Title: (CA) Being accused of stealing ~$1000 from a register over a couple of days by asset protection at the store I work at.

Question:
I work at a big name clothing store in California, and tonight I was accused of stealing about ~$1,000 in cash. I have never stolen anything in my life, and I know I am 100% innocent. They claim because there are shortages when I am closing, that is the reason why they suspect of me stealing the cash. Let me explain how closing works at the place I work at. We open the cash drawer and first count the amount of each of currency. First beginning with the coins and then moving on to the paper money. Once all the money is counted, the next screen tells me how much to take out to put in the cash wallet based off the amount I counted because after every closing there should only be about $300 in the register. I place the money in the cash wallet and seal it and take it upstairs to the deposit box.

 I was called into the the AP office tonight and was in a room with the AP supervisor of this store and another private investigator I usually see around the store. The supervisor said that about 2 weeks ago on 4-5 separate days there was money missing from the cash wallets when I closed the registers. She said when the bank received the cash wallets the bank said it was short from the amount that the computer told me to put in it.  And on one day there was about $500 missing. She lectured me that she understands why someone would steal money from the register and gave me some examples of her previous experience with this type of theft.
She told me if I tell her now what happened to the money It would be easier and there would be less consequences. Of course I told her that I did not steal the money and that I can't admit guilt to something that I did not do. I also don't know what happened to the money, because I know every night I put the money in the little cash wallet and put it in the deposit box. She again was lecturing me and 2 more times told me if there is something I need to say I should say it now. She said I look suspicious on footage when I'm counting the money, like putting my hands on the $100 while counting the money. But the only reason I was touching the $100 bills was to check if there was any coin rolls I needed to include in my coin count, because usually the coin rolls are under the bills.

She was really pushing me to give her a confession of what happened with the money, but I didn't have an answer because I have no idea what happened. I don't know what possibly could have happened to the money. She said that this investigation will next be taken to the regional and district branches to be reviewed. She says that they will enhance the footage to see clearer what happened with the missing money. Now I am worried they will try to find any suspicious looking activity from me to say I stole the money when I did not. So the private investigator wrote up a document, basically saying that I had this conversation with them and that I agree with them taking this up to the regional and district branches to review. I signed this document, Was this the right thing to do? Should I be trying to consult with a lawyer, just in case they do claim something? And if so what keywords should I be using to find a lawyer that will help me for a low cost, because I'm only a college student. I also am thinking about calling out for the next couple of days of work because I'm so stressed about this situation. Also can I sue them for this false accusation?

Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 If you intend to keep this job, don't call out.

If you are innocent, then it's a good guess that they were pressuring you to confess because they have no idea what happened and are fishing for someone to admit to it.  If they had video of you stealing cash, they would have shown it to you to force a confession or there would have been police there to arrest you.

It might be a good idea to look for a new job.  Even if they can't prove theft, they can still fire you and it probably won't be very pleasant to work there anymore.


Title: DNA came back with a hit. HOW?

Question:
I have gotten in to some legal issue in the last 2 yrs due to family problems and with that came felonies.  Thes are my first felonies at the age of 39. Mostly driving problems are on my record. Few weeks ago police called me from the metro area and said "I been looking for you for a long time and just recently got your number. Can u come down and talk to us about something?" I said no and if u have been looking for me a long with no number, why didnt u knock on my door. Well he didnt laugh. He offered to meet somewhere I said sure my house. He didnt wanna drive that far but I wasnt going anywhere for him. Welll him and a partner came up and recorded the conversation. They said the BCA got a hit on a case that happened about 10yrs ago where a rape kit was done. The DNA hit came back to me. The lady's name I have never known and i havent been in that area for for over 15yrs. They had a warrant for a sample of my DNA and did so Now my brother has done things that are close if not worse and lives in that area.

Not sure of the situation I am in with no money no lawyer and no family. But like I said. Never have I done anything that would put me here as my brother did 25 yrs ago. I have always feared of being falsely accused of this as the worry of has made me caution of my sexual partners and types of acts to engage in....

Do not know her and was not even near the area around that time and wasnt drugged or drunk..
Are there mix ups at the BCA?
Could it be a better match to my brother with a hit from older  DNA test yrs ago?
What other then rape is a rape for?

Lost in space with alot more then just this situation......

Answer:
 Oh bud, you needed a lawyer yesterday. Stop talking to them and call one now. Request a public defender if you need to. Figure the money out later, unless possibly going to jail for rape is a better outcome than figuring out how to pay the lawyer.Answer #2: Probably got a partial hit on the DNA, not enough to rely on as evidence but enough to hope that you will confess on record.

You have a right to remain silent. Exercise it, and no more interviews without a lawyer present.


Title: A friend of mine was the victim of check fraud scheme and is now in debt several thousand dollars.

Question:
EDIT:Califonia
A friend of mine recently shared their situation with me.
The situation is as follows:
•My friend was with drawing cash from an ATM and was approached by a stranger.
•The stranger gave a story about how their friend was suppose to cash a check for them but their friend never showed up
•The stranger convinced my friend to cash a $3000-4000 check.
•My friend then goes inside the bank, cashes the check, and hands the cash to the stranger.
•After a short period of time, which I believe was anywhere from 1-3 weeks, the checked bounced and my friend is has been -$3000-4000. I am using approximations because I don't recall exact amounts told to me by my friend.
•To my horror, my friend says they  have not contacted the bank at all.
•My friend is just really embarrassed and is afraid they'll get in trouble. This has ruined her life.
Is there anything she can do? This whole situation happened about a month ago. Will she get int trouble if she contacts the bank?

Answer:
 Here's something you left out of the story...

"Your friend" got cash from the stranger for cashing the check.  That means she benefited from the transaction.

So she's a victim, but she is also involved in the scheme.

She is probably responsible for the money.Answer #2: She won't get in trouble for contacting the bank. They may work with her on setting up some kind of payment plan.

She also may want to file a police report.


Title: Generally is there someone to report to if I know someone who's engaged in self-radicalization?

Question:
This is just something I saw on Reddit and it got me curious:

Let's say I know someone who's suddenly been viewing lots anti-US material and terrorist propaganda online and then preaching about it, generally what can I do?

From what I see it seems that unless he tries to join a terrorist cell or planning an attack, he isn't breaking any laws but it doesn't seem right to do nothing in such a scenario either, is this something the police will handle?

Answer: Call the FBI. They track those kinds of things.


Title: Taxed on a Tip - Price increased by 20% (Alberta Canada)

Question:
So I'm getting married in a few weeks and have been finalizing the final costs with the venue.  We placed out deposit last year ($3,000) and were required to pay the remaining outstanding balance on the event this week.  The cost was a minimum of $10,000 to be spent during the event (this is the food, drinks, venue rental cost and everything else).  When we showed up we were informed the price had gone up to a minimum of $12,000 that needed to be spent.  So essentially they waited until 4 weeks prior to the wedding to tell us we need to spend an additional $2,000.  Their reasoning, costs had gone up (20% inflation?  I don't think so).  Needless to say we weren't impressed because we feel they waited until there was no option but to agree to the final price increase or cancel the wedding and loose our deposit.

This next part really ticks me off.  So we were aware that we needed to pay the gratuity / tip on the final costs.  This came to around $3,000.  We were however shocked to see they are charging us 5% GST (goods and services tax) on the tip as well.  When asked why they said its because its not considered a "Tip or gratuity".  Its listed on the invoice as a "Service Fee" and as such its taxable.

Are they legally able to jack up the price by 20% and then change the name of the tip to a service fee and tax it?

The tip tax issue has me thinking they don't give this to there servers.  Establishments don't charge tax on a tip you leave because it goes to the serving staff who then pay taxes on it as an income.

Answer: Did you sign a contract with them that says your cost will be a minimum of $10,000?


Title: (NM) A scammer accidentally gave me his credit card information. Can I post the blurred numbers online?

Question: So I make scam bait videos and upload them to youtube. I act like I'm falling for a scammers trap, then I confront them about how they're trying to scam me. Well today, a scammer had control of my PC. I don't know exactly what he was doing, but he moved the window to the left of the screen and was inputting his credit card information. I was recording the screen at the time, so when he finished putting in the info, I moved the window back over to where my recording software could see it just to get a reaction out of the scammer. I plan to blur the numbers and upload the whole video to youtube. Could I get in trouble?

Answer:
 If you make scam bait videos and don't realize that a scammer is using your computer to make a transaction with a stolen credit card so that it does not get traced back to them, I would reconsider being in the Scammer Baiting business.Answer #2: Well, the chances are that it is not his credit card info but stolen data or a victim's credit card info. I would honestly cut that bit out just to be on the safe side. Usually scammers have multiple scams they are working on. I would assume that it's a victim's numbers.

I used to get bank accounts all the time. They weren't the scammers' bank accounts. They were someone who passed the bank account to a scammer at one point. It could have been from a romance scheme or another business scheme. Answer #3: Just a heads up, if you ever let a scammer get control of your PC it's best to be running a virtual machine so they can only screw up that instance.

Learned that from another baiter


Title: Another question re: Child Support and how BM's always win.

Question:
Hi Everyone,

Excuse me if my subject sounds bitter but I am. Please can someone help me make sense of the my situation and offer any advice on how to proceed.

My husband and I have been together 2 years with a 1 year old. He has a son from a previous relationship (never married) who is now 9 years old. We have him every weekend and holidays.

