Title: Mom wants to put house in younger brother's name, but also wants to keep assets split equally when she passes.

Question:
Dad just died, now my Mom is trying to put all her ducks in a row in case she passes too. I have 2 younger siblings that Mom wants things to go to equally. Issue is that my younger brother and his wife and kid are moving into my Mom's house (so they can save rent) and my Mom wants to give them the house if she passes away, but wants all her assets split equally. How can she set this up so that it balances equally for all 3 siblings? She told me that the house she wants to put in my brother's name is not her largest asset (IRA, savings, etc).

I understand that my brother may help care for the house while he's there, and might take on some of my Mom's care down the road (but probably not, it'll be me, the eldest, as he's kinda flaky). Washington State, USA.

Answer: Your mom should have an attorney help her set up her will. Nothing's worse than what happens when a loved one leaves behind assets and an unclear will. It will murder your family.


Title: I feel a little foolish for having to ask this: Is my landlord required to provide a mailbox?

Question: I've asked for one a month ago and we still don't have a mailbox. There are three units and the landlord/owner lives below me.

Answer: US Code Title 18 states that it is a misdemeanor or felony to obstruct or delay the delivery of mail. That being said, not all states or dwellings legally require landlords to provide mailboxes for tenants. However, if a tenant asks to install a mailbox on the property, the landlord must not refuse (unless there is, for instance, a requirement to obtain a P.O. box clearly stated in the lease). If a tenant rents a unit that has a mailbox, and suddenly there is not one, the tenant may have grounds to report the landlord.


Title: My car got towed because I had an expired sticker on it [NY, USA]

Question:
I realize towing tickets may not be a big deal legally, but yesterday my car was towed for parking in an unmarked spot in a plaza overnight. I had to pay several hundred to get it back or the charges would accrue, which puts me in a bad financial situation(I'm in college).

I parked in a lot with many stores and an apartment complex, where I happened to live until the end of July 2017, last month, when I moved out. For that time, I had a parking sticker to park ONLY in the designated spots for the apartment. Over the past year, I wasn't aware of this early on, and acquired three "warning" tickets for parking in the wrong spots. These warning tickets happened many months ago.

Fast forward to yesterday, and I was in the plaza and parked in a spot with no writing on it, no signs, on the other side of the plaza way behind the marked spots. I left my car there overnight, thinking nothing of it. I get back the next morning to find my car missing, and when I retrieve it the premise for towing is that I signed a lease in which I agreed to park only in the apartment spots. However, my lease is invalid because it expired last month, and they change the stickers for every leasing year, so the sticker should be meaningless ow.

They justified it saying also that I had received warnings, even though those warnings were months ago, and for when I was actually supposed to be parking in the apartment spots, which I cannot anymore since I don't live there. I believe that if this expired sticker wasn't still on my car, my car would not have been towed, it was just because of these old records that I had to pay for it, since there is no other indication that non-residents cannot park there.

Is there anything I can do about this to get my money back at this point? Was it legal for them to tow me on those grounds?

Answer:
 > Is there anything I can do about this to get my money back at this point? Was it legal for them to tow me on those grounds?

Sure.  By all of their evidence, you were parking illegally.  You had an expired sticker for that area, had been told multiple times not to park there, et cetera.  That warning not to park there **did not expire** when your tenancy did.


Title: There is a gag order in the middle of my apartment lease. Is that legal?

Question: Georgia. I'm having some problems getting a repair done in my new apartment and am considering complaining to the apartment management company about the issue. I was reading over my lease and noticed that there happens to be a gag order in the middle that basically says I am prohibited from using the internet or social media in any manner that may disparage, defame, or injure the business, business reputation, or management. It states that I shall not use any photos or website addresses of the apartment community in any manner. It also says that I can not post anything that could be considered unfair about the community or staff even if there is some truth to what I am saying. Basically, have an opinion about the community or staff then air it publicly and get sued or evicted. Is this legal?

Answer:
 Some of it might be enforceable depending on where you are.  Most of it, particularly the expression of fact, is definitely not enforceable in most of the Western World.

But since you ignored the LocationBot, there's not much that anyone can tell you since venue matters.Answer #2: I don't know what the law is in Georgia, but this is actually a [pretty interesting and developing area of the law](http://www.americanbar.org/publications/gpsolo_ereport/2014/may_2014/yelper_negative_review_developing_battle_nondisparagement_clauses.html).

My guess is that in the long run, courts will coalesce around a rule that these provisions aren't enforceable.  But that's not a prediction of what would happen in your specific case.


Title: teen girlfriend is pregnant , refusing abortion. What can I do?

Question:
I don't want to post here, but I've been panicking alot and have no clue what to do.

So , my teenage gf , ( age 16 , is pregnant , *cough* from me , same age. )
Protection was used but somehow? Have no clue how , but perhaps it failed , I have no clue. She is about 1 month in and only just told me , and she is refusing to get an abortion.

What are my options?

Answer: You can start saving your money and prepare to be a father who is obligated to pay child support.


Title: Can the police stop construction on a fence if they are called buy the neighbor?

Question:
Maryland - Howard County
I have a property line dispute with a neighbor. She is claiming a 10 x  165 foot stretch  of my property.  asked her to split the cost of a survey. She said she would provide me a work order for a surveyor she want to work with but she never did.

I want to put up a fence soon. I have an approved permit and I will pay for my own survey.

Question. If she calls the police while my workmen are building the fence can the police stop the construction?

What else can I do to protect myself? I am thinking about getting a security camera.

PS. I discovered that someone in that house is in prison or fraud, ID thief, Receiving Stolen property etc.

Answer: Just pay for the survey yourself.  Get it done, then build the fence.


Title: [NEVADA] Someone I know tried to commit suicide now they are in hospital how do I get them out?

Question: They have been in the hospital for 2 weeks( they cant use phone or electronic device) ,and they won't let them leave how do I get them out? What should I do?

Answer: Why would you want to get them out? If they are trying to kill themselves a hospital is the safest place they can be. Without expert medical testimony to the contrary you won't be able to fight a psychiatric hold.Answer #2: You don't. They tried to kill themselves. They should be in a hospital until they are no longer suicidal


Title: After pushing me into the pool at a pool party, I pushed my friend in. He had his iphone on him that was ruined and is asking me to pay. Should I?

Question:
So we were all at a pool party the other day hanging out.  My friend was in his swimsuit, and was horsing around the pool pushing people in.  He did it to me when my back was turned, which was rather annoying.  I wanted to get him back, so I waited until he was standing still, and I pushed him in.  He got upset because he said he had his iphone in his bathing suit pocket.  He tried rice the past few days but it didn't work, so now it's broken.

I don't think I owe him, though he says I do.  If he was around a pool in swimming attire, and not visibily on his phone, there is no way I could have known a phone was in his pocket.  Plus he was causing trouble by pushing others into the pool.  If you didn't want to "play" around the water you shouldn't have been doing that.  Anyway I really don't have the money to replace it, but I figured I'd ask if legally he would have a case against me.  I'm not sure what to do, if it's worth losing a friend over.

Answer:
 So he was in a bathing suit, pushing multiple people in, and gets upset when it  happens to him. I think he clearly established that it was "playing around in the water" time, and keeping his phone on him was his own mistake.Answer #2: Do they even have swimming pools on the moon Titan?

But anyways, I'll pretend you said you were in Ontario, my home jurisdiction.

When you engage in certain activities, there is *implied consent* to certain torts.  If you play a game of hocket in a full-contact league, you're consenting to get body-checked within the rules (and probably a little out, since minor penalties are expected).

If someone wears a bathing suit and pushes other people into a pool, I'd say they are implicitly consenting to the same.
Answer #3: I age that you dont owe him a new phone.

If he is a good friend you can offer to split the cost of a used phone with him.

This isn't your fault-it was  brought on by his reckless behavior.


Title: CCW license question [IL, WI]

Question: [deleted]

Answer: No.  It has passed the House but not the senate and has not been signed into law.  Also, you are no longer a resident of Wisconsin, even though you have failed (illegally so) to get an Illinois liscence.  Even though it is not expired it is likely invalid.


Title: City workers making WAY too much noise.

Question:
The city is doing some road work a few blocks down, but some machine they're using is way louder than what should be legal. It's been giving my family as well as our neighbors headaches from the sound alone and runs nearly 12hrs a day. I called the City of Houston but they don't seem to care much, when they even answer of course.

What can I do?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Look to see if your state/ area has “quiet hours”. If they’re working outside of those hours there isn’t much you can do.


Title: Car accident 2 years ago getting sued, claim doesn’t match up with what actually happen (I have insurance)

Question:
I was involved in a car accident 2 years ago, was my fault. Long story short busy area was trying to take a left turn one car stopped for me and in the next lane I thought another person was slowing down for me so I went. Got hit and caused my car to roll over.

However when I read the claim it said i striked  said persons car. Does them getting them case wrong have any ramifications? Is this just some legal language and since it was my fault they say I striked them?

Thanks for any input.

Answer:
 Let your insurer do what they do.

That language was likely deliberate. You’re entitled to dispute or argue the circumstances of the accident at trial. It doesn’t sound like this issue is substantive.


Title: Walmart is using my photography illegally

Question: I run a party store online. Walmart is selling a similar item to mine and are using my images to sell it. They have photoshopped out the watermark. I have the originals. I called and they said they would look into it but it is still active on their website. They are using my own image and selling the product for cheaper than I am, helppppp.

Answer:
 Submit a DMCA takedown request on the image.

I am assuming you don't own the copyright for the item they are selling.  As far as them selling the same product for cheaper, there's not much you can do.Answer #2: Is it Walmart, or Walmart Marketplace, where third party retailers can list their items for sale?

