Title: [MN] I was assaulted several months ago by a stranger, can get a restraining order against him?

Question: Title pretty much covers it. I was physically assaulted by a stranger in front of a witness. The witness and I told the cops the same story, the male said he didn't touch me. The DA didn't move forward. I'm terrified to leave my house,  in therapy and all that, but I would feel a lot safer if I knew he couldn't come near me. But this isnt someone I've lived with or was in a relationship with and our only interaction was the assault.

Answer: Unless he's continuing to harass you you're going to be out of luck. A one off thing doesn't create a continuing danger to you. Answer #2: If he hasn't contacted you again since the assault, likely no.


Title: How can I get Chase to give me access to a custodial account, now that I'm over 18?

Question:
They said only my mom can access it.

It's a CD.

California.

I can find the bank statement, if that