His mother, does not live with him. She lives with her bf and newborn. While her son lives with his grandparents during the week. We would like to have him but he lives 2 hours from us so my husband drives 2 hours every friday and sunday to pick up and drop off.

In December of 2017 she filed for more child support (they had always agreed to an amount outside of court). My husband submitted his showing his income, and time spend with his child. My son was not in daycare at the time because I was still working from home. Though we put the anticipated amount of daycare cost on the form (he was starting the month after and we knew the cost).

Long story short, my husband missed his court date because we never received the summons. We had moved, and by the time the summons was sent, the USPS only forwards mail for 12 months ... it had just reached 15 months. The judge ruled that we need to pay 1k in child support each month.  But since my husband missed court, they did not take into account OUR sons day care cost which is $1400/mo. (court docs verify that)

My husband makes 60k a year and has his first son 26&#37; of the time, we provide medical and dental insurance and pay for his sports registration/equipment.  He still has student loans he pays, plus we have our two car loans. We are living paycheck to paycheck as most people are in the Bay Area due to rising housing costs.

My husband is now looking for a new job so he does not have to commute to work each day which totals $3000/yr on the local train. He is being offered a job that he will take 2k less in but save in commute.

She just had her baby and quit her job so she has zero income right now and is being supported by her bf solely.

We spoke to a case worker and they said since our son's daycare cost was not included, to file for another court date and fill out the same paperwork we did in December.

My question is, is it best to wait until my husband has his new job \- to show that he is making less. To wait until she has a job so that way we do not have to pay for her having 0 income? or to just file now seeing as my son's daycare was not included?

In order to make ends meet right now, my work has agreed to let me work from home two days a week so that way my son can be in part\-time daycare but I bring in a full\-time paycheck. (this is temporary for 6 months)  and my husband has picked up temporary side job to help pay for the additional child support.

Please let me know what you think, support, advice...anything I'll take it. I'm desperate and scared of how this is affecting all of our lives.

Thank you.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 You had 15 months to change your address with the court. This has nothing to do with "Mom always winning" and everything to do with your husband's failure to appear.

It is up to you when you want to go back. Do you want to take time off work to go to court now and later?


Title: [TX] Father signed a contract stating that he would let me know about any changes to his will. He died and now his will is different.

Question:
Hi, this story takes place in Texas.

My father died this year. Before he passed, he had mental issues for many years, and often became disoriented and confused. My cousin (my fathers nephew) was his full time caretaker. In 2010 we signed a contract stating that I was the his sole inheritor in his will, and that he would notify me if he made any changes in his will. My mother died many years ago, and I am his only child.

When he died, his will came out, but it stimulates that 50% of his wealth is to go to my cousin. I was never notified of any change to his will, so the contract we had was obviously disregarded. I am wondering what the best course of action is for me from a legal stand point? I drafted the contract, so I wonder if that has repercussions legally?

Answer: Would OP's contract with dad even count as a binding contract?  There's no real trade going on.


Title: Lease break for medical reasons

Question:
Hello all. So I recently was diagnosed with bilateral avascular necrosis in both hips and my left knee. Unfortunately I live on a second story walk up apartment with no way to get up to my apartment. After my latest doctors visit, it has become apparent that I will not be able to negotiate stairs for at least the next year, more likely the next 18 months.

The dilemma is I just renewed my lease (I am in California) and I cannot find any solid information on if it is legal to break a lease for medical purposes in the state of California or not. I had surgery on June 29 and I have not been able to access my apartment since, which is very frustrating to me since I have to pay rent on a place I cannot even live in. Is there a medical clause that I can use to break my lease. Moving to a first floor apartment will not work due to the layout and the necessity of a wheelchair. The doors are too narrow for the chair and I would not be able to get the wheel chair into the bathrooms, much less get into the shower.

Answer:
 First thing, talk to the landlord to see if there is a handicap accessible unit available.  They may have one with a non-standard layout.

Second, if they don't have a unit available, ask to break your lease at no or reduced penalty due to your unique circumstances.  In CA, you would at most owe your landlord rent up until they re-rent the apartment.  They may agree to lower that amount or waive it entirely, so never hurts to ask.

Hope you get well.


Title: [META] Can we get some warnings?

Question:
**tl;dr** I think it would be nice if we could have a bot that PMed posters to try to notify them that posts may be archived and warn them about confessing to crimes, putting a lot of weight on reddit advice, etc.

**About anonymity, admissions, and archives**
>Please do not delete your post after you've received help. If you're worried about your identity, create a throwaway. We want to help as many people as possible, and that includes those who may stumble upon your post later.

"If you're worried about your identity, create a throwaway" does not cover it. Many people post here about very unique situations, sometimes involving criminal conduct, and confess to lots of shit with seemingly no idea what they're doing.

It seems like we need to do *something* to warn people that their posts can have serious consequences.

And now that we have /r/bestoflegaladvice and are regularly archiving posts, I think we really, really need to notify posters about that. Sure, it's the internet, they should know that anything they say may be saved. But many seem to not fully realize that.

**About the kind of advice they're getting**.

I feel like advice quality has gone down significantly, and upvotes and downvotes are not taking care of it—starry-eyed "i'll give advice based on what I think the law should be like" people are upvoted to the top while people trying to correct them are downvoted out of visibility.

Posters shouldn't take reddit as serious legal advice, yadayadayada, but I think we all know that many posters *do* take the advice seriously, and think it is mostly coming from lawyers. It seems irresponsible not to warn them about that.
>A place to ask simple legal questions. Advice here is for informational purposes only and should not be considered final or official advice. See a local attorney for the best answer to your questions.

>Please only use responses as guidelines to better prepare yourself for when you meet with a lawyer.

To me, this reads as more of a boilerplate disclaimer to protect lawyers and law students giving advice while at home chilling with a beer. The real situation is probably more along the lines of "seriously, the people giving you advice are mostly not lawyers and are all possible morons."

Maybe we could do an informal poll to see what percentage of advice-givers are actually in the legal profession/law students/etc.? It seems fairly low, and if that's right, giving posters that information could be really helpful.

**Please?**

The mistakes people keep making along these lines can obviously have really serious consequences. I know getting people to read sidebars is impossible. It seems like the best option would be if we could get a bot that would PM posters with a notification that whatever they say may be archived and advice about NOT ADMITTING TO SERIOUS CRIMES and taking advice with a grain of salt. Not sure if that's possible, but people read things that show up in their inbox.

Also unrelated but since I'm looking at it, I think people would be more likely to include their location if the red text on the submission page just said "INCLUDE YOUR LOCATION" instead of this big mass of text with all these words about flair.

Answer: Jesus Christ, enough of these meta posts. This isn't some nanny state. If people don't realize how the internet works, they aren't going to read even more sidebar crap.Answer #2: It would be a good idea to change the big red text on the post submission page to a form of the disclaimer on the side bar and the sub tagline should definitely be changed, but I don't agree that the quality of the responses has gone down so much as the probability that this sub has a lot of lurkers who are pissed off over whatever issue they were told to fuck off about (MRAs, sovereign citizens, DUI truthers, etc.) and are manipulating the voting for their own agendas. That can only be fixed by knowledgable regulars countering that with appropriate votes, but that's a limited response.


Title: (ON) Animal excrement fumes from squatting neighbour - landlord can't evict

Question:
Hello! Using throwaway for privacy reasons.
Our young family is renting a small bungalow, but a basement is rented out separately to a tenant that has several animals (cats and dogs). Those animals stay inside all the time, and pee/poo right on the floor, with nauseating fumes coming up through the vents and filling our living space. The basement tenant has many issues, and the landlord claims to have started the eviction process 6 months ago (which I know is very difficult in Ontario).  In the meantime, tenant has stopped paying rent since August, refuses to pick up calls or answer emails from our landlord, but apparently even with that you can't immediately evict anyone and it will take weeks/months still at best.

We tried calling animal control people, OSPCA, etc, but for the most part the tenant just refuses to speak to them or open the door - they claim that there is nothing they can do until there is danger to a human (i.e. if their dogs attack someone). Landlord claims to be doing all he can, but in the meantime we've been basically homeless and staying with friends and relatives for months.

Is there anything we can do to either help evict the tenant or get some sort of compensation from the landlord? The smell inside the home is nauseating, and while it's probably not life threatening, it's definitely extremely strong, constant and unpleasant. We do not want our kids breathing it in, and while during the summer open windows were a bit of a respite, cold weather made it too difficult to constantly ventilate the house and it smells terrible

Any help would be appreciated - thank you!!

Answer:
 It's entirely possible that the fastest thing _is_ for the landlord to continue the eviction process, in spite of the delays. The LTB is understaffed, and Ford's hiring freeze isn't helping matters any, but no other body is generally empowered to hear evictions. If you believe your landlord is lying about the evictions, you can file yourself for orders that your landlord address the problem - animal waste and similar issues can give you recourse - but it likely won't be much faster.

If you're effectively unable to reside in your own home, document extensively - return regularly to check the smell, and make note of the date and time each time - and talk to bylaw enforcement. You can also file with the Landlord and Tenant Board yourself, demanding compensation for the loss of use of your unit or an order that your landlord remedy the problem: your landlord's failure to act may mean they're violating their duties to you.