I doubt it is Walmart themselves, probably a marketplace vendor.  In which case, you'd need to look for other sites like that where they might be using the pictures also.Answer #3: INAL - but I deal with image licensing and rights in my daily business. In the past few years i have taken action against several large companies and won substantial settlements each time. In one particular case it actually went to court, but I still pursued the action and prevailed.

The key here is - are your images registered with the library of congress? Your copyright is far more protected if the answer is yes. It gets more complicated if the answer is no, but there is usually a grace period that allows you to register after an infringement.

The next important thing to know is that their are many lawyers in the burgeoning field of copyright infringement who are willing to pursue action for a cut of the settlement. Important in this equation is deep pockets from the party being pursued. Often these cases are settled quickly once the infringement is established.

To this day it surprises me that so many companies are willing to take the risk of grabbing photos for free, using them commercially and without attribution, and exposing themselves substantial civil action. In 2015 I made nearly as much in settlements as I did in earned income. It was a good year.


Title: [OH] My great aunt passed away earlier this year. Today my father was notified by the estate that he inherited her timeshare?

Question:
He received a letter from the executor of the estate with an attached copy of his aunt's will. Among its provisions, my father was named as the heir of her "timeshare in Mexico", followed by the phrase "absolute and in fee simple". There is no elaboration in the will of where this timeshare is in Mexico or what company owns it. I imagine that in the following days my father will contact his parents or the executor for more information, but at the time we know nothing else about it.

Our family would never use a timeshare and have no interest in paying fees for it. We didn't even realize that timeshares could be inherited. Naturally, we are curious about rights and responsibilities. Are we on the hook for fees that have accumulated between her death and our notification? Do we have the right to refuse the inheritance? Do we have the option to sell this stake/interest in the timeshare? Will all of this depend on the terms of the contract that she had with the unknown timeshare company?

The deceased passed in late May 2015, in case that is relevant. Thank you.

Answer: He can disclaim the inheritance and not accept it, which is what he should probably do.


Title: Balcony fire caused by friend's cigarette

Question:
To set the scene: downtown Chicago, IL. We are not smokers.

My wife and her friend were on our balcony, friend finished smoking a cigarette, and my wife suggested that her friend put out her cigarette in a potted dead tomato plant.

6.5 hours later @ 9:45pm, I hear the fire dept. prying our door open and running up the stairs. After I realize it's 8 firemen (originally thought we might be getting "purged"), I let them in our main door and they extinguished the now 4 ft. tall fire on our back porch. It had been smoldering for that extended duration of time and melted the pot + 2 pieces of plastic furniture all over our composite wood deck along with some dripping onto the deck below.

The damage includes 7 panels (roughly 30-35%) of our deck. Contractors have stated that since the composite wood is 10+ years old, replacing those panels alone will be noticeable and the work may not be approved by our HOA. My opinion is that the friend should pay for our entire deck to be replaced, but she has refused.

I do not want to use my homeowner's insurance for this ($4-6k, plus whatever we need to do with neighbor's deck below). The friend also does not want to use her insurance. We are at a standstill.

As I'd read on the forum here before, a flower pot is not an appropriate receptacle in which to discard a cigarette. Moreover, a reasonable person is held to the standard that one makes sure the cigarette is properly extinguished, regardless of the method used. Properly, can be as simple as it does not set the balcony on fire.

1. Given my wife suggested putting the cigarette in the potted plant to begin with, I am trying to determine if the friend would be held fully liable if this were taken to small claims court?

2. Is it wrong of me to expect the entire deck to be replaced? I just want my home to be the same as before this terrible incident happened. Could have been so much worse had it gone unnoticed for a few more hours.

Answer: The fire originated on your deck by your guest. Your homeowners insurance needs to handle it. After the repairs have been made, you can sue friend to attempt to recover some of the deductible.


Title: How much trouble can I get in for kidnapping a cat?

Question:
I want to move out but the only thing that keeps me at home is my pet cat.  My family has a bunch of other cats, but my mom hates me so I fear she wouldn't let me take the cat I love just to spite me.

So I came up with some ideas. What legal penalties are there for stealing an animal?

[Virginia]

Answer: Is it your cat or your mom's cat?


Title: I may have gotten my wife fired

Question:
 My wife is an grown adult that was being bullied at work due to her looks from her manager. With things being said like ”your makeup looks like you just fall out of bed every morning” and other comments by her female boss.

 Fast-forward to the day of my call my wife’s usually chipper happy face gets into the car sobbing because her boss told her “your hair in a bun makes me cringe” In front of another employe!!  I called her boss without any cursing or derogatory language and told her that what she had said was unacceptable and that from this point forward she must keep everything professional between the two of them.

Today my wife got fired.

My phone call to her boss being primary cited reason why. “Anonymous just couldn’t get over what your husband said to her” I didn’t say anything beyond asking her to respect my wife like another human being. I could rant all day about this but what I want to know is retaliation a possibility? It’s the only thing I think that will get through to these people. Let them know they can’t treat people like garbage and get away with it.

(P.S) her company wanted to sling advertisement to you on Ring day and she was the only reason they didn’t give you a bunch of crap on your day of celebration.

TLDR: my wife got fired after I stood up for her while she was getting bullied at work. What do?

Answer: You really screwed the pooch here. If she had made a formal complaint about the treatment then she'd have a much better case for the firing being an act of retaliation Answer #2: Yeah that's probably why she got fired. It's incredibly, unspeakably unprofessional for someones significant other to call in about "bullying" to the direct superior. I don't know what you mean by "retaliation" but you have nothing to sue for, they're 100% justified in that decision.


Title: Can you denounce citizenship in every country?

Question:
This is a hypothetical my boyfriend and I love to joke about a lot. The last time I did a quick Google search, it mostly returned things about how it's actually *impossible* to denounce citizenship in some countries because (from my understanding) its not really beneficial because you can have duel citizenship or have it in multiple countries. Why denounce when you can just be like "yeah I live here too".

I saw a lot about US laws and how its apparently a very real thing taken seriously here--as to why I have no idea, but it was kind of funny to see. Maybe its because were a disgustingly patriotic country, IG, but the US seems to be the only one with actual procedure in place for it (side note, if anyone could tell me why or direct me where to read about why the US takes it so seriously, I'd love that).

I'm sure that its not exactly possible because you have to have citizenship somewhere in order to hold a visa to visit other countries, and all the other technicalities that come along with it, but for s&g...

***Best case scenario***: You have a metric shitload of money. Like, a lot of money. We're not going to ask why, we're just going to accept the blessing of it. So you buy a fuckall sized boat. You set up deliveries for all supplies you would need for the foreseeable future. Food, fuel, necessities, clothes, everything, is taken care of along with insurance and/or repairs/accident funds. At this point in your luxurious, essentially independent life, you decide to say "Actually, this isn't enough independence, I wanna be so independent than Britain tries to colonize me." so you denounce all citizenship. You're a free agent, sailing around the world. You don't even do anything illegal, you're just an asshole who wanted to cause problems.

How many problems did you cause? Would your original country still be able to follow through on deliveries even if you're unrecognized by countries? Does anyone recognize your "independence"? Or are you just some obscenely rich asshole running around that your local government now refers to you as "Ugh, *That*  Asshole" every time you're mentioned.

Answer:
 Under exactly the right circumstances, it's possible to be stateless.  one of those circumstances is to renounce your US nationality, because the US is one of the few countries to not require you to be a national elsewhere.

The problem is that now you do not have the protection of any country or any citizenship... meaning no id, no jobs, no land ownership, no boat title, no passport/visa...

You could likely still get deliveries so long as you could come up with some way of paying for them.  That might be tricky in a country where banks tend to want things like "State-issued identification".  Same with insurance and health care.

You'd wind up living somewhere where your identity didn't matter, and the "problems" would all be yours.  Your original country would probably pay no attention to you aside from booting you out because you have no government-issued permission to be there.


Title: My sister is turning 13 today. What are her rights now as to which parent she can visit on the weekends?

Question:
I'm 23 and basically her mom emotionally. We live with our Dad and she has been going to our mother's every weekend since she was 6. Our mom is emotionally abusive and my sister cries every time she has to go over there. I havent talked to her in years. My dad wants her to ride it out until shes older and I think that's bullshit. What are her rights now that she is 13 and able to speak for herself more?
Edit: I live in Missouri. I remember being in middle school and a lot of kids could stop seeing a certain parent when they became a 'teenager', maybe I'm just remembering it wrong. Lol.

Answer:
 13 year olds do not have any additional rights than a 12 year old does.

If the mother is abusive, call CPS and have them investigate the claims, if you think it is appropriate.


Title: Job Interview Recorded and Available on Public Access Cable Without Consent

Question:
OK. So. I interviewed for a job in rural Massachusetts. About 3/4 of the way through the interview, the interviewing committee mentioned off-hand that I was being recorded. All right, I thought. Town records...all that.

Turns out that the interview was aired on public access cable and is available for online streaming to anyone and everyone. I'm not personally concerned, but they asked some of my competitors some pretty personal questions about where we are from, where we live, and our family lives... One of them actually revealed some pretty deep personal information.

There isn't any malicious intent here--just rural town committee volunteers taking for granted the fact that they are always on camera when meeting in town hall. But I must ask, if it isn't too much of an inconvenience, just how illegal is this? Or is it at all. If it is, how should I fix it if I get the job?

Answer:
 Massachusetts is a [two party consent](http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/massachusetts-recording-law) state.

As such, what they did was illegal, under that statute, up to the point they informed you that they were recording and you agreed to it.

