watching an air show during his break. A cop car pulled up behind him and two cops came up and made him get out of the car (I'm not sure if they even asked for license and registration first). They put him in handcuffs and put him in the back of the police car, then proceeded to search his car, throwing his belongings out onto the ground.

My brother, who has back problems, asked if they would let him stand up, but they made him stay in the car until they were finished. They told him that cars like my brother's are often reported stolen, which I guess is their excuse for searching his car, although a quick check of his license plate number would have told them that the car wasn't stolen, and it was registered in my brother's name, and that everything was up to date. They then gave my brother a fix it ticket; not for his taillights, but for that third light in the rear window. They released him after that. The first thing I said when I heard all this, was that my brother needed to go to a lawyer.

My question is, did the cops violate my brother's rights when they detained him the way they did and searched his car? I thought cops weren't supposed to actually search your car over a minor violation like a broken light. All of this sounds really wrong to me.

Answer: There is much more to this story than what's being told.


Title: Can I get out of my lease?

Question:
The place I'm currently renting is a shithole. Everything keeps breaking, and what's worse, the property was sold to a new owner who takes her sweet time doing repairs. I went the entire month on November without hot water. Now, I never re-signed a lease when she bought the house. I'm wondering if she can still hold me to the agreement if she isn't the original owner.

Phoenix, AZ

Answer:
 Have you reported to the city about not having hot water? You need to have documentation that the hot water was indeed not working. Documentation from the city or a plumber, or acknowledgement from the landlord. In most states, providing hot water in the night hours til morning is a mandatory duty of the landlord. If you have the proper proof the hot water was out for this length of time and the landlord acknowledged and failed to repair it, you have sufficient grounds to break the lease. This does not mean you won't have to defend yourself in a lawsuit for unpaid rent. Answer #2: > I'm wondering if she can still hold me to the agreement if she isn't the original owner.

You don't post where you're located, but in general leases follow sales of the property.  So your lease is likely still active.

You may have an ability to terminate for cause, but that's even more dependent on your location.


Title: Are pictures of my toddler protected? (Oregon)

Question:
My brother took a picture of my two-year-old and shared it to my mother's page last week. I was generally fine with that, but still worried since my mother has no personal or social boundaries. I commented on the post, requesting that she not use my son's photo on her website or in any of the books she publishes on Amazon (for profit). Her response was that as the child's grandmother, she would do whatever she wanted. In case it matters, her Facebook profile is set to public.

Yesterday she published a book on Amazon with my son's photo in it. The photo she used is one I texted her last month of me with my son. It's also posted on my private Facebook page, but is not my profile picture or cover photo. She published my name but did not give my son's name or our location. She did give her address (Oregon) in the book, but my son and I are located in Texas.

Aside from the ethical and moral viewpoints, is there anything illegal about her actions?

I'd rather not officially involve a lawyer if I don't have to.
Topic:
Juvenile and Youth Law

Answer:
 If you took the photo, then you own the copyright to it.  You can get Amazon to remove it by sending them a DMCA request at https://www.amazon.com/report/infringementAnswer #2: Regarding the second edit: I think your best way to get what you want is to stop sending her photos and raise a stink with family members who send her photos you don't want on her work.

You could try to send dmca or c&d notices to her publishers or online market places (Amazon, Alibaba) she uses if the picture is visible in the listing but that's likely more trouble than it's worth and has its own issues you'd want to discuss with a lawyer (e.g. filling out the dmca form in a way that doesn't get you in trouble)

I'd also ask in r/relationships for advice on getting her to stop without resorting to legal enforcementAnswer #3: I think the best most pointed way to deal with this is simple.nail her ass to the wall with a copyright suit. You took the pic you own the rights to it.


Title: My friend's parents won't refund my flight money. [PA]

Question:
Hi /r/legaladvice:

For my senior trip, my friends and I were all planning on somewhere tropical. My friend's father bought the tickets for us to go, since he gets special advantages due to his company, and I ended up writing a check to him for XXX amount. Unfortunately, I eventually became very ill and had to undergo chemotherapy, effectively dashing my chances of going traveling.

I filed for a refund, and I wasn't going to contact my friend and her family about it unless it was successful. Many months later, I have gotten a response from the airline, saying they refunded the whole amount to X credit card, which I assumed was my friend's father's card. I contacted her mother about this, attaching the email from American Airlines, and she took a few days to respond, but eventually did respond saying that her husband did not get a refund, but that we were equal because I paid her with a check. She did not, however, say that the credit card number was not her husband's, which was a question I explicitly asked her

I am unsure if she and her husband truly did not receive a refund, or if they had and just don't want to give us back the money. The money was supposedly refunded July 29th, and I heard about it on August 29th, so there should have been enough time for it to process.

I am unsure what I should do next. Should I contact the airlines and ask for more proof of refund? How can I negotiate this matter tactfully. I never would have assumed that their family would want to rip us off like this, considering this is one of my best friends and they are well-off. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not sure what I can do from my end to try to help this matter.