Title: Utility company wants us to pay for previous occupant. (TN, USA)

Question:
RESOLVED: PLEASE SEE LAST EDIT

My wife and I moved into an area where there is only option for our water service (we have a separate utility company for electricity). Our initial interactions with them have been unpleasant, mostly due to us being immediately disconnected whenever we tried to call, so we had to either rush in before they closed or take off of work to deal with them.

We just received our first bill from them on the 31st and were shocked that it was more than $200. It turns out that they are trying to charge us for not only the month we've had an account with them but also the previous 8 months, going back to March. This covers at least a couple months where the previous residents (renters) were in possession of the property before being evicted. The other months, the property still had water turned on for inspections, etc. presumably under the sellers' names.

We have been unable to contact the utility company since receiving the bill, so we plan to attempt clearing everything up with them tomorrow. Still, our own experiences and those we've heard of from others tell us that they will not be easy to deal with. We will not be paying someone else's debt.

What recourse might we have if they:

1. Refuse to tell us what the bill comes to for just this past month?
2. Refuse to credit the rest that they claim we owe them and/or continue to tack on late fees, etc.?
3. Turn off our water due to "nonpayment"?

EDIT: I should also add that I plan to try to figure everything out with them tomorrow in a polite way. I would just like to get a better idea of what to expect if they refuse to be reasonable.

RE-EDIT: We purchased the house from the previous owners, who had evicted their renters. We own the home.

Resolution: I called in to the company. They have fixed whatever issues they were having with their phones, so I was able to get someone on the line. After explaining that we had started service in early December but were being charged back to March, the rep agreed that it was an odd situation. She put me on hold for a few minutes, then came back and said that we owe just under $40. From what I can tell, this is the minimum monthly charge after taking sewer and taxes into account. It's also right around where the water/sewer portion of our old utility bills. Thanks to everyone who provided help: even though I did not have to resort to legal measures, knowing that the laws seemed to be on my side helped keep stress to a minimum until it could be resolved.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 I am a City Recorder in Tennessee responsible for utility billing in the municipality where I work.

In order to avoid a conflict of interest (you might be one of my customers!), can you generally tell me where you live? (West, Middle, East Tennessee)?

Also, do you purchase water from a municipality (City of XXX), a Water District (xxx County Water District), or a perhaps a private utility? This determines how your utility is regulated.Answer #2: You'll need to show them documentation of when you took possession of the property.  That should be enough.


Title: [Texas] I am being wrongfully charged with harrasment and need to know if this is good information to give my attorney

Question:
So a little background, ex and I split a while ago because she cheated on me, and I had to find out from the guy bragging to all my friends and even my younger brother about what he did with my girl. I confronted her and she confessed to it and left me for him. Of course I was devastated but being the foolish dumbass I am, I wanted to forgive her. We kept talking things out, and one day she just starts ignoring me. I tried getting in touch with her and a friend of mine told me that she had told him for me to keep trying.

She has already filed a police report that I was unaware of. So I believe this to be an intentional set up. The police officer who served the warrant told me that was irrelevant.

It fits with the other manipulative things she did to me while we were together, but I was so in love I didn't give a shit. Examples being comparing me to her ex (that none of her friends and family knew existed apparently) who would routinely beat her if I expressed discomfort with her going out drinking with single guy friends, one of whom was who she confessed to cheating on me with. She never filed charges on him because it wasn't worth the hassle in her words. Same with her step dad who supposedly raped her but again, no charges filed because she felt it wasn't worth it. I of course believe these to be evidence of a pattern of manipulative behavior. Is this relevant for my attorney to know?

Answer: Tell your attorney everything you know.  Let them determine if it's relevant.


Title: Pressing charges for rape....please help

Question: Okay so I am a 16 year old girl from Massachusetts. I was in abusive relationship for quite a long time. He is 19, (we were 15 and 18 in the beginning). I was quite depressed because of his treatment of me, had an eating disorder because of him and was addicted to benzodiazepines. I can remember 2 accounts where I was extremely high on these drugs, not able to move, while he would have sex with me while I was barely conscious and crying. Does this count as rape? In another instance I was begging him to bring me home cause we got into a fight, but he kept driving further from my house. When I told him to pull over so I could get out and walk home he held me down in the car. Is this abusive? I might sound dumb but I am very lost. I think where I went wrong was I told him multiple times over text I was going to go to the police. Is it illegal to threaten someone with this? I am so lost I could really use advice. Can i get in trouble too?

Answer:
 Yes, it's rape; yes, it's abuse. It is theoretically possible that you could get in trouble for illegal drug use, but generally police are more interested in violent crimes.Answer #2: If you were not yet 16 when you first had sex, even if you feel you consented, that is statutory rape in MA.

It’s also rape any time he raped you.

Please keep him blocked and get support from your parents or a local chapter of RAINN and report him to the police. They should treat you with dignity and respect when reporting and investigating his crimes.

Hang in there - you deserve help and support. Answer #3: Honey you did nothing wrong or illegal, I promise. You will not get in trouble.

If he did sexual things to you without your consent, that is rape. If he is holding you down and refusing to take you home, that is abuse.

You need to report this. Stop talking to him if you haven't already. Do not answer calls and do not answer any texts.

Talk to your parents. If you are uncomfortable telling them what happened, consider asking them to take you to your local police department so you can make a report yourself.

I know it's scary and confusing,  but you need to tell an adult.

You will not get in trouble for threatening someone and you will not get in trouble for taking those drugs.

He is the one who is going to get in trouble.


Title: Best case scenario for friend who got charged with fabricated evidence w/ intent to impair?

Question: I'm sorry I don't know every single detail of the case and all but my friend was arrested a couple nights ago in Texas and another friend and I found his "file" (?) on the jail's website and he's being charged with tampering/fabricate physical evidence/w intent to impair. My other friend and I are 99.99% sure he had marijuana in the car and he tried to eat it and I guess the cop saw him or he didn't eat all of it. I tried to look up as much as I could find on the internet and I'm seeing it as a 3rd degree felony which is 2-20 years with a max of 10k fine. The question I just wanted to ask is what is the best case scenario for all this? He's only 18 and like a little brother to me so I just want to know what we're all looking at. I'm pretty sure he's been arrested on misdemeanor charges for possession before but never a felony.

Answer:
 He really needs a lawyer ASAP, preferably a paid lawyer but in many areas the public defenders are just as good and sometimes better.

The lawyer you want is a criminal lawyer who is familiar with that particular court.  He'll know the court staff and prosecutors office staff.  He'll know what the best deal normally available might be and how to get it.

I don't know anything about Texas or those charges but I've known people with more serious sounding charges in other places that got off with no jail time (after initial arrest) and no conviction on their record.  It involved time and money and a lawyer as well as serious good behavior.

The cases I've heard of were first offenses, but would have been felony cases.  Even in similar circumstances the existence of a prior possession conviction might have been a big problem for them.

In any event the person who can give you a good idea of the best and most likely outcome would be a local lawyer who's had a chance to look into the case.


Title: [IL/WI] Am I liable for slander?

Question:
My roommate always had a bad feeling about a co-worker, mid to late 30's. He acts quite chummy with girls in and recently out of high school, going as far as going to dinner with some them. He was hired as seasonal help which, apparently, does not require a background check. He was kept on and eventually promoted to manager.

Recently, we found out he aided a family about a decade ago. Given this extensive time in and around the family, he began to condition the female sibling. He was was convicted in IL for raping the daughter over a few years. His sentence was quite light and he didn't see any significant time in jail, from what we can tell. Given that he is a shift manager in a [WI] store that features a children's section, it seemed obvious to inform the store manager, who forwarded this information to "the appropriate channels." We now received word that no action would be taken and he will keep his job.

This feels, to us, morally wrong; allowing a convicted rapist to hold a position of power and authority in a job that has a department for children does not seem okay. If we were to provide this information to various news outlets, as anonymously as possible, are we opening ourselves to liability? Thank you in advance.

Answer:
 Mind your own business. The person (presumably) has fulfilled his legal obligations and paid his debt to society. Let him live.

This is a no win scenario for you. It is very easy to say the wrong thing which would open you up for defamation. Stay out of it. Your bosses have determined (probably with their lawyers) that there is nothing to be done. Move on.


Title: My employer forced me and 7 others to stay at work without pay

Question:
Hi there. This is my first post in this subreddit and it seems very welcoming and informative. I live in South Carolina. I work at one of those upscale/casual fast food restaurants. Today was a very slow day at work so sales were not allowing for very high labor costs. With that being said, only salary employees were working. I had a shift scheduled for 8:00am. I was told to come in at 10:00am when I had called that morning to ask about my shift. When I arrived, I was told they were not ready for me to clock in and to have a seat. I took a seat next to 7 other employees that were told to wait as well. Some had been there for up to 4 hours just waiting. We were told that we had to wait and that we could not go home. My question is: Can an employer hold you at work without pay and can you get written up for leaving said shift even though you were not allowed to clock in? I'm not very familiar with labor laws but it just doesn't sound right to me. They wanted to keep us there *in case* it got busy but I don't think they can do that without paying us. Any input is much appreciated! For clarification, the general manager was not present but I will be bringing it to her attention when she is back from vacation. I have written down notes so that the events of the day are fresh in my head. I very much like my job and want to keep it. I'm hoping a conversation with my GM will solve the issue and we will all be paid for our time.