What they do with the recording afterward is not important, as long as there is consent to the recording itself.

I'm not sure how it would fly in this kind of scenario, if the consent would be retroactive or not. Someone who knows more about two-party consent laws might - my whole country is one party consent.


Title: NYC: Is our building in danger of collapsing, exploding (gas) because landlord will not comply with order to repair the roof?

Question:
An inspector from New York City Department of Housing and Preservation came to our apartment building last week on Thursday, April 19, 2018. I walked him around the common areas (blocked fire escapes, etc) as well as the roof (since my apartment has some issues that seem pretty bad (photos on link below). As of yesterday one of the tenants contacted the landlord's "manager" and he said that there is "nothing wrong with our building." There are two buildings involved 143 West 69 Street and our sister building 2020 Broadway. The large 15,000 lb HVAC unit placed (inspector said there is "no permit for it), on top of the small 5 story building (#143) in 2009 (when the basement was converted into a restaurant space) continues to leak all over the roof. Additionally the roof in the middle is no longer flat. It is sagging in the middle. Some spots of the roof (as we were walking were soft to the foot). Standing water in many areas of the roof. Similar mold dark spots and damage to almost every apartment. I contacted the fire department yesterday, they gave me a window of 1 hour to 24 hours for them to come to inspect the building and see if we are supposed to evacuate. Can someone tell me who will enforce the inspector's IMMEDIATE REPAIR of the roof order on our non-responsive landlord? Any help most appreciated. Between the two buildings - we have 100 apartments.

LINK TO SOME PHOTOS HERE: https://cornfeldtenants.blogspot.com/2018/04/crack-on-load-bearing-wall-apt-5g.html

Answer:
 Looking at DOB records, I don't see any violations or anything listed on 143 West 69th, but a lot of stuff on 2020 Broadway. Looks like owner is due for civil fines due to failure to comply with repair order.

I only see one complaint open though, so I'd advise you have all your neighbors in both buildings keep submitting complaints through 311.

Did you try calling the fire department back and see if they had come out yet? Presumably inspector would have forced you out if it was an immediate risk, but also not sure difference here between Housing/Preservation inspector and the Department of Buildings.

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?boro=1&houseno=%202020&street=Broadway&requestid=0&s=A03C41B885B461E4F46BD08866A7430E


Title: Detective calling to question me about friends overdose

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 You could theoretically be looking at manslaughter charges or some other form of wrongful death action depending upon your location.

You can’t afford not to have a lawyer.


Title: Kentucky: are there legal repercussions for transporting pregnant individuals who are Kentucky citizens out-of-state for abortion services?

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 Not illegal (barring the already mentioned stuff with minors), but if you want to setup a network for this you need to be *extremely* cautious about individual confidentiality. Both your clients and your drivers need to be largely anonymous, probably even to each other.

Any breach of confidentiality could put multiple lives at risk. You need considerable screening on your drivers and an absolutely bullet proof set of liability coverage because if you gain any sizeable traction you *will* have people trying to infiltrate your ranks to "educate", kidnap, or even murder your clients, and you *will* be facing lawsuits (frivolous or not, they cost time and money to fight).

If you are serious about doing something like this, I wish you all the best, but do yourself a favor, and do not charge into doing this headfirst without consulting several clinics to start the groundwork for your network, and secure contacts with potent legal representation before doing anything.


Title: [Arizona] Pending felony woes

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Did you plead guilty to Domestic Violence? If so, you can't own firearms anyways.Answer #2: Get a lawyer.

If losing $20,000 worth of guns is the worst thing that happens to you as a result of this you should count yourself lucky. The long term costs of a felony conviction are much worse. All that being said, they could certainly still bring charges against you for the drugs & guns. Find a good criminal defense attorney ASAP and hope like hell that you'll simply never see your guns again.


Title: Is it illegal to accepted returns on packaged alcohol Oklahoma?

Question: So I work at a grocery store and a man comes in trying to return a 12 pack of beer. I call my supervisor over and he says “oh we can’t do that. Its actually illegal for us to accept return on alcohol in Oklahoma”. I later asked if he knew why and he said he didn’t. I did some researching and couldn’t find any law this way besides the old perception of the law prohibiting alcohol returns since it used to be considered a “sale” which a customer would not be licensed to do but it has been 15 years since they said that way of perceiving the law is no longer valid.

Answer:
 There is no law prohibiting returns on unopened packages of consumables in any state as far as I know (although IANAL). Consumer protection laws also do not offer a right to return products in Oklahoma. Your store probably has a policy in place not to accept returns on alcohol because if the beer was stored in the sunlight, it could go off fairly easily.

Your supervisor was technically incorrect, but your employee handbook (or possibly a sign near the returns counter) probably goes over what can and cannot be returned to your store.


Title: 22F Facing First Divorce in IL

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >Is there any way I can prevent this?

If he wants a divorce there will be a divorce.  This is America.  No one is going to be forced to stay in a marriage they don't want to be in.

It won't be a lawyer divorcing you, it will be a court.  Answer #2: >Can a lawyer really divorce us? Is there any way I can prevent this?

If your husband wants a divorce, there is nothing you can do to prevent this legally.

If you want to save your relationship, head over to r/relationships


Title: How much force can nightclub bouncers use?

Question:
A "friend" of mine tapped her own beer at a club the other night, while she thought the bartenders weren't looking. She was caught and the police were called. We were informed, by the bouncers, that if she paid a fine of 50e that no charges would be pressed.

At this stage she is wasted, and not really understanding what is going on. One of the bouncers is trying to hold her back while she is trying to leave. She struggles a lot and eventually he wrestles her (quite hard) to the ground. Somebody paid the 50e and we left.

She is a small girl and has a large bruise on her face.
She is now talking about going to police about assault, does she have a case? I do not condone her behaviour at all, in my opinion she is lucky they didn't press charges and she should be happy with a bruise and being 50e light.

Location : Netherlands.

Answer:
 So your friend got drunk, stole some merchandise, and then assaulted a member of staff?

Oh yeah, she should totally go to the police and tell them that.


Title: What constitutes as a "door" to your backyard (MD, USA)

Question:
I heard that cops can just walk into your backyard if there is no gate. is that true? If so, what constitutes a gate? My door is broken in my backyard, and I was wondering if just tying a rope across where the door would be is sufficient. What would be sufficient?

PS: I'm not doing anything illegal. Just a libertarian American that values his privacy until I get the fence fixed.

Answer: If the police have probable cause/exigent circumstances to enter your backyard, then neither fence, nor gate, nor rope will prevent them from doing so.


Title: I’m 17, if I stay at my grandparents to get away from my controlling mother (wants to take my money and etc.) can she call the police and report me as missing to take me back?

Question:
I am a little over a month away from turning 18, and in exactly a month I’m leaving for college. I have a large amount of money that is 100% legally mine and my unemployed mother has decided she wants access to my account. I knew at some point after she started getting worse that she would go to grab my money. I want to stay away from her and take my belongings and stay with my grandparents until I’m able to go to college. Will she be able to call the police and make me stay with her? I need advice soon because she called asking for my card information earlier and was angry at me and I told her I was out and my card was in my car, so she’s waiting for me to get home.
Topic:
Juvenile and Youth Law

Answer:
 The bank can also put a note on the account to double check anytime somebody withdraws money.  Answer #2: Is she on your bank account?Answer #3: No location on your post so no one can comment on laws in your jurisdiction.

Obviously, don’t give her any access to your money. She can’t force that.

And even if you can’t move to your grandparents right now, nothing stopping you from moving some of your stuff there so it’s not at risk in your mother’s home. Most important would be any legal documents like birth certificate and passport. Answer #4: She could report you missing. She can't take your money unless she's on the account Answer #5: OP, make sure to check your credit. LA has a lot of stories where fraudulent cards etc were opened and maxed out.


Title: [NEW JERSEY] My liquor store boss is stealing a percentage of tips from our delivery drivers, telling them our online delivery service charges a monthly fee and this is how it's paid. Is there anything I can do?

Question:
He also forces employees to personally pay for any breakage or stolen items, regardless of who is at fault.

He's lining his pockets with money that isn't his, and I personally want it to end asap.

Answer: Report it to the Division of Labor.


Title: [Indiana]My dog was tased by a police officer.

Question:
At 4:45 PM today, my girlfriend left for work and I was on my way home from work. I arrive at my apartment at about 5:10 PM and there are three painters waiting to greet me. They tell me my dog, Zeus, has been tasered by the police. My first reaction is "omg did he get out, where did he go, is he okay", sure enough, i look through the window and there he is still inside.

Zeus is a large sized dog and we had one window of the apartment complex cracked open, but not enough for him to get out. He managed to knock the screen out of the window while they were painting, so understandably, the painters were a little scared of a big dog barking at them. They take it upon themselves to try to reinstall the screen to the window but were too afraid to approach. Their thought is to call the police department because our dog is vicious. The police arrive, tase my dog and leave within 15 minutes.

I can't help but think there is something illegal about this, and if there is something seriously wrong with the dog, is there anything that can be done legally to be compensated, or am I in the wrong here and should be more careful about my cracked windows?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Frankly, I don't believe the story the painters gave you. Answer #2: Dog Law specialist here.

Call the police and verify the story; there are a number of issues with their story.


Title: Need advice. I hit a bicyclist with my car.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Step 1. Calm down there is no reason to worry.

Step 2. Insurance (great you have contacted your insurance they'll either settle if he makes a claim or they'll likely provide you with a lawyer if he sues).

Step 3. Wait, untill you either hear back from your insurance or from him(if it is him then don't make promises and unform your insurance).