Any advice is appreciated

TL;DR Friend's parents may be keeping my refund money, which was refunded to their account
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 > eventually did respond saying that her husband did not get a refund, but that we were equal because I paid her with a check

So you wrote them a check for the tickets and they cashed it? You can usually get your bank to provide you with a copy/scan of the cashed check. (If I log in to my account online, I can see a scan of every cashed check.)

Email the parents a copy of the cashed check and ask for clarification on what she means by "being equal."


Title: Virginity test in France

Question:
Hi im currently preparing case study for debate (translation)
"Virginity tests should be banned in France"
 (for reference im Polish law student, not familiar with French language, debate organizator \`s are not lawyers - so in my opinion they are not fully seeing law language differences in banning/ punishing some some behaviors).
In my basic research:

\- requiring (as future husband) virginity's test from future wife stands against article 225-1 of French Penal Code.
\- but it\`s not PUNISHABLE offence to conduct a medical examination (virginity test) as doctor.
\- it\`s not PUNISHABLE offence to conduct virginity test by not-doctor, without consent of future wife.

It also in my opinion stands against personal rights and human rights (in that matter there is well-established by UN and WHO point of view), but im lacking jurisdiction reference for claiming
infringement of personal rights, on that stand in French Court.

Can some1 help mi with some useful references on that topic?

Answer:
 Given that there's no medical basis for diagnosing virginity (or its absence), I would look to existing malpractice rules rather than trying to specifically ban this practice with fresh legislation.

>  it`s not PUNISHABLE offence to conduct virginity test by not-doctor

Are you sure? Many countries prohibit unlicensed practice of medicine, including practicing pseudomedical activities that a patient would expect to be done by a doctor.


Title: Can a long-lost half-sibling make a claim to an inheritance?

Question:
Posting on behalf of a relative. The estate in question is in Oklahoma.

Last year, one of my relatives was approached by a person who claimed to be their half-sibling through my relative's father. This person has DNA evidence and other evidence to support the claim, all of which points towards legitimacy. The sibling didn't want any money or anything, just to inform my relative and double check medical records for any red flags. Contact information was exchanged and the sibling went on their way. My relative did not inform their parent about their illegitimate child, seeking to protect them emotionally. My relative did discuss the issue with their closest sibling.

The parents are quite old and they could pass away soon. At that time, could the long lost sibling come forth and make a claim on the estate? What are they entitled to? Assuming the half-sibling comes forward after the estate is settled, is my relative at any legal risk for withholding their knowledge? If it makes a difference, the estate would be less than $300,000 and there are 5 legitimate children.

Answer: The parent of the half-sibling in question can probably head off the problem by working with their lawyer to make sure their will is very clear about who should inherit. You don’t have to inform both your parents, but informing at least the one could save a lot of headaches later.Answer #2: A will would settle things, but if the person was unaware of one of their children existing at the time of writing the will, a lawyer might be able to dispute the will on that basis. Legally the simplest thing to do would be to tell the parent about their child and adjust their will accordingly. Whether that would be the simplest thing emotionally is a whole other matter.


Title: High school and the 4th amendment

Question:
Okay so according to the 4th amendment citizens should be safe from unreasonable searches and seizures. Lately the police at my school have been using their K-9s, or drug dogs, near the parking lots. These dogs aren't the exactly the best in the force, they've been known to "confuse" food for drugs. I am 17 and if these dogs ever indicated that there were illegal items within my car well, is there anything I can do to withhold the police/school security from going through my phone and car? What about when I turn 18?

Edit: Sorry for all the late replies I was having wifi issues. I'm a student in So. California if that matters.

Answer:
 On school grounds, routine searches of lockers and other things that wouldn't fly on private property are allowed.  To search an individual locker, instead of probable cause, they only need reasonable suspicion, for example.  Your 4th amd rights are reduced while on school property.

For a dog in the parking lot, if they're there to search every car, its probably legal. If a dog alerts on your car, that gives them probable cause to get a warrant to search your car.  Even if the alert turns out to have been wrong, any OTHER evidence of crimes they find in your car will be used against you (dead bodies, guns, whatever).

Your opportunity to challenge the validity of the dog sniff comes after you've been charged.  Your attorney could challenge the reliability of the dog, but it's still a rough road to go down.

On school property and on your own person, the only smart thing is to possess no evidence of any crimes.  No pot at school, no dead bodies, no guns or knives, etc.


Title: I am involved in a work-related lawsuit, but I moved state.

Question: [alabama] I was served papers over an issue with a customer, and was provided a lawyer by my employer. I went to a deposition almost 10 months ago, and had not heard anything. My employer told me they likely dropped the case, or paid her off maybe. I moved to another state this month to be closer to my family, and recently received a call from my lawyer saying I need to come to a court date to testify. What can I do? I am waiting to hear back from my lawyer. But my friend told me that my employer should pay for any travel expenses I need.

Answer:
 If your lawyer thinks you have an ability to quash the subpoena, you can try to quash it.

If not, get yourself a nice suit, brush up on your testimony, and make some hotel reservations.