Edit: Happy Labor Day!
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer:
 From what you've said, I do believe you should be paid for this.  You were "Engaged to Wait"

You can read about it here.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.htm

To clarify, "Right to Work" has nothing to do with your post unless you're a part of a union. You likely meant "At-Will" but there is a huge difference between the two terms. They are often misused though. Answer #2: If you were told you could not leave then your task at work was to sit there. That right there is what I see as the main difference.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem that South Carolina has any [reporting pay laws](http://blog.datamaticsinc.com/2013/02/each-states-reporting-time-pay-laws.html) which would require them to pay a minimum of a certain number of hours if you are scheduled.

I would say just make sure to go into that conversation with the GM in a very non-confrontational manner. Give her the opportunity to fix it before asking how she intends to fix the situation since you being told you couldn't leave was in a manner doing the job that the shift manager instructed you to do.


Title: I would like to add my name to the deed of my gf's home, but she has a mortgage

Question:
Here's the scenario: I want to move into my girlfriend's house and spend some money on improvements.  Before I sink 20K into the house, I want to be on the deed.  The house is worth about 190K, she owes 178K on the mortgage.  She's divorced, but her ex signed and executed a quit claim deed.  He's still on the mortgage.   Can I simply be added to the deed, have him removed, while maintaining the current mortgage without the need for a refi?  Or can we do a simple loan modification without the closing costs?  My credit is above 800.  Any advice would be appreciated.
Edit: I'm in Florida

Answer:
 Her mortgage likely has an acceleration clause. She needs to contact her lender to get permission.

edit: And it would be a stupid thing for her to do.


Title: So I work for a very large company

Question:
I was on the train talking to a friend of mine about some problems the company had.  I work in Canada.

Apparently someone eavesdropped on me, went to my supervisor, and his supervisor, and told them how I was "talking shit" about all the people, the company, etc etc.

I got pulled aside and reprimanded for it.  Is it legal that I can get in trouble for something I say in a public space to a friend of mine?

Answer: Yes that is perfectly legal (assuming this is in the US).


Title: Chase Bank Shut Down Bank Account and Won't Return Money

Question:
TL;DR I deposited a check from my mother for $1,100 onto my Chase checking account. Chase froze and shut down my account without so much of a call, text or email. They refuse to allow me to get to my money, including the money I had in my account before the deposit. They withdrew the money from my mother's account even though they claim they could not verify if the check was authorized. They refuse to release the money to me and they refuse to give the money back to my mother. This has been the most stressful and scary experience I have had with a bank that they can just take your money from you and there is nothing you can do about it.

I have filed a complaint with the CPFB and I've been dealing with Chase Executive Office. They cannot verify the check because they cannot get in touch with my mother, but it's because the number in their database in an old number. I gave them her number that she uses for everything, including her own bank and they can't find it in their "system." It's a Florida number she's had for years living in Florida. My mother now lives in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (caribbean) and she gave me the check before she left the country. All of this controversy and tears and stress and hours of my life wasted on the phone simply because they won't accept her phone number. Please help me!

&#x200B;

Here is a timeline of what has happened if you are in it for the long haul:

10/11/18

Deposit check for $1,100 from my mother, on Chase via mobile banking. Check begins processing.

10/12/18

Bank account balance falls to $-872.11. Insufficient funds notice email. They shut down my entire account without so much as a phone call, email or text message. Call chase and redirected to fraud department. Discuss with Fraud people the contact information for my mom. I give them her number. They try to find her number in their database even though she has never had an account with them. It won't show up. They say they can't help unless they can reach her over the phone. The number I supplied them with is the number that her bank uses. We established that check may still go through. The check is still processing. Chase doesn't stop the check.

10/13/18

Call again... call drops and they never call me back.

10/14/18

Proceed to wait, hoping that the next day, Monday, the money will finally clear.

10/15/18 The money is cleared in my account. It is withdrawn from my mothers account however I am still locked out of my account. I am not even allowed to withdraw money I had in the account previously before this incident. Chase refuses to return the money to my mother. They won't refund her the money.

 10/16/18

 I call again and escalate it to a supervisor. Call drops and I never get called back. Call again, speak to another supervisor. I ask to speak to that supervisor's supervisor. That person tells me that my mother has to go to the US Embassy in the country she's in to have a notarized letter sent to Chase that she authorizes the check. My mother lives in a country where there is no US Embassy and she is not going to fly somewhere just to do this. I tell Chase that they have to give the money back. They try to tell me that Bank of America, where the check is from, has to stop the check. Bank of America cannot stop the check because Chase has already taken the money even though they claim that they cannot confirm if the check is authorized or not.

10/17/18

My mother files a complaint with the CFPB on my behalf.

10/27/18

I speak to Chase Bank Executive office, he says he is monitoring the case and he will be helping me. Does absolutely nothing to help me.

10/29/18

My mother get's an email about being an unauthorized 3rd party filing on my behalf. I then file the complaint myself.

10/31/18

Chase Bank Executive Office dude says they still can't verify the number and they still keep the money and won't return it.

Answer:
 > Bank account balance falls to $-872.11

What, specifically, does your account statement say about this? That is, what chain of transactions, starting from what balance, lead to such a large overdraft, while your deposit was still pending?

I'm asking because this, on its own, may be either the root cause, or a major contributing cause, to Chase's decision to withdraw service.


Title: Airline double charged me left me -1000 in my account

Question:
Hi everyone this happened yesterday. I booked two flights at a cost of 646 each last Friday. Then yesterday the full amount of 1292 came out of my account aswell which overdrew my account to 1000 now I can't pay any direct debits and have been already charged for one missed direct debit, any advice would be great? The bank says the 1292 will come back to my account within a few days but the fact I can't even put fuel in my car and can't buy food etc etc

Do I have grounds for even a seat upgrade from the airline?

Answer:
 Have you actually contacted the company you booked through?

This is why it's not the best idea to use debit cards to buy anything online or any service that overcharges on purpose for possible damages (hotels, car rentals)


Title: [NV] A friend wants my facebook data messages to help her in a divorce?

Question: A friend of mine is going to initiate a divorce and her husband over the years wouldn't stop hitting on me. He was casually talking at first since we were all friends then it got weird and I showed her my phone to look through them at the time but now she wants the whole convo for court. There are some sensitive things in there that have nothing to do with the case I'd rather not share with anyone but close friends. Am I ok to delete those messages and just make a copy after that? I don't even see how this can be constituted as proof of anything. Also I don't want the courts to request access to all of my messages over it. Am I ok to just send her screenshots and let her figure out that the courts won't use it as proof anyways?

Answer:
 Nevada is purely a no-fault state. Meaning nobody cares why you're getting divorced, you just say "I break from thee, I break from thee, I break from thee" and that's it. Well, that and a few attorneys, a judge, and some paperwork.

So not sure what she's hoping to accomplish here.

If it were me, I wouldn't hand anything like that over unless (of course) I was subpoenaed. Let's hope it doesn't get that far. And I wouldn't destroy anything either.


Title: What can I do about the Blackface?

Question:
I'm stage managing for two shows in a ten show bill at a CA community college and one of the shows is becoming an issue.

We(the school) have "purchased" over twenty new plays, eighteen of the ones we're doing are "world premiers", and one is tastelessly racial to the point of being racist.  To add insult to injury, despite knowing our pool of actors, they chose this play which specifically called for a "black actress", and cast a white student.  They will not be changing any lines (even the problematic ones such as "once you go black you never go back" and "black is the new white" in reference to donning an African appearance as a fashion/cosmetic choice. [classed-up blackface]).

The artistic director (one of the two faculty members in charge) has told me that not changing the content, but allowing a white woman to portray a black woman was okayed by the playwright.  However, as I tried to inform him, the playwright is a young white woman from a white area who is just more than slightly out of touch as I have found when I looked up her previous work (I was crossing my fingers that she was a POC and didn't get it rather than me having to deal with explaining "minstel shows" to a room full of white people).

I've tried warning the people in charge about the social and just ethics ramifications of presenting a show in this manner, and I've been dismissed with specifically "There's been more racist shows done in theatre" to which I responded but we don't need to be those racists.  I'm dealing with white male faculty members who don't get it, a white director in his late fifties, and an almost exclusively white pool of actors.  We have enough time to switch to a new show, but the teachers are being stubborn.  (I also was scared it was just me, but in cold readings five other people agreed that it was uncomfortably racist)

How do I legally prevent this from going through?  I know I can't publish the script, but can I post a review of the playwright's work, or a critique?  Is there someone I can write to or talk to that could shut this down?  ANYTHING TO KEEP US FROM HAVING SOMEONE IN BLACKFACE AT SCHOOL THEATRE?!  Thanks.  I'm exasperated.

Tl;Dr  The school I'm at wants to basically put on a racist play and I want that to not happen.

Answer:
 what could this possibly have to do with legal advice?

>  Is there someone I can write to or talk to that could shut this down?

And are you high?  This is America.


Title: Do convenience stores like 7-11 have the legal right to prevent you from filming a cell phone video inside their store (even though they're filming you with the security cameras, and thus there's no reasonable expectation of privacy, as with a public space)?

Question:
So it's all in the title, I'm making this post because there's currently a debate in /r/JusticePorn over whether or not a patron has the right to film video inside a convenience store if the clerk tells them not to.