Title: Friend got sick from drinking water in Michigan five years ago (Mi)

Question: Is there any recourse of action for him? He was staying over at his aunts house in Flint, MI five years ago. He’s been struggling with respiratory and liver problems since then. What should we do?

Answer: Nothing legally.  Your friend needs medical care.   Prolonged exposure to lead in water would be an issue, but one glass is not that much.   It would be difficult to show a drinking a single glass of tap water would result in  respiratory and liver problems.


Title: [GA] I'm stuck in this country!

Question:
About a year ago, I travelled the United States to meet my then-girlfriend on a 6 month travel visa, so I could see how things went and see some of the US with no rush.

However, a few months in, my SO and I realized we were working out much better than anticipated and got married then and there.

Due to financial mismanagement on my part, I wasn't able to afford a plane trip back home, so I decided to stay and apply for a residency visa. This was denied, however, and in that time, my travel visa has expired and I don't know where to go from here. I can't afford the plane ticket to go back home, I can't get a job because I'm not a resident, and I can't apply for another residency visa because it's too expensive.

What do I do? Do I just report myself and let myself be deported, to be separated from my new family? Is there a legal way for us to request extended stay, as we are legally married?

Answer: Contract your embassy about help to go back home.


Title: Neighbor has put up CCTV cameras, one facing our driveway and the other our back yard. [Tennessee]

Question: We do have up a privacy fence.  She has been known to stand on her pool ladder to look over into our yard at times, among other intrusive type things.  I think we are just curious... is this legal?  It feels absolutely miserable having cameras pointed at you in your back yard at all times.

Answer: Some nice garden lights made from high power IR LEDs pointed in the right direction will effectively blind them, while being invisible to the human eye.


Title: I buy stuff from China, and sell it on Amazon.......

Question:
Lets say I am buying replacement cell phone parts for a Samsung Cell phone.

The replacement part has the Samsung logo printed on it.

Can I sell this part on Amazon without any legal repercussions? as long as I market it as a replacement part, and not an original Samsung product?

Answer: Can you intentionally sell counterfeit Samsung products on amazon without legal repercussions? No.Answer #2: Amazon will shut you down with the quickness once they get a few complaints.


Title: Forced to buy extra tickets - seeking refund from a foreign airline

Question:
This incident happened almost 1,5 years ago so I know I'm propably late on this, but I only recently discovered reddit and thought I'd ask anyway, eventhough we have already prepared to take this as a loss. At the time we were short on money, so we decided to tailor... or so we thought.

My girlfriend and I were travelling from Helsinki, via Kiov to Beijing using Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) in late December 2016. We had further plans to travel from Beijing to Manila using two different flights (from Beijing to Guangzhou, and from Guangzhou to Manila).

At the departure gate in Kiov, just before boarding the plane to Beijing, we were told by the customer servant at the desk that he would not let us into the tube and to board the plane, unless we would buy **new** tickets directly from Beijing to Manila (without an extra stopover in China). The reason being, according to him, was that we didn't have the visa to transit in multiple cities in China (which we certainly didn't need holding Finnish (Shengen) passports using the 72h rule, which "allows air passengers from 53 countries to transit and stay for up to 72 hours in 18 China cities without a visa"). I was 100&#37; sure we didn’t need visas, but he or his co\-workers (which he very briefly consulted) didn't believe me trying to explain it to him. He agreed to let us board that flight to Beijing if we would buy the new tickets and show them on our mobile phones.

We had zero time to argue because the gates were closing (and missing that flight wasn't an option), and so we quickly ended up buying the tickets costing us a total extra of 631.03€. We never used these new flights, as the immigration officers at the Beijing airport confirmed our belief, that we had no problems using the original flights (with a stopover in Guangzhou).

This was a clear mistake on the UIA customer servants part, but UIA hasn’t responded to any (!) of my emails I’ve sent them in the last 17 months, not even a word, only an automated reply. Also everyone I’ve spoken with on their customer service have either advised to send an email, or have diverted the call to someone who hasn’t picked up..

Thinking about this makes my blood boil again as this was a catastrophic loss for our travel budget, but I’m really out of options what I can do to further this matter. The airline being in Ukraine and us living in Finland doesn’t really help either. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I’ve posted this same post to r/legaladvice and r/askreddit, any more suggestions for friendly subreddits that could help?

Answer:
 Did you try to contest the charges on your credit card?Answer #2: Ianal but I have quite a bit of experience with international travel (including refunds with UIA). I'm going to tell you right now that this isn't going to go anywhere and you should drop it. You can spend hours on the phone with their reps who will mysteriously disconnect after inane wait times, or you can take it as a lesson and move on, and enjoy your vacation.

Also in case anyone reading this is considering spending an extended period of time travelling between different regions of Asia should seriously consider whichever extended Chinese tourist visa their country offers. It's saved me from this exact situation before. Answer #3: I am not a lawyer, and I am not familiar with Ukrainian law.

The UIA rep was likely following the guidance in TIMATIC or TravelDoc, which reflects the published Chinese policy that you can only transit one Chinese city (must enter and exit from the same city) under the 72 hour TWOV.

Now, what actually happens on the ground in China is a different matter... because China.


Title: If I have morning school classes, should I agree to partaking in jury duty service?

Question: I will be occupied at least 4 weekdays a week, till around 2 pm. Would I be able to fit jury duty in? Is this enough to postpone or excuse myself?

Answer: If you have class, you will probably be excused until the summer break. In my jurisdiction, they will actually schedule your new jury duty term right then.Answer #2: NAL, but I am a college professor. If it turns out you do have to serve on the jury, talk to your professors. I have made accommodations for students serving on juries multiple times in the past.


Title: What do I do with clearly fraudulent "court orders" that were sent to me?

Question: The 3 orders do not reflect what was ordered in court nor do they have a judges signature.  In the first they were ordered to do xyz but they didn't, they just sent an "order" with their attorney's signature that was the opposite.  The second 2 were modified versions of each other and an earlier "order".  Both with their lawyer but no judges signature.  The first wasn't even close, then a second arrived with an additional line in the "order".

Answer: You need to provide more details.  Are you involved in a criminal or civil case?  Why are you receiving "orders"?


Title: Mom got arrested and charged with a DUI

Question:
Hi, it's been a long night. I first will have to provide a little back story for others to understand the full situation. So my mom owns a business and doesn't usually get off work until 11-12 in the morning. Me and my sister were at home and text her around 12am to see if she was ok, she then said she was going to a local bar/party place that her friend had invited her out to. No problem, as long as she calls in a bit, all good. Comes around  to 3am and we haven't heard from her. We call and call and call, no response. We text  still no response. So my sister calls my brother to see if he can pick us up to go out to the "bar" and check on her. We call the place of business and ask if our mom is still there, she is. We speak to her, she is talking completely normal, a little tired but normal. We ask if she needs anything and she says no.  Or brother arrives at our house and he says, "let's check on her anyway, just to make sure.". We take the short drive there and see her in the parking lot about to leave. We pull up and speak with her, she had her friend in the car with her, he is drunk so she is driving him home. When we spoke with my mom she sounded again just fine, a little tired but just fine. We follow behind her and she drops of her friend, he lives in the drug part of town. We continue on and a police car comes up behind us. It follows us until we get less than literally a minute away from our house. He speeds in front of us and turns on his lights. My mom pulls over and we pull up behind them. Short bit later another police car pulls up. The entire time we know something is up. They first search her car, ask her to step out and everything. When she gets tired she can sound loopy but she is not drunk. They make her walk in a line, she passes. They do whatever else they do and then put her in the back of the police car. The officer comes up to us and asks why we are following and we say, "She is our mother, we are just going home." He asks what happened throughout the night and we say she got off work, went to the "bar" and then dropped of her friend. He walks back to our mom and they start doing whatever else. A total of almost two hours sitting there, with barely any explanation as to why she was being ARRESTED. He comes back and says, "well we are charging her with a DUI and well, she really isn't making much sense." I start crying panicking and everything. Me and my sister get out and ask the police if we can speak to her. They say they have no problem with it. We walk over her opens the door and I ask if shes okay.  She says yes, I ask what happened? She says " I messed up." I ask " what?" She's says "He asked me to do him a favor." . She is talking about the cop, he probably told her "Do me a favor and get off the road." Or something like that. I ask if she is going to be okay one more time and half way through my question he slams the door. We walk back to our car and the cop comes up to us with a breathalyzer in hand. They had arrested her and charged her without giving her a on the spot breathalyzer test yet?! What?! Many minutes later and we have to call our grandmother to come and get her car off of the road. Cop says it will be a couple of hours for processing and then we can pick her up. We go home and wait for hours until our brother stops by the house and gets money then goes to the police station. She comes home and she is almost crying. She is not drunk. And if she was drunk like they were implying it would have taken more than a couple of hours for her to sober up. We talk and she says they did a breathalyzer test when she got to the station. She said she passed the line walking test. And they drew blood. She was bruised from getting blood drawn. It hurt my heart. She said the nice cop continued to look at the older cop like, "she's not under the influence, what are we doing?" And that's the impression he gave us. I know that when that test comes back it will be clean. My mother would never endanger her life, or anyone elses. NEVER. She is going to fight the charge, but what I want to know is that do we have a fighting chance? The only reason they pulled her over is because the pulled out of the bad -drug- neighborhood. Sorry for the long post, but I think everything is relevant.

We live in Tennessee by the way.

Edit: sorry the timeline may be a bit off, and a lot more was said. But all it the important stuff is there.

Edit: I may not have made this clear but the officer told us she passed the walking test, they didn't do a breathalyzer test yet, her speech wasn't slurred or anything like that. They said " She just seems confused." . Like I said before the officer seemed confused as to why they were arresting her. He said the only reason he pulled her over was because she pulled out of the bad drug street where her friend lives.