Some people are saying that it's private property, and thus, you can't film unless given permission; and others are saying that you *can* film because the store is filming you and therefore there is no reasonable expectation to privacy, making it similar to a public space.

Thanks in advance!

Edit:

Location is, anywhere, I guess.

Answer: Yes


Title: [FL] Am I legally required to fill out a "beneficiary form" for a part-time job at a university?

Question:
Long story but it's a real hassle to send them the form (where I provide the name and address for someone to collect my pay in case i die). Everything in my file is complete but this. Can I just opt out? If I die, I'm fine with my tiny salary going no where.

Thanks

Answer: Whats the hassle? You need someone's info? Want to send it to me, I'll fill it out. I promise not to kill you, but I willing to benefit from your death. Answer #2: Your employer may require it. You would not be committing a crime by not filling it out, but they could fire you for being a pain in the ass.


Title: HAAGEN DAZS

Question: FOUND A METAL WASHER INSIDE MY ICE CREAM TUB. CAN I SUE THE COMPANY

Answer: With cases like that you can only sue if you were actually injured, and even then you usually just recover for your injury. So no, you won't get rich off of this, if that's what you had in mind. Also, your caps lock is on.Answer #2: You should definitely sue them for a million billion zillion dollars.


Title: University sued by alleged rape victim over their handling of complaint, trying to understand university response [Oregon]

Question:
The University of Oregon is currently facing a lawsuit from the victim of an alleged gang rape that took place last March. The female undergraduate is suing the university and the basketball coach, claiming they engaged in deliberate indifference in their recruiting practices and in the handling of her university complaint.

Earlier this month, UO filed a countersuit against the undergrad and her attorneys calling her lawsuit frivolous, accusing her attorneys of making things up to make the university look bad, and claiming her lawsuit will prevent future victims from reporting sexual misconduct.

This response by the university has our campus up in arms over suing an alleged rape victim. I'm trying to understand how common it is for this to be done. My general understanding is that countersuits are quite common when sued, but the tone and response has caused quite a stir around here. They are suing to recoup attorneys fees. Our head PR rep even outright lied to our campus paper, saying the university is not suing the student, but they most definitely are. Is this an uncommon tactic, to countersue an alleged victim? Or is this a case of folks on campus without legal knowledge getting riled up over normal procedure? Is there an easy way for me to look up other Title IX lawsuits and university countersuits?

EDIT: Additionally, the UO was called out in an open letter by a campus therapist who says she was asked to provide "nonstandard care" to the alleged victim once the university suspected she might sue. They also required the counseling center to turn over her counseling records, which the counselor says is unethical since it was done without the student's consent. The university alleges they can access these therapy records. Since it's a campus counseling center, this makes the records educational and covered by FERPA, not HIPAA. This also has people very upset on campus.

Thanks in advance for any insight you might provide.

**Optional Background if You're Unfamiliar With the Case**

Female undergrad alleges she was gang raped at a party and later at an apartment by 3 basketball players. She reported the incident to both campus and local police officials soon after the incident in early March. DA declines to prosecute players for multiple reasons, but essentially does not believe her account amounts to anything that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Word of the case does not surface until May, months later, and after these players were allowed to play in the NCAA tournament, despite the incident being reported in a timely fashion. It turns out that 1 of the accused players was suspended from his previous university for a very similar type of incident. Our basketball coach publicly claims he had no idea why the kid was suspended when he recruited him. This causes outrage on campus.

The UO's student conduct review panel determines that the players did violate conduct rules and they are suspended and banned from campus for 4-10 years (each different times). The official findings say they were found responsible for engaging in sexual contact without explicit consent.

Undergrad files suit against the UO for their failure to conduct a timely investigation, alleging it was purposely delayed for NCAA tournament and team eligibility reasons. UO countersues for attorneys fees.

Answer:
 > The UO's student conduct review panel

Ew, I hate when colleges try and act like law officials. What exactly can this panel do to gather evidence and render a verdict anyway? It makes no sense that the college has put more time into investigating this than the local police have. Every time I hear of a rape case in college where the school conducts an "investigation" I die a little on the inside.


Title: Friend has Crohn's and had a disability claim denied and was also recently fired from said job

Question:
Sorry if the title is obscure but I wasn't sure how to word things and I am very concerned for my friend. He has had trouble with Crohn's and missed a lot of work and also has issues with anxiety and depression.
Back in September, we found out his disability claim he filed was denied and he either had to return to work immediately or contact HR about post denial accommendation. Suffice to say neither of these happened and he was terminated. It's been about two weeks and I asked what his plan is and all he said is he and his aunt are going to a disability lawyer and that he didn't know anything about it and that "my aunt said she will take care of everything".
 He mentioned that he was at the dr's office when they faxed the leave info to the leave administrator the admin said they never got it, leading to the denial. I feel like my friend is sort of wandering blindly as he said he has no idea what's going on with it and seems content with just coasting along with this. My questions are, what are his chances of this getting anywhere for him? I don't know anything about disability lawyers, but his approach seems so half assed in a way that I'm worried about him. Can anyone shed some light and educate me on these proceedings a bit?
I can try to fill in any missing information to the best of my ability if needed.

Thank you in advance.

EDIT: Forgot to say that this is in Omaha, Nebraska
Topic:
Disability Issues

Answer:
 Disability claims are very often denied on the first go. An attorney is a good idea.

If your friend chooses to let someone else handle this for him then that is his choice.


Title: My neighbor is being harassed by a car dealership. She doesn't think she owns the car, but is unsure.

Question:
The car is from Gwinnett county GA but we are in Forsyth county.  My neighbors got pushed into purchasing a car.  They signed the contract, and the wife didn't have proper documentation (ID and Social Security Card).  The dealership told her the first contract wasn't valid, and they needed to sign another with the proper documentation.  She did not.  She dropped the car off at the dealership and told them she wasn't going to sign another contract.  Now, they are calling her, leaving voice mails, and talking to neighbors.

Are they legally bound to this car?  Can the dealership get in trouble for harassment?

Thank you in advance for any advice.  I have already suggested they get a lawyer, but are hesitant for financial reasons.

Edit: Thanks for all the responses.  I've passed it on to my neighbor.  I've told her to look at her contract.  I don't know that they have financing on the car.  Her husband want to buy it to get it over with, but she no longer wants to give this company, or the guy, her business.  She would rather have the car repossessed than deal with them.  If you add any more, I'll be glad to pass that along too.

Answer:
 >They signed the contract

Then they are responsible for the car.  The dealership wants her to sign a new contract, but until she does, she's bound to the terms of the original contract, which almost assuredly says she's responsible for the car.


Title: [Oklahoma] Is it legal for an employer to refuse to pay unemployment?

Question:
My boss was joking a while back about firing me (definitely joking, I know 100% of this), and I said, "OK go for it, I'll claim unemployment" as a joke response.  The response I got was, "I don't pay unemployment; I don't believe in it.  Get off your ass and look for a job."  Now is coming a time where I *may* end up getting fired.  I understand that I live in an at-will state and can be fired for no given reason, but does this also mean that an employer can refuse to pay someone unemployment when they fire someone?
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 Your boss is either stupid or thinks you're stupid. The employer can appeal an eligibility decision and it will be resolved on the merits through an established administrative process but they can't just stop a claim from paying any benefits. Answer #2: The employer can contest your claim for unemployment, but ultimately it is the unemployment commission's decision as to whether you are eligible for payment.

In general, if you are fired, you are more eligible for compensation than if you resign.Answer #3: The employer does not pay unemployment compensation. It's paid by the government, and funded by a tax that comes out of your paycheck.


Title: (CA) Do landlords have a legal obligation to notify tenants of a fire?

Question:
I am in the process of moving out of an apartment. All of my items have been removed but I have paid rent through the 15th. There was a fire at our apartment complex on Friday that caught a gas line on fire, and resulted in the fire department cutting holes into the ceiling of my unit. I found out about the fire when my roommate went to pick up some items from the unit and found it in a state of disarray on Sunday.

I emailed the landlord expressing my frustration at not being informed, and she told me that she found out Saturday morning at 8am. Did the landlord have any obligation to inform us of the fire?

Answer: No.  They'd have an obligation to let you know if the resulting damage caused habitability issues in your unit afterwards, but usually the fire is what notifies tenants of a fire.


Title: Can the manager or owner of the business I work for force me to do work that is far outside of my job description that also makes me uncomfortable and endangers me?

Question: I live in a suburb of Chicago called Park Ridge Illinois. I work for a home health company and currently do marketing and scheduling for the company. Recently the company has lost physicians as well as medical assistance and they have been short staffed physicians as well as medical assistance and they have been short staffed. I am pretty sure by Illinois and Medicare laws you do not need any certification to be an assistant. A few days ago my manager asked me if I would mind going out with one of the doctors to which I said no I don't mind helping out. The day went somewhat smoothly except for a few hiccups including a patient's daughter answering the door holding a 10 inch serrated kitchen knife behind her back. I should also note that the area that this doctor services in the south side of Chicago and it is in some of the roughest neighborhoods in the whole city. Through the experiences of having a knife held out in my presence I feel very very uncomfortable being put in these situations. The night before yesterday my manager tried to get me to go out again with the doctor. Through conversation over a time period of roughly 3 hours I pretty much told him I don't feel comfortable going to these areas especially with how high my anxiety can get. After some back and forth and hassle from my manager he finally agreed that this is not my job and that he would figure something out. Today the owner of the company who has no regard for anyone's feelings or situation told me that I would be going out tomorrow with the same doctor despite what I have said and how what they are asking me to do is out of the scope of my job description. I am terribly afraid of losing my job if I say no and my anxiety is telling me to not go because of potential bad situations I couldn't put myself into. What can I say and what can I not say? And can he fire me if I say no? I am sorry if I am NOT giving all of the information necessary I am currently in the car using voice to text to submit this quickly. I can answer any questions needed in regards to this. Thank you for your time and help, please somebody help me out with this

Answer:
 Is your anxiety diagnosed by a medical professional?

Honestly, this sounds legal. Your employer can change your job description at anytime. You can quit if you do not like it.

Even if you need an accommodation for anxiety, if they are short staffed, it may not be a *reasonable* accommodation. If the accommodation puts undue burden on the employer, it is no reasonable. The fact you did it once already drastically hurts your position. You would likely qualify for unemployment if fired.


Title: We have a clause in our apartment lease agreement stating we may break it if we buy a house. Now property manager is using the wording to justify not letting us put in our 30-day notice until after we close on Oct. 1, essentially making us pay for the whole month of October when we’ll be gone.

Question:
Hi everyone just looking for some advise. Some background - we have lived and rented in this building for 6 years now being month to month tenants. Recently the property was sold and our old landlord had us sign a new rental agreement for 1 year. Our old landlord also turned into our realtor so she knew we were searching for a house. She added a clause in the new rental agreement stating we may break the lease, which expires in March of 2019, if we provide proof of purchase of a new house. The exact wording is - “Lease may expire with 30 days notice, if tenants provide proof of purchase of home”.

We decided our move out date would be Oct. 7 so I put the notice in on Sept. 6 stating we were under contract with a property and plan to close on Oct. 1 and we would pay the prorated amount of $240 for the first week of October. I typed a professional notice to vacate letter saying all this and if anything fell through with us purchasing the house we would revoke our notice and alert the property manager immediately. So, the property manager calls me this morning and tells me this simply will not work. Since we cannot provide proof of purchase of the house until we close that is when we can put our notice in. They are worried that they will not be able to find another tenant to replace us by then or that they will find another tenant and we will revoke our notice. So basically we will be paying another month’s rent for a place we won’t be living in just to allow them the assurance they can have it rented and we will actually be gone.

She has told me they are willing to work with us, but if we do not agree with any of this she would have to consult their legal counsel on the matter. This tells me they are actually not willing to work with us. I’m wondering if this is even worth fighting about. If we do things their way we lose no matter what because if we just pay them for October and presumably get our security deposit back it’s a wash. If we just move out and not pay for October they’ll just take our security deposit. Any advise or help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! -Jesse
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 >Since we cannot provide proof of purchase of the house until we close that is when we can put our notice in.

Sounds pretty reasonable, IMO. Answer #2: Well, you have not fully closed yet, and plenty of "under contract" sales fall through. I really don't think this is worth fighting for. Especially if you don't even have a CD yet with the disbursement date of the funds, nor anything confirming your bank has paid off the balance to the seller yet.


Title: I Think My Identity Is Being Stolen

Question:
A little background about me; I just turned 18 in March and I have no open checking or savings accounts. I have no credit or debit cards and nothing is registered in my name. I have a clean slate and basically nothing on it.

Within the past three days there have been several attacks on my personal social media accounts and other accounts. My Microsoft/XBox account was hacked, and I received a text Tuesday morning at 2:30 AM from Microsoft telling me that my number and email address were removed from my Xbox live account. It proceeded to attach a link to click if it wasn't me. After following the link I found out that the email on my account was replaced by an email@163.com. I then checked that website to see if it was one of those 5 minute email websites only to find out that the entire page is in an Asian language. When I temporarily (for ~1 hour) regained access to my account by recovery code, I was able to find out that there were several $100+ purchases on my account for a virtual currency in an NHL game which is only valid on MY account. I don't know what the motives are if the person(s) can't even use what they purchased on my father's card. I contacted Microsoft support only to find out that I have to wait 1-5 business days while they transfer my existing account over to a new one that has no trace of my old one.

There have also been various attempts to access my emails (3 separate email addresses), my twitter, and my Facebook which all gave me notifications that someone tried or successfully logged in from Hong Kong. I have reset almost all my passwords to different ones and enabled two step verifications. However, the attempts are still active and I'm afraid of what's going on. I don't know who to contact or what to do. Please help.

Thank you
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer:
 Chances are your account on another site was compromised that had your password as plaintext or easily crackable.  Someone who buys such lists then used your account.

Go to the police station and file a police report that your account was hacked and your identity was stolen to file the unauthorized charges. Then use that to notify Microsoft about the fraudulent charges assuming it was a credit card, if they don't do anything, bring this to the credit card company to issue a chargeback. If it was a debit card contact your bank, but your protections are much more limited.

AS you've already found out, change the passwords on all accounts you have. Unique passwords. Also, get a malware scanner and scan your computer for malware that may be keylogging your system.  If you can't be certain that cleans it up, you will want to do a complete system wipe and OS reinstall. Do this for your phone as well.


Title: Did the woman who was punched by cops in NJ have to ID herself?

Question:
I believe NJ doesn't have a "stop and identify" law, but you have to give your name if they're issuing you a court summons, which, I think they were...

So, was Emily [Weinman](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bodycam-police-punch-new-jersey-beach_us_5b0fe5dee4b05ef4c22b7773) in the right when she told the police she didn't have to give them her last name?

Answer:
 No, she was not right, in this case.

You are required to identify yourself when police have reasonable suspicion that you have committed or are committing a crime.


Title: Woman that bought my trade in called me

Question: I recently traded in a car that had had $4600 worth of repairs done due to running over a metal cylinder on the highway a few years ago. I thought the the dealership would dump it at auction but apparently not. Anyway, she got my name off of the carfax and found my phone number? Wanted the details of everything that had happened to the car. I want to know if I can possibly face any kind of repercussions from telling her? This just seems sketchy and weird and I don't know how she even got my cell phone number. Thanks!

Answer:
 I've only ever ordered a few CarFax or similar vehicle history reports, but I'm confident they don't include personal identifying information.    There's a Federal law that prohibits the DMV from disclosing that information (the Driver's Privacy Protection Act) and most states have something similar.    One of the reasons was the 1989 murder of an actress named Rebecca Schaeffer whose stalker got her address from the DMV.

It's most likely that she was able to charm your contact info out of somebody at the dealership, or that you inadvertently left some identifying paperwork in the car.    The fact that she claims to have gotten that data from a CarFax document suggests that she knows she did something unlawful or unethical.

I don't see any upside to telling this person details about the vehicle history.    Any legal action she took against you for an imaginary failure to disclose a problem would be legally ineffectual but could be a hassle.Answer #2: You don’t have to tell her anything, tell her to check the car fax! That’s all she needs to know. her business is with the dealership not with you.


Title: [PA] A judge has been calling me for the past week accusing me of taking his phone.

Question:
So this is a weird situation to say the least. A little less than a week ago I got a call from an unfamiliar number. When I answered, an elderly man was on the line and immediately asks me why I have his phone. Confused I asked him what he was talking about. He said he was calling from another phone and that I had his phone and was wondering when he could get it back.

Even more confused I advised him he must clearly have the wrong number but he was insistent. I asked him what number he was trying to call and he *did* actually recite my number without missing a beat. However, I've had this number for at least 10 years. It can't be his. I was trying my best to be patient and I asked him who he was to kind of you know be like, "well if I find it I can contact you." (Not really but just as a way to end the convo).

That's when he drops the bomb. He says he's Judge "XXX". He's a local judge in town who's definitely up there in age. I start freaking out but manage to end the conversation.  I look up the number and, yep, he's calling from the courthouse.

Now he's called a few more times this week and the conversation has gone pretty much the same every time. He's obviously confused. He's also not like "throwing his weight around" or anything like that but I'm worried he might start doing that soon? So uh... Yeah.... What should I do here?

Answer:
 If I were you, and the judge is a sitting judge (ie. not retired), then I would call his court clerk and explain the situation and tell them that you are concerned about the judge's mental health.

If they don't have a clue what you are talking about and they think that YOU are crazy, then it could be that one of your friends is having a fun time with you and spoofing the courthouse's number when they call you.Answer #2: Stop taking his calls.  Block any number he calls from.

Gather any documents that show how long you've had the phone and the number, or get them from your provider.  If the police show up, give them the documents and decline to answer any other questions without an attorney present.  Get an attorney if they try to question you.

Make a backup of your phone just in case.


Title: [TX] We have 8 hour work days. Our employees want to work through lunch so they can leave earlier. Is this legal?

Question: Hi, we typically work 8:30am - 5pm, with a 30 minute lunch break in the middle of the day. We have two new employees who prefer to work 8:30am - 4:30pm and take their lunch from 4:30-5pm and just not return to the office. We are totally fine with this...IF it's legal. Is it?

Answer: There is no lunch break requirement in Texas, except for breastfeeding, which is 30 minutes.Answer #2: IANAL, My work does this same thing with salaried employees. We are required to have an 8hr workday. We are also given an hour lunch. If we do not use the full hour (I personally don't need and hour to eat a sandwich) we work till our 8 hrs is up. I take a 30 min lunch so I leave at 430. Now this can be based on the contract with the employees, and if management is ok with it. In my experience, as long as you fulfill your contractual obligations, this is legal.


Title: Reversible Dog Adoption?

Question:
Hi there, I'm new to this site so please bear with me.

I'm here in hopes of gaining legal advice for my cousin who is in a bit of a heartbreaking situation at the moment.

Back in September, my cousin took a dog into her home from a friend whose budget was getting tight and whose apartment was also getting torn up by said dog. My cousin hasn't had a problem with her and adores her. We all do. A proud owner of a Golden Retriever and a Husky, my cousin has done so much to take care of our little lovebug. She was found as a stray here in Illinois by a shelter in June of 2016. She was adopted by my cousin's friend, taken in by my cousin shortly after.

On November 28th, my cousin was informed by an acquaintance/former coworker on Facebook that her Shepherd-Husky mix looked a lot like her brother's dog that was stolen. My cousin didn't respond so that she could wrap her head around what she'd just been told. She went to the police and was advised that unless there was hardcore proof (for instance, DNA), she had nothing to worry about.

Come November 29th, the former owner of the dog messaged my cousin. (Note: the former owner was NOT the acquaintance's brother, but instead a female who is friends with said acquaintance.) The dog had been missing since December of 2015. My cousin was still being accused of not getting the dog from the shelter. We found out that my cousin's friend in fact broke the contract by not notifying them that there were any issues with the adoption, but immediately transferred the dog to my cousin's name. The same night, my cousin transferred the microchip as well. When she told Former Owner that legally, the dog belonged to her, Former Owner said she would be in contact with the police to ensure that the legal paperwork was true.

Tonight, my cousin received another message from Former Owner that unless she gives the dog back, Former Owner would take her to court and prove with a DNA test (as she is in contact with the breeder) that the dog was hers. According to her, if my cousin loses the case, she'd have to pay $500-$1,000 and reimburse shelter fees.

What Former Owner is unaware of is that my cousin has taken care of nearly $700 worth of medical expenses. The dog developed kennel cough and has a collapsed airway, causing issues in her breathing. Whether it is permanent or not, it's hard to tell right now. She's on medication, but it's too soon to tell if any improvement will happen.

If anyone could help me out and let me know what we should expect or possibly how we can get a lawyer to help out with the case, I'd really appreciate it. This dog is a part of our family now, and my heart would break to see her be taken away from my cousin. She's in such good hands...

Thanks to any and all in advance.

Answer:
 What the hell happened to this sub?

OP: Legally, if the shelter did their due diligence in trying to find the actual owner when they first took in the dog, then the dog was abandoned property and the shelter was the legal owner. It's not as if the shelter stole the dog from their original owners.

After that, there's no issue of the dog going from the shelter to your cousin's friend, and then to your cousin. That's all fine.

Whether your cousin ***wants*** to keep the dog is a decision for her. But if she does, she should:

- Get all the adoption paperwork from her friend showing her friend adopted the dog officially and above-board from the shelter.

- Get it in writing that the friend sold or gifted the dog to her.

That way, it proves she's the current owner.

Then block the original owners, go no contact with them, and **if** sued or contacted by police, go speak to a lawyer.


Title: [SC] Is it legal for an employer to require a written salvation testimony, and the name and contact info for my pastor, on the application for employment, at a private education institution?

Question: I'm in South Carolina. Is it legal for an employer to require a written salvation testimony, and the name and contact info for my pastor, on the application for employment, at a private education institution? The online application implies that not including this information will result in the applicant not being considered. This seems like religious discrimination to me.

Answer: Is your employer a private entity? How many people do they employ?


Title: I've been told recently that it is dangerous for my mother to have access to my financial accounts, should I do anything?

Question:
I am a 30 year old single man, who is still using the checking and savings account setup by my parents roughly 16 years ago. My father has since passed, but my mother still retains access to the accounts. She is also listed as the sole beneficiary on my life insurance and on anything else that requires a fallback or emergency contact. In the 16 years since the accounts have been open, she has never once siphoned money from them, in fact she regularly deposits money from her account as birthday or holiday gifts. I trust my mother with my life, in fact she is the only person on this planet whose hands I would put my life in.

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Last year, I compiled a list of all financial accounts including assets as well as debts and loans. I have sent this to her along with all information needed to access these accounts in the event of my death or incapacitation. Between my investments, retirement funds, and bank accounts: she has access to about $130,000 worth of liquid assets. That was the end of that, and nothing notable has happened since. However, this recently came up in a casual conversation I was having with a friend who told me this was incredibly stupid, and he seems genuinely concerned that my mother is in a position to financially cripple me if she desired. But as I said before, I trust my mother with my life and I am confident this will never happen.

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Since that conversation, I have been going over this in my head, and while I trust my mother, there may be other factors at play that I cannot predict. She does employ a sketchy financial advisor, and she historically doesn't date the most upstanding of men (although she is single at the moment as far as I know).

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So I guess I have three questions:

1) Am I stupid for trusting my mother and allowing this level of access?

2) In the incredibly unlikely event that my mother or someone on her behalf liquidates and steals everything I own, would it be easily recoverable?

3) Is there something more I should be doing to cover my ass?

Answer: Im a single mom and I looked into making my accounts joint with my mom so she could cover me in case of .... anything. And her vice versa. And her lawyer strongly advised against it because if either of  us were ever sued, then the other one would be wiped out.


Title: What should I do if I want to report a doctor's office for possible fraud/illegal activity/mistreating employees (as an employee of that company)?

Question:
I work for a doctor's office/chain of clinics in El Paso, TX and I've been working there for about 2 years.

Throughout my experience there, I've become aware of quite a few situations that seem very fishy. To be honest, the motivation for this post is due to them putting me on probation as of yesterday for a whole year and suspension for 4 days. I'm not sure if I'll stay in this company any longer.

I'm only a medical assistant/medical transcriptionist, so I'm not as well informed about what is legal and what isn't. But I'll list the things that I found have been odd or just downright unethical.

1. Patients forced to come in every 3 months/repeat labwork every 3 months for no good reason.

This is something that I understand if a patient has chronic conditions like Diabetes/CKD/Elevated cholesterol etc. that need to be monitored, but this company forces it's employees to make 3 month follow ups even if the patient has no reason to come back. The only reasoning behind it that I can think of is because they want to charge the patient's insurance company for being seen, even if they are seen for absolutely no reason. A few others and I have gotten "in trouble", so to speak, for respecting a patient's wishes when they refuse a follow up (patients who, as I stated, have no reason to be seen as often). Not to mention that they make appointments for patients without the patient's knowledge and consent and then charge them money for not showing up to their appointment without cancelling beforehand.

2. Patients having more than 2 physicals/wellness visits done in a year without their knowledge.

A lot of our patients are elderly people who don't understand what is required of them by the insurance, and this company takes advantage of that. I've noticed patients coming in for physicals when they had a physical a month or two ago. We're forced to do these physicals regardless, otherwise we get in trouble with administration and possibly get a write up, or termination. How is this legal? They tried to explain it to us and stated that they're NOT doing more than 2 physicals and that what they're doing is called a "wellness visit", but it is treated exactly as a physical, and billed just as a physical would be billed. On Thursday we had a patient come in for one of these physical/wellness visit things and the patient's previous 2 visits were billed as both physical/office visit. All done in the same year.

3. Patients being mislead into filling out a questionnaire form called "P for Q", unaware of the fact that it is being charged at 20$ per question filled out.

This was a mess when they first began to implement it. First they stated that it could be done every 3 months, then every 6, then every single visit, then every physical. The reason why they changed how often they were able to do it so much is because the patient insurance companies became aware of what they were doing and started to refuse to cover the questionnaires, leaving a huge bill for the patient to pay. Needless to say, a lot of patients began to complain and wonder why they were receiving bills worth hundreds of dollars for something they were unaware of.

4. When a physician has time off, they refuse to inform the patients so that the patients will show up regardless to be seen by our PAs.

This is exactly what is happening at the moment. The doctor I scribe for is out of town for 3 weeks and the patients are not being informed of it before showing up to the clinic for their appointment. This is a way for them to not lose out on seeing just as many patients a day as we do when the doctor is in. The reasoning behind it is that the patient will most likely stay and be seen by whoever is there, because they've already showed up. A lot of patients are brought in by elderly homes or daycares, or have made their way there on a bus ride. So, it's harder for them to refuse to be seen and just leave. Granted some DO refuse to be seen and leave though. Except a lot of the time they don't realize that the doctor isn't in until the PA walks in the door saying he's taking the doctors place for the day. They do become upset and complain to us about it but not much else is done.

5. Patients being seen at one of the company's locations were being seen by a physician licensed in Mexico, but not the US.

I'm not quite sure about this one, because the way it is (or was) being handled is that this Mexican physician was working under the main doctor's (the owner of the company) license. Except he was going into the rooms and diagnosing the patients on his own, then the main doctor would come into the room later on in the visit to review what he had done with the patient and either approve it or make changes as to the patient's treatment.

6. Some time back, the company hired undocumented workers for construction/remodeling purposes.

One of them suffered a head injury, and the company refused to let him be taken to the ER because they knew they'd get in trouble. I heard one of the physicians talking to the physician I work for about it.