Edit: I know this may seem weird but I am very good at reading people, as in conversation and emotion. I asked " Is she drunk? ". And he said " Well, she passed the line walking test, and I don't really see much of a problem.". It was confusing, he seemed like he didn't want to arrest her but the other officer seemed all to ready to arrest her.
They asked if she took and medication, we said she sometimes takes prescription sleeping pills but since she wasn't going to bed yet she hadn't taken them. And we said she takes medication for her brain tumor, but she takes that early in the morning

Edit: please consider this post deleted, since I can't actually delete it. My mother was not drunk, she had to pick up her friend from the bar, she had to small drinks and helped clear tables the rest of the night. 4 hours later she drives to drop off her friend and we follow, because we are going home. She gets pulled over because she pulled off of the drug part of town. The only medication she takes is for her brain tumor, and she has been taking it for a long time, so there are no unseen side affects. I said she *can* sound loopy when she is tired, but when we spoke with her she sounded completely normal.
I am crying, I am hurt. This is the first charge she has ever had. I came to r/legaladvice because the arrest seemed like a botched situation. I know it was 100% legal, but that doesn't make them right. That's why I asked if we had a fighting chance.
I didn't want judgement, just answers. I hope you all understand that.
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 How often do you have to "check up" on your mother when she is at a bar? That does not sound normal or healthy (I would be mortified if my child felt that she had to "check up" on me).

Aside from that, you do not know if she actually passed the field tests. You are not an officer and you are not trained in making those judgements. If she admitted to drinking and seemed inebriated, whether that was from being "tired and loopy" or intoxicated, she can be arrested for DUI. That's the law. She doesn't have to be passing-out drunk.Answer #2: >> My mother would never endanger her life, or anyone elses.

The drinking aside, driving while you are so tired that you are "loopy when you talk" *is* endangering other people. If someone is this tired they should not be behind the wheel of a vehicle.


Title: Grandparents called police on me stating I broke into their house, stole their car, and their jewelry. I didn't and I am sure they are suffering from alzheimer's or dementia.

Question:
Basically as the title says. There is no need for any legal advice for the police call as I was over 100 miles away at work at the time they claim this happened. Also the car they said I stole was in their driveway.

My parents see this is a senior moment and refuse to look into getting them into an assisted living facility.

It has been a 4 year struggle since me and my sister, both in our 20s, have noticed the signs getting progressively worse and worse.

My granddad has disappeared for hours and days at a time only to come back home scared and confused and my grandmom keeps coming up with these wild stories which can not possibly be true.

Today she has also claimed my 2 year old niece stole their dogs. We had to take them because they simply forgot to feed them for a week. Out of their 6 dogs, 2 had to be put down due to being too far gone, and the other four are with us. My sister took the two big ones and my girlfriend and I have the 2 ankle biter dogs.

Pretty sure he has alzheimer's and she has dementia.

I have tried and tried to go around my parents to doctors and they all tell me the same thing. This needs to be handled by their closest relatives, or my dad.

I am in Texas.

What can I do to force this? My grandparents have more guns in their home than I do and I am legit scared of what they may accidentally do due to their condition.

As much as I hate to say it, they both need to be in a home and I need to know what I can do to help them get there.

Answer: Call adult protective services where they live.Answer #2: Try calling Adult Protective Services for your area. Answer #3: You need to call Adult Protective Services in their county and tell the staff member EVERYTHING you told us here. You can remain anonymous.


Title: LANDLORD CHANGED MY RENT WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE

Question:
Hello guys,
I have a question. My girlfriend is moving into an apartment in Cincinnati OH, and was told water, trash, heat and rent will be included the monthly $525 rent \(unfurnished\). After she sent in the application fee yesterday\- the agent told her there are different terms. The agent said that the Rent was increased to $550 and if the apartment was going to be unfurnished, all the utilities will be "under the tenants name".
We then sent the agent the screenshots in which she clearly mentioned the $525 with water trash and heat, the agent apologized for not informing us that that was an "early signing special" which ended on the 30th of April. \(today is the 24th of may\) and that we will have to do the 550. IS THERE ANYWAY WE CAN FIGHT THIS?
 We are both not currently in Cincinnati\- I will be moving to another apartment over there in a week. This is just for my girlfriend's apartment. Please let me know. We just graduated and don't know how all this works.

Answer:
 You can maybe get your application fee back if you ask.

You don't have a lease. Everything's negotiable until then.Answer #2: You haven't even *seen* a lease, much less signed one. This is your lesson that people on craigslist lie all the time.

You may want to ask exactly what utilities are included and what aren't. In older multi-unit buildings it's common for everything to be included except electric, as there's a single bill for the whole building and it's easier for the LL to pay it and figure it in as part of the rent.


Title: [Meta] Can we disallow vague post titles?

Question: Titles like, "am I fucked?" and "is it illegal..." are clickbaitish. Things would just be more clean around here if we could get a brief summary in the title. Imagine if the loony dead animals guy had a vague title and no tl;dr?

Answer:
 Sure, we could.  But it's unlikely to be helpful, for a couple of reasons:

1.  People don't pay attention to the posting rules, at all.  This is why we have several places asking people to put their location in their post, but we still have a 50% failure rate.

2.  Because of that, it would be on the moderators to approve each post, which would require more time and effort than we have.

3.  While annoying, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference in the given advice.  Everyone ends up reading the body, anyhow.

In short, we could, but the cost-to-benefit ratio doesn't appear to be in favor.Answer #2: >Imagine if the loony dead animals guy had a vague title and no tl;dr?

He had no tl;dr until it was written for him. You're welcome.

But we can't really regulate what people post and don't have a big enough mod team to worth through the volume of posts.


Title: I'm worried my brothers crazy wife is using him

Question:
Some history about her.

So about 3+ years ago my brother met this girl after she left her ex boyfriend who was a drug dealer and "abusive". She her self is heavily addicted to drugs and has to smoke high lvl thc for her "medication" to function. she has never maintained a position above fast food or worked more then 20hrs a week and she is between 30-40 years of age. My first personality clue of her was when i was going to college out of the city , and my brother and her came to pick me up for vacation. She was living in my old bed room at my moms, and i was staying in the small guest bed room. I had told my brother i was going to finish my semester and return home to study at a local college. This is when she broke out crying saying there wasn't enough time and there wouldn't be enough space. I had no idea what was going on, my brother just said" we will talk about this later" to her. I had learned that she wanted to fill the guest bedroom with there things and make it her personal office until they had found an appartment to stay in but She was very deceptive in constantly asking how school was going and saying i should study as much as i can and stay there as long as i could ,acting very encouraging, but this was only so she could buy time to move into my parents place and make it her own and essentially kick me out before i could finish school.

So i return home with a certification and working on a degree, not really making any money yet so ,of course, my parents being the great people they are didn't ask for rent while i wasn't working. This made my brothers wife go balistic. My brother was working the oil fields and was never realy home more then a couple days out of the month, but he provided all the money he made to her. Which she would use to buy video games, entertainment, and of course, weed. She didn't want to pay a single dime of rent becouse i was staying There for free. And the rent my parents where charging was not even 1/5 of what they pay monthly. She would throw the worst tantrums over any little thing, always comparing her situation to mine, saying things like" if he dosent have to buy food, why do i have to buy my own food". Another direct quote from her was" man im bored, i want to do some coke". I couldn't Believe not only was my brother involved with this person, but he let her into my parents house!

After a month or so of job hunting i find an okay paying job in the medical field while i go to school. So i started paying about 400-600$ to my patents for rent, on top buying groceries and household items. This is when she forces my brother to find them an appartment, so she can avoid having to pay any rent. Immediately after finding an appartment, she starts having pantic attacks begging my brother to come back from work so that they could get married asap. My mom described them signing the marriage pappers as her getting angry that the legal entity was late and her saying that he needed to hurry up.

After this i didn't have much contact with them, she actively tries to avoid seeing me but will invite my mother out to eat where she will question her how much money im making and how much rent im paying her and asking when im going to move out, so she can put my mother ( of 50 yrs) in a retirement home, so she can "watch over" the house. Mind you im still in school , actively working and on top of helping my parrents pay off the house im also helping pay off there medical bills.

So which brings me to my point. (Or tl;dr)

I'm worried my brother fucked him self by marrying a middle aged women who is trying to invade in on our family and take everything she can from him. What would happen if they divorced? Did she trap him? Will he have to provide for her all his life if they do devorce?
This keeps me up at night thinking about this crazy person who is abusing my own brother. I hope this is the right sub for this
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: It sounds like your brother is an adult making his own choices, just like your mother allowed this woman to move into her home. If they divorce he would likely be ordered to continue supporting her for a time. A good lawyer will help decrease this amount of time. It is hard to watch loved ones make questionable relationship decisions, but it is part of life.


Title: Child injured on HOA owned playground. Advice on steps to recoup medical costs and lost wages for time off.

Question:
EDIT  Atlanta, GA

We live in a HOA community (with legal by-laws and yearly dues) and are members in good standing of the HOA.   The HOA has outside company that runs the organization and it's well run.  Child was injured on HOA owned playground equipment when swing chain broke and child's leg was injured in fall.  Chain appears to be rusting and failed while child was swinging. Child will now need surgery.  We have good health insurance but parent will have to take time off from full time job to care for recovering child.  Would like for HOA to reimburse medical costs and lost wages for time off.  What are the steps?  Plan to discuss with attorney friend before connecting the HOA company contact.  This situation happened within the past 24 hours.  Asking for thoughts and other comments.  Thank you.

Answer:
 In tort law there's a thing called *Assumption of the Risk*

The risk was already there by having a child at a playground.

Further risk was not inspecting the playground before letting the child play around.

In tort law, the burden of proof is a *tipping of the scales*

Unless you have proof that you've contacted whomever is the keeper of this playground about the rust on the chains, and they neglected that responsibility, then there's not really much to reimburse.

If you *did* contact whomever maintains it, then that means you've been aware of the faults of said playground, and *still* allowed the child to play there.

I don't see any reimbursement here, just my opinion and limited understanding of tort law.


Title: (USA) My lease says no pets. My roommate has a large smelly dog. Can I move out before the lease period ends without forfeiting my security deposit?

Question:
This is a stranger situation than most:

I live in a 4 bedroom house, but the bedrooms are individually leased and keyed. The common areas such as the living room and kitchen are shared. My lease says no pets, and when I moved in I was under the impression there would be no pets. A roommate's lease allows pets, and his dog is large and smells like death. He also spends a large chunk of his time in either the living room or the kitchen.

I can't live like this anymore, and I've researched several affordable apartments I could move into, but I don't want to let go of the $500 security deposit. How do I go about letting the landlord know that I'll be needing to move out?

Thanks in advance. I truly appreciate any advice.

EDIT: I live in Ohio.

Answer:
 Unfortunately, you have no recourse as everyone is following the term of their lease. If you leave early, you will almost assuredly lose your deposit.

However, without your location, nothing is set in stone.Answer #2: You have to negotiate with the landlord.  Generally, the landlord won't care about you staying, the landlord will only care about the lost rent.  So if you can avoid the landlord losing any rent (say, by finding an acceptable replacement tenant), the landlord will probably agree to let them take over your lease.

It matters what state you live in.  Some states consider a landlord with a tenant that has vacated to have a "duty to mitigate damages" by making reasonable efforts to find a replacement renter.  Hopefully you live in one.


Title: My employer is treating me unfairly. Is this racial discrimination or simply prejudice? Does it matter?

Question:
I'm the only white teacher at my charter school. I'm also the only teacher with a  masters degree. Our kids are 99.9% black and brown. This is a turnaround year meaning a new  charter management organization took over the failing school and we're trying to turn is around to a high performing school so it's  very high pressure. My instructional coach/manager routinely ignored emails from me asking for help and stands me up for meetings. I spoke to my principal about this in October and my manager was a bit more professional for a few weeks.

We have deadlines of stupid paperwork due regularly. I e thing was due at midnight and I submitted it at 4 am. I was written up for submitting it late as were several other teachers who submitted it days late or not at all. Fair enough. I got an email the next week that told me not to yell at students, out of the blue. I have definitely raised my voice a few times but it's not something that happens even weekly. No incident was referenced in the email, it was a general don't yell at students email. I thought it was strange but didn't really think twice about it after reading it.

A few weeks later, I got called into a performance review out of the blue with all the administrators of my school. I was pretty terrified I was going to get fired but I was told that my performance was terrible, although no specifics were given. I was put on a Performance Improvement Plan that I had to sign that basically said my performance had to improve or they would not ask me back next year or fire me before the end of the year. Again, no real measurable goals were outlined, just that I had to improve instruction, professionalism and relationships with students.

All the documentation I've received aside from the one write up is that my classroom is calm and learning occurs. I am on time every day and follow the dress code. I don't talk back or gossip and I try not to ask unnecessary questions. My performance review was very shocking. My principal mentioned that 4 other teachers were put on PIPs and essentially told me not to tell anyone that I was put on a PIP. I didn't ask any questions because I was in shock.

My husband and I have a baby under 1 and a mortgage. I need a job, plus I adore my students and don't want to abandon them. I've been extra stressed since I was put on a PIP because I'm afraid of losing my job and I don't know what my principal wants me to do differently to show improvement. The only thing mentioned specifically was that my lesson plans weren't always filled out the way they want them. I have repeatedly asked my coach to meet with me about lesson plans since Aug and she ignores my emails. I can easily print them out for proof. I didn't want to mention that because I think my coach knows someone who got her her job and I don't want to get fired or out on a shit list for drawing attention to her incompetence.

So I haven't really done anything differently because I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I feel like I'm being gaslighted (gaslight?).

A month later, test scores were released from a standardized benchmark test all students at our school took. My class had the third highest scores in the school. Our scores were 35 percentage points higher than the 4th highest class, as well, which proves that I'm an OK teacher and one of the best at the school by a lot.

I shared with some colleagues that I was put on a PIP after the scores were released and everyone I shared it with was shocked. I am pretty sure that I'm the only teacher who was put on one despite my principal volunteering that I wasn't. There are fewer than 20 teachers at my school and I'm friends with people on every floor. I believe I would have found out if someone else was put on a PIP. I made sure to mention my PIP to the teachers who I perceive to be the weakest and none of them even knew what a PIP is.

I get along super well with the other teachers. We really are a family. I also have good relationships with administrators. My coach is the only person who rubs me the wrong way but I'm always professional and even sort of a suck up (kill her with kindness attitude).

My coach/manager is back to ignoring emails, standing me up for meetings and being a mega bitch basically. I asked my principal if we could meet last week to discuss my progress in the areas that were outlined on my PIP. When we met, she wanted to talk about the state test and didn't mention the PIP at all. I'm assuming the PIP is no longer relevant. I doubt they would fire one of their strongest teachers without cause but I hate  assuming that. People can be jerks and do things that don't make sense regularly.

Sorry for the dissertation.
Does this sound like discrimination? Or is my employer just being an asshole legally?

Answer: Why do you believe it's discrimination?  You say you're the only white teacher, but nothing else connects that fact to your performance, and you acknowledge that most of the performance issues they raised were factual and accurate (yelling at kids, missing a deadline).  Is there something that connects the two?


Title: My boss is demanding that i supply my address for an address book to be circulated around my company.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 No, if you don't submit the information you can be fired. For what it's worth, it's incredibly easy to find a person's address online if anyone wanted it.Answer #2: There is nothing illegal here. Companies require updated employee information.Answer #3: Does HR know about this?

If you are fired for refusing to comply, file for unemployment.

Or get a PO Box. Or give a fake address.


Title: Funds seized by government pending a criminal investigation. Whats my recourse?

Question:
Back in 2013 I used a company called Alertpay.com, which eventually turned into Payza.com. This is a company which is/was very similar to PayPal... You can hold a balance, send/receive money, purchase from shops with credit card, etc.

I ran an online business (still do), and I had a larger amount of funds $ in my account from online sales. I generally "withdrew" the money once a week to my bank. I used the company for quite a few years with no issues.

Then out of no where I tried to withdraw my funds ($10k+ - this was common), and my withdrawal got denied..

Anyway long story short, the parent company of payza.com "Obopay" became under investigation by US Justice Department & Homeland secuirty. All of the funds that were inside of Payza.com accounts at the time were seized by the govement, and frozen for the ongoing case.

This happened back in 2013, and its now 2018 and both "obopay" (Multi billion company), and Payza.com are both operating within the US again on good terms -- However everyone's funds are still frozen.

Here is the USA Justice department link about the case:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/victim-witness-assistance/obopay-payza

It was updated 1.5 years ago. I have called, & emailed everyone multiple times, and get a response back once every 4 months from people who don't understand whats going on.

Does anyone know if I have any legal recourse on recovering these funds? Do you think hiring a lawyer would be beneficial? Do I have to wait until the case is completely closed (I dont even know if it is) before I can start a recovery? - Like I said Obopay/payza are freely operating within the US again - but they claim the US government has my funds.

Sorry for the wall of text! Any help is appreciated!

EDIT: I live in the US.

Answer:
 Have you emailed/called the number listed on that site. I'm assuming you have. Then you should consult a lawyer. They can speak to the prosecutors on your behalf, and if they get nowhere they can file a motion in court to bring the prosecutors to court and explain to a judge why your account is still frozen and you have not gotten an update in over a year. Alternatively, they can determine if payza is trying to scam you or illegally holding your funds.

Cheers!Answer #2: This is beyond "anonymous internet help" and squarely in "retain an attorney" territoryAnswer #3: Have you retained a lawyer?


Title: My wife wants to jointly file our upcoming tax returns, while my parents wants to file me as a dependent under their tax returns. What should I do?

Question:
We all live in New York City. I am 22 years old, and am still in college (I am currently taking the fall semester off and the upcoming spring semester will be my last semester in College. Therefore I am still living with parents and they have done what every other goodwill parents do. They have taken care of me really well by feeding me, giving me allowances, letting me live in their household, and etc.

My wife (Jane Doe) and I have gotten married recently. She was, however, born in another country and is currently in the middle of the process of obtaining her Green-card. She is also a college student and is still living with her parents. Therefore because of the nature of the situations, Jane and I are unable to live together in the same location. Fortunately we are able to often go to each others homes and sleepover. However because of the process to obtain her green-card, we must be able to report that we are living together under one roof. As a result, on paper, I decided to change my current address to her household.

The issue is that for the upcoming tax returns, Jane wants to file her tax returns with me included. On the other hand, my parents wants to file me as a dependent under their tax returns. If I do not file my with Jane, the entire green-card process might be work out for us. And if I do not file with my parents, then they might lose their government subsidies as well as their government funded apartment housing.

What should I do in this situation?

Edit* I forgot to mention for what it is worth, the marriage I am in is not a sham marriage. We both love each other very much.
Topic:
Tax Law

Answer:
 Lying to the government is what puts people in these lose/lose situations.

Not lying is your best option. Try /r/tax for more infoAnswer #2: I suggest that you not try to get the best of both worlds. Either you give your parents the dependent deduction so they can live off of our hard-earned tax dollars while you frolic around with your non-citizen wife, or find your own place to live with your wife (preferably not on the taxpayers' dime) and focus on the immigration/green card issue.
Good luck.Answer #3: All I can say is that this is a starting recipe for disaster on the immigration side.


Title: Small Claims Affair

Question:
My friends and I are in a pickle. Here is the backstory: Prior to New Years 2015-16, four of us had agreed verbally that we would split a hotel room with 2 queen beds. Before one of us booked it, paying the entire upfront cost, he called another member to get confirmation that he would be willing to go and pay his share. The other friend confirmed.

The crux of the story is that now that friend that had verbally agreed on the phone to split the cost bailed on the trip for other reasons, and is now unwilling to pay for his share of the hotel room. Under some form of legal law, does a verbal agreement on the phone comprise a legal contract or can this friend legally retract his agreement  after the purchase has been made.

Thank you Reddit!

Answer:
 Verbal contracts are binding.  Good luck proving this verbal contract.

Your remedy is to sue in small claims court.


Title: Man trying to sue my company after lending us money, losing it an illegal operation, threatening and extorting us- Does he have a claim? [California]

Question:
The past two years I lived in California in the legal cannabis industry. One thing lead to another, and I was acting as a broker, which is common in the industry as it is fairly nascent and there is not a lot of trust floating around.

My business partner and I had a deal where we would purchase, legally, hemp, and have it extracted into oil at an extraction lab. During a purchase, my partner accepted around 12k from a man I'll refer to as 'X'. X told us, on multiple occasions after giving my partner the money, that he had obtained it from a loan shark affiliated with the Hells Angels. And things only get more fun from here.

The hemp was legally purchased safely, with receipts and paperwork. Then the lab involved exploded. Literally. The biomass and finished product was lost. I personally lost over 10k on the deal. My company lost money. We all lost.

There was absolutely no paperwork signed with the lab and no agreement other than verbal, there wasn't enough time prior. It also turned out that the lab was not fully permitted, and its operators went dark. This was during a desperate time for my company and we were acting quickly and without enough vetting.

So, we all lost money, and I was basically on the verge of a mental breakdown. This is when 'X' began threatening.

He called my partner and I and said things describing how the man he lent money from was '6'4" and tatted from his eyebrows to his feet' and how 'he was coming for his money no matter what, somebody had to pay, and it won't be me' how 'we didn't want to mess with these guys' and 'I did all I could, this guys coming for his money now'.

So now I've lost my own money, company money, and I'm worried the Hells Angels are coming to kill me. Over a deal I didn't even know my partner made. Not what I went to college for.

So here's the last part: We were equity stakeholders in a nursery of which 'X' had some ties to the campus it is located. He then lied to our nursery manager, extorted free plants out of him because 'we owed him'. We were minority holders below 20% equity. So he stole valuable plants from a company with multiple shareholders. And our parent company owned into the nursery, so he also stole from other stakeholders other than my partner and I. I mean, I own shares in Apple, why didn't he just call Tim Cook for some free iMacs?

Now he is threatning to sue unless my company pays him back, and I am threatning to counter-sue for threatening us and extortion.

My company has since taken a very profitable Hemp contract in another state, and my CFO is worried this could kill our momentum and we should just pay. I just don't know what sort of claim he has, if any. I despise this man for the threats and the extortion. I know this is a bit confusing, any help very much appreciated.

TL;DR:
Man took money from gang-affiliated loan shark, lost it with us in potentially illegal operation, threatened us, extorted a company of ours, and now wants to sue.

Answer: I would call the police and tell them what’s happening and how you feel that you life is in danger AS SOON AS POSSIBLE


Title: Friend who borrwed Nintendo Switch refusing to give it back

Question:
Hey Reddit,

Back in January I lent a friend my Nintendo Switch along with two games and the pro controller. I was going out of the country for two months and didn't see the harm in it. Once I returned from my trip, I was offered a job in another state and asked her to mail me back the Switch anytime and I would even pay for the shipping. She of course said she would do that and pay for the shipping and thanked me profusely for letting her borrow it.

At the beginning of July I messaged her again to inquire about the Switch and to see if she had mailed it. I then come to find out she has blocked me. completely. On all of social media, texts, phone calls, everything.

I filed a police report for a civil dispute but the officer wants her exact address, which I don't have. I have no idea where to go from here, do I need to hire an attorney for this? If this was just $50 or so I would drop it, but this is $400 worth of stuff and I'm just confused as to why she did a complete 180. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you very much

Answer:
 Sue her in small claims court. You don’t need an attorney. Answer #2: My suggestion - get a mutual friend to find their address for you. That's the simplest way to handle it.

You can also contact Nintendo's customer service to see if you can get help tracking the IP account on the switch, if it's still set to your Nintendo Switch account. Answer #3: Failing to return something is considered theft, the police should be able to charge her with a criminal offense. If you have her name (and DOB if it is a common name) they can find her


Title: Bought a $3060 macbook from apple, card never got charged.

Question:
Bought a Macbook pro off the apple New Zealand site, (i'm a kiwi) the $3060 went out of my account but yesterday I noticed the money had returned back into my account. There is no transaction present in my statements between myself and apple, just the initial transaction between my savings and my debit card accounts.
The Macbook pro turned up on Thursday and is in my possession,
what should I do? Who should I call?

Answer: There's a good chance what you initially saw was the preliminary charge, or the pre-approval (I forget what card companies actually call this, but it's the funds they "hold" to make sure you have the money in your account - it drops off after a couple days), and you'll see the actual charge "post" to your account in the next couple days.


Title: I saw this posted on twitter. Could there be any legal repercussions for this?

Answer:
 It’s obviously intended to deceive buyers for monetary gain. Fraud is usually defined as deception, not falsehood. Criminal conviction? Probably not. But that’s not getting past a civil court.Answer #2: That's quite obviously incredibly misleading, even if it's stated as exactly what is sold. In Texas, there's an act called the "DTPA" which protects consumers from deceptive trade practices. It's written specifically to be very vague and broad so that it can be argued in virtually any circumstance. It outlines a bunch of things that aren't allowed, but you basically can't be false or *misleading*. This is *definitely* misleading, and no reasonable consumer would buy a $650 "P Edition", especially as there is no officially labeled "P Edition".

Basically, it'd be down to the judge, but it can definitely be argued.Answer #3: Yeah, it's trademark infringement, even if technically it's not fraud.Answer #4: This shit's been happening for decades on eBay. They've never bothered to deal with it because it makes them too much money.Answer #5: I’ve seen this done with bikes too. So shady but might be legal


Title: Coworker called me a Faggot

Question:
A week ago one of my coworkers went up to another coworker and, while talking about me, called me a faggot. I reported this to HR two days later. I returned to work the next day and saw that the girl was still working there. I learned (from my coworkers, I was never talked to about it by management) that the manager of the store decided that this girl was going to be given a "final warning" because she had never gotten in trouble before. The assistant manager and the HR rep at my job then talked to me today, telling me that if I continue to talk about what happened to any of my coworkers, I'll be the one getting in trouble.

A similar incident happened a few months back where one girl, T, was having problems with another girl, A, for intentionally not doing her job. The store was also investigating A for stealing time by asking to go home early and then not clocking out until her ride arrived, which would end up being 10-20 minutes at a time.

One day, A and T had gotten into an argument and, after A left, her Fiance called the store claiming that T had called A a "Jew". They fired T that day, despite nobody else hearing what had been said.

Is there anything I can do?

Answer:
 The employer's job is to make sure the behavior stops.  They are not required to fire on a first offense, and they are not required to treat every offense identically.

If it happens again, make sure you report it.  There's nothing else you can do at this time.


Title: Uncle filed to be administrator of probate against the rest of the family's wishes - SF bay area, CA

Question:
Title is the short story.  My grandfather passed away in December, he had four kids, one of them (my mother) passed away 3 years ago, leaving three kids plus my sister and I as heirs to his estate. It's a fairly simple estate, just a house worth around $700k minus about $200k in mortgage/other debts.

Here's the issue.  We all chose my aunt as the administrator for the estate. She goes to file to be the administrator and comes to find that my youngest uncle already filed for it, picked a lawyer, and is not waiving the administrator fee (which my aunt planned on doing)

My sister and I have been trying to get ahold of my uncle and he hasn't responded to us, we haven't gotten any coordination from the lawyer while the other aunt and uncle have. Last we've heard, he told my aunt there's a court hearing on a Sunday later this month and we have to be there in order to get any money. No part of that last sentence makes any sense, so it sounds to me like he's hiding any important information from anybody.

So my question is, is there anything we can do in this situation? Can the three of us (my sister and I acting as one vote) go to the court and force my uncle out of the administrator spot and have my aunt or myself become the administrator? If not, what's the best way to proceed, given that my uncle is not contacting me and I have no idea who the lawyer is that's handling all this?
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer: Find an estate lawyer in your area and sit down with him.  This doesn't make sense.  I don't know what hearing would be on a Sunday.


Title: [TX] Say Bio Mom dies. Does married Step Father retain custody or estranged, abusive bio dad?

Question:
El Paso, Texas.

My mother is going into surgery today, and a horrible thought floated in my head that a problem could arise during surgery, and there would be the question of my half-sister, 14.

Mom and StepDad have been married since 2008 and raised my sister together since then. Bio dad floats in and out of the edges of the picture. He beat the shit out of me, 8 at the time and mom, and got away from the family around when i was 9. She met Sdad in 2007 and they've been together ever since. Bio Dad made an effort to impress his newest victim/girlfriend and started to hang out with my sister in the last few years, but she doesnt like him.

Step dad never adopted Sister because Bio Dad would fight it, and my mother is.. Sentimental. So here we are. Mom goes into surgery, doesn't make it. Who has the higher chance of getting custody of sister?

Sdad: estranged, shitty family, works nights as a CO, makes 40k,, bad health, smokes, in Sister's life as a good father since she was 5. Rents a 3 bed house sister lives in, by her school, owns his car. Only other person in the house was sort of a stray, but she, 21F, will be adopted by SDad as well.  (idk what info is relevant)

Bio Dad: cocaine and spice habit, 400 lbs, lives in 380 sq ft of govt housing. Still uses his fists to talk if you happen to be smaller than him. Has a harpy of a mother and sister with a lot of money. No custody order in place, no child support in place.

If either one don't get it, or if she gets shoved off to her Bio dad, can i Or Sdad fight for custody?

Me: 22F, engaged, graduates college This year, has full time job afterwards. My fiance, M25, works full time. Combined income ~75k/yr, has assets for therapy and whatnot, good schools in my city of Columbus, OH.

I included what i thought was relevant, but let me know if more info is needed. Thank you.

Answer:
 Prayers or good vibes (whichever you prefer) for your mother.

This is obviously not helpful for today's situation, but if you Mom can get life insurance, she and your step-dad may want to consult with an attorney about how much he would need to try to retain custody of your sister.  My husband and I have a similar situation with my step-daughter and her biomom, and when purchased more life insurance recently, we took into account how much an attorney thought that I would need to support a custody battle to be able to keep step-daughter with me.

Also, if your sister has a bank account, consider asking your parents to put you or someone else responsible on it as well until she is 18 - we have an extra person on my step-daughter's account because we didn't want her biomom to have access to it if DH and I suddenly got hit by a bus together or something.


Title: Being sued for collections in a state I don't live in and can't afford to travel to.

Question:
I ended up defaulted on some privately owned student loans. The lender suing me claims to be a first-party lender, which allows them to sue me in their state. They're suing me in their state's court (Iowa), I was served with the documents on Thursday night.

I've already contacted several lawyers in the state in question, as I know ones local to me will not be able to help me. The amount I'm being sued for is well over twice my gross annual income (and probably three times my adjusted annual income).

A change of venue is likely not possible as the promissory note for the loans was signed in the state in question, although I attended school there as an out-of-state student.

While I'm employed full time, my income isn't great and finding a higher paying job isn't possible at this time or in the near future.  Additionally, I have medical problems and mental health issues that require regular care, although neither of which disable me from being unable to work completely.  I have to live with a parent due to the high cost of living in my area, coupled with medical costs, and transportation costs as well.

Lawyers I've spoken with are unwilling to help me either due to me being out of state, or due to me being unable to pay their retainer in full. Naturally, I don't have $1,200+ sitting around to pay any of them. Since I'm not below the poverty line, I do not qualify for legal aid. I also cannot afford to travel to the state in question to defend myself in person.

I have some money in savings, but not enough to pay a retainer or even travel costs. I'm considering selling my car, but that will mean losing my job in the long run.

I know there isn't a fix to this, as I'm really just looking to minimize the damage here.  I'm also aware that things will get much worse if I don't file an answer.

Answer: Some states and courts allow you to attend remotely through a video conference. Call tomorrow morning and ask.


Title: LCS threatening to sue over unauthorized use of stock imagery?

Question:
Hey. I'm based in Los Angeles, CA. I run a small media site, and we occasionally post news. All of the news are user-generated (contributed by freelancers) under their own name and discretion, and we point this out in our terms/DMCA policy. I do pay these freelancers.

About half a year ago, one of the contributors posted a news article and used a stock image from a website that was the original source of that news piece. The contributor left the copyright text on the image itself, and also gave photo credit to the source site underneath the image.

LCS (License Compliance Services) contacted me about 2 weeks ago on behalf of the stock imagery site, asking to pay them $680 or they'll sue. I removed the image and I ignored the letter, and they contacted me again yesterday, re-stating that I need to pay or they'll sue. What's the best course of action here?

I think that we gave all the necessary credits, and the image was used under the [Fair Use law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use) in a news article. Ads are running in the sidebar which is across the board and applies to the whole website (no ads/sources of revenue directly in the article). On top of that, it's also user-generated content and the contributor sourced the image and wrote the article himself under their own name.

I don't think ignoring the 2nd letter is good. What do I do? Thanks guys!
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer:
 They're hoping you'll pay. If they really feel like you owe them, just wait till you're served with a suit. You've removed the image, so you've done your part. The next is to see if they really want to push this into a court.

At this point, it's a waiting game. If you're not willing to pay, then they're going to have to take you to court to try and win a settlement.

the only paper you shouldn't ignore is when you're served. Otherwise, fuck em.


Title: odd shoplifting/transfer goods felony case advice please

Question: my exgirlfriend totaled a car months ago had around 1500$ electronics seized. this pile of merchendise needs to dissapear for her to get out of or reduce something. shes told me before they want her to say i told her to do it. there is obviously photos of these things being concealed by her not by me maybe a piece or 2 but no where near felony amount over months. but ive had myself near it on camara. she has a drug problem and does ci things now sadly. shes guilty as hell about it and tells me. i feel trapped in a way i didnt steal the stuff i have court really soon on what i belive is a bogus case to be built on..she got court on same date time to.. am i going to get boned here? i hope for a felony amount like that proof needs to be more solid then some pictures and her word. probably going to talk to a lawyer. happy to give details or take advice

Answer: What is your question. You aren't making a lot of sense. If your girlfriend wants you to take the fall for her say no and get a new girlfriend. No girl is worth a felony conviction.


Title: Twin burgled my apartment of ~$15k in 2 laptops, a desktop computer, and a server then returned it one year later in SF, CA. Can I press charges?

Question:
He can't get away with this. I have an audio recording of him admitting to copying my key, renting a truck while I was at work, trespassing, stealing everything and loading it into the truck, and bringing it back to his apartment. He still harasses me to this day with emotional and verbal abuse.

What should I do?

---

**UPDATE:** There's already a police report filed with San Francisco PD right after it happened about a year ago and they even sent two CSI-type guys who dusted for fingerprints and such. They said that the fingerprints were "familial" or something similar. I'm concerned about a law that I heard of that makes it illegal to record a conversation in California. So they have fingerprints and I have the recordings and I have proof that I received the items back which provides further proof of the crime. What do you think?

Answer: Call the cops


Title: Traded suggestive pictures with a girl who turned out to be underage

Question:
I was using a dating app and trading NSFW pictures with a girl and then she told me she was 17. I said that we'd either have to wait until shes 18 or she'd have to come to my state where she would be legal. I didn't say Id go to meet her, I didn't say Id go pick her up or ask for any more pictures. After that we stopped talking but then a few days later her dad texted me from her phone and then today called me and I tried to explain that I thought she was 18 because that's what her profile said. He said he was thinking about going to the police and I told him that in that case it would be a legal manner and I wouldn't be able to communicate with him further without a lawyer.

The state that she lived in is Wisconsin. I know I should talk to a lawyer but I was just wondering what anyone thought about the situation and how a court would view it.

Answer:
 This is a known scam. There is no girl. There is no father. He will begin asking for money in exchange for not going to the police. That's extortion.Answer #2: This is likely a scam, but for future reference: asking a minor to come to your state to do something with you that would be illegal where the minor lives is a bad idea.Answer #3: In addition to it being a known scam, "unless she comes to my state where it's legal" is a BAD MOVE. First, if the suggestive photos qualify as kiddie porn, it's illegal nationwide. Second, transporting a minor across state lines for an immoral purpose (for example, sex in a state where they're over the age of consent, while in their home state they're under) is a crime in itself.Answer #4: Scam. Scam. Scam. Answer #5: > I told him that in that case it would be a legal manner and I wouldn't be able to communicate with him further without a lawyer.

Well done!

(Also, it's totally a scam)


Title: [Wisconsin] In order to cut costs, the Dairy Queen I work at got rid of the "collar" (the thing that stops our hands from touching the ice cream) for regular blizzards. This means that we quite literally touch every ice cream we hand out, and I'm pretty sure its against health codes.

Question:
For starters, I'm only 17 and I know pretty much nothing about legal stuff. However, I can use Google, and looking into I found an official Wisconsin Health Codes fact sheet.

http://imgur.com/a/yzZKL

It straight up says "No Contact with Ready To Eat Foods".

Pretty sure ice cream is a ready to eat food, and I'm definitely sure that we have contact with it, with our bare hands. Please advise, I hate my job.

Answer:
 Make a complaint to the health department. Answer #2: Legal advice:

If it's against health code, I agree with /u/NerdCrush: file a complaint with the health department. Firing you because you do that would likely fall under wrongful termination.

Life advice:

> I hate my job.

I doubt that's the only fast food restaurant around, and from what context you've provided, you are in a serving/cashier position. You can always quit and find another job.Answer #3: the image you linked has the health department contact info at the bottom.

they would probably be interested in this.

also, I would not be interested in eating grubby hands flavored ice creamAnswer #4: I believe this is why the ice cream cones at McDonalds are shipped with paper "grips" already installed - it's cheaper and faster than having employees put on vinyl gloves each time they handle a cone.Answer #5: IANAL

If you are talking about the metal ring you put in the cup in order to make a shake or blizzard, then I'm not sure how not using one equates to touching food with your bare hands.

Many places don't use a collar when making a shake on a shake machine.Answer #6: Call the health department and leave a message as a customer who noticed and was wondering. If a health department gets a compel from the public, they have to inspect but my point is you can do it anonymously