7. Employees are treated terribly, the company is basically run like a dictatorship.

I've made many posts previously about being treated poorly by my higher ups, and it isn't just about me, it's about everyone who works there, including providers (PAs, Physicians). The main doctor and his wife are the owners of the company. I don't want to go into to much detail, but they're not the most reasonable people I know. When I was first promoted to be a scribe, I was sent to the main doctor for training, by one of his scribes. On the very first day of training, I was yelled at by the doctor because he asked me why I didn't spray the room with Lysol before bringing in the next patient (he stated that the previous patient smelled bad). I didn't know how to respond and I politely asked if he knows where they keep the lysol so that I can go get it. He became so upset by the question and stated that it's not his job to know where the lysol is and that I shouldn't be asking him questions like that. Then began to insult my intelligence, stating that I'm too slow of a learner and not smart enough to be a scribe.
Another incident happened where a patient was coming in for a transition into care from the hospital. Usually the paperwork takes  while to be faxed over from the hospital, but this patient's paperwork was taking longer than usual. I decided to bring the patient into the room and explain that his paperwork was still not being faxed over and if it was okay for him to wait for it a bit longer. The patient said he was about to reschedule with the front staff before I called him and asked me to make him an appointment later in the week when his paperwork is ready to be reviewed, because he had several other things to do that day and couldn't wait any longer. I made the appointment for him and he left. I then explained the situation to the doctor I work for now, and the main doctor overheard our conversation in the hallway. He made his way to us and asked me about the situation. I explained it to him exactly as it happened, then he began to accuse me of "making decisions on my own and advising patients to leave when it's unnecessary", as he walked away he yelled out that the next patient I let go without being seen will be the reason for him to fire me. I was very upset about it and I ended up locking myself in the restroom and crying.

They also have this employee who they call "regional manager", and his job is to go around yelling at us and scaring us into doing "a better job" by threatening us constantly with write ups and termination. The way he talks to us is very demeaning and unprofessional.

Talking to the higher ups in HR does absolutely nothing, because no matter how much we voice our concerns and try to fix the issues, we end up punished for it, or fired.

8. Employees forced into spending over 300$ for company uniform scrubs.

I had made a post previously about this as well, I was told I'd get a write up for not wearing the company scrubs. I have some scrubs with the company logo on them that I had purchased a year ago. Except they're old and they shrunk, they look in a very bad condition. I don't have the money to purchase their scrubs that they are now charging over 300$ for; a set of 3. I began to buy cheaper scrubs elsewhere. I thought that the company had to provide the uniforms without the employees having to pay, if they want the employees to wear specific uniforms. Maybe it depends on the state and area.

9. We are payed straight time for overtime.

As I understand, overtime pay is supposed to be 1.5 times your regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 worked. They don't enjoy their employees doing overtime, so they cut people's hours in order for them to not go over the 40 hours. In my case, since the provider I work for sees the most patients out of all providers, overtime is excused, but I still get paid the regular rate for my overtime hours.

Anyway, I'm sure there are more issues that I haven't discovered yet but these are the ones that have caught my attention the most.

My questions is, what do I have to do in order to report this? Also, will this get me in trouble as well for not reporting it sooner? Will the staff (MAs, physicians, PAs, scribes) become affected if I decide to report this?

Thank you.

EDIT: I want to keep myself as anonymous as possible when it comes to reporting these issues.

Answer:
 There are many different issues here, some being legal and some likely not. They do not have to be nice to you or treat you kindly. An NP is usually legally allowed to see patients in place of an MD, but this may be different if your patient is Medicare or Medicaid.

If you aren't being paid overtime, report to the DOL. Also ask them about your uniform issue. If you believe there is insurance fraud, especially Medicare or Medicaid fraud, you need to report it to the insurance company or CMS. But I would be careful to not suggest that your medical knowledge definitely goes beyond the MD's; like, I wouldn't say "the doctor is ordering unnecessary bloodwork" because you may not actually know the reason the labs are being ordered. I would think that "The tests he's ordering seem unnecessary based on what was found on the last exam, but I am not sure and I would like someone to investigate".

I honestly think it would be best to immediately look for another job. There are plenty of online medical transcription opportunities that you can do from home to keep some income flowing if you do need to leave this place before you find something else. Answer #2: You mentioned many of the patients are elderly. If you suspect Medicare fraud, you can report it [here](https://www.stopmedicarefraud.gov/reportfraud/)

There's a possibility of a reward (provided certain criteria are met). It may be safer to wait until you have another job lined up. I believe you can report anonymously, but I'm not sure if that affects the reward (I'm on my phone, sorry!).


Title: Child support woes

Question:
Let me start by giving background information.

In the state of Virginia.

Case 1
I am behind to the total of $2500, and another $2500 in interest. I have been jailed for this more than once over the years. The county  sent a summons for me to appear. All seems pretty  normal at first glance, just pay and there are no issues. But I would not be asking if it were that simple. I am 40 the child is now 23. I have never seen him in his entire life.

Case 2.
I went on with my life and started a family of my own. 3 kids. After many  years my marriage  fell apart and I suddenly had child support for 3 more kids. In a separate county with a separate case. The new support was nearly 3 times higher per child and I couldn't afford it in any way. All my attempts at a reduction were denied.  It quickly climbed to $25k.  I worked out a deal with my ex wife to pay it off/forgive the debt. It's now down to about $8000 (for tanf). Tanf can't be forgiven as it is a debt to the state and not the childeren. They can no longer jail me for it.

With multiple childeren the state splits every dollar among all the kids.  If I pay $100, only 25% goes to the case that is still active and telling me to pay or be jailed.  I haven't made  anything near a living wage in years. I don't even file taxes because my income is usually so low. (Last year I made $4k)  I make payments on occasion. Usually about 4 or 5 times a year when I actually have some money.

I can't afford a lawyer, and representation for support is generally nonexistent.

Answer:
 >  I haven't made anything near a living wage in years.

That's the root of your problem. You don't make enough money to support 4 kids. Why is your income so low?


Title: Friend might be in some trouble regarding a minor.

Question:
Hey guys, he needs some help and has consulted with our friend group.

Apparently he matched with a girl on Tinder, which is an 18 and up app, and started texting her. It reached a point where she texted him a nude photo, and he returned the favor with another one. After a couple days of silence, her "dad" starts non-stop texting him saying that he's going to jail for soliciting a minor.

They reach a deal where my friend must pay 200$ every other week for a set time to not go to the police. He already payed once, and now the other guy is breaking the deal saying he needs money now.

To me, this seems like an obvious scam. I suggested my friend go to the police and file a blackmail report (everything is written in text). What do you think?
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 You seem to be smart (sure, this is your *friend*).  Your friend is a complete fool to think this is not a scam.

Scam, block, delete, move on and stop sending pics of your/his tiny prick to randoms.Answer #2: Scam.  Stop paying. Block all contact. Your friend isn't very bright.

>  I suggested my friend go to the police and file a blackmail report

No.


Title: Should I go to the police?

Question:
Ex husband has a 5 year restraining order against him, protecting me and daughter.

He breaks the order constantly, until I cut all contact 2 months ago.

Someone on Facebook just sent me his bands album cover: it's a recent photo of me I did not give any permission to use.

What do I do? Is this worth going to the police over? I'm shaking.

Answer:
 Yes, of course. Go to the police and report his breaches of the order.Answer #2: Yes, you should have been reporting every instance of him breaking the order.

The order does no good if you are just going to maintain contact.

How long have you been allowing him to break the order?


Title: What would be the legal protocol if someone passes out drunk on the lawn of a privately owned business? (in Virginia, USA)

Question:
Say people see her in the morning and call the police. The business owner doesn't want to press charges. What would the police do? Dismiss it because it was private property and the owner didn't want to do anything? Or could she still be arrested for public intoxication?

Also, would the situation change if they know she has 2 children? (ex, could they require her to go to rehab or anything like that?)

Answer: They could still be charged with trespassing, public intoxication, and so on, even if the owner isn't interested in the charges. If her kids were in danger as a result, CPS might be informed, as well.


Title: Texas: Offering a friend a room

Question:
Friend has fallen on hard times; We (wife and I) have a spare bedroom/bath that we are considering renting to him.

While he's a friend, I am insisting we draw up a rental agreement to protect us since we will be collecting rent.

Am I overthinking this or is this the right thing to do?

Answer: do so. it will help both you and your friend clearly outline rules and expectations for the period of his tenancy.


Title: (Okeechobee County, FL) Improper Disposal of Dirty Fryer Oil

Question:
I need help on who to contact for this. The establishment I work for takes the dirty fryer oil from our kitchen, puts into back into the jug where the clean fryer oil was, and throws it into the dumpster. They’ve been doing this for years.

There must be some sort of fines they can incur for this or some sort of regulation they aren’t following. This goes against the very foundation of my personal beliefs in preserving the environment. We might as well be dumping this dirty oil in the ocean.  I’m on my way out the door here and could care less what the ramifications may be from my employer if they found out I made a report.

Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

Answer:
 I'm not on the up-and-up when it comes to commercial use and disposal of oil, but the recommended way to dispose of residential, non-solidifying cooking/frying oil is exactly as you describe -- bottle it up and chunk it in with the rest of the regular garbage.

Are you sure they're breaking a code or law by disposing of the oil in this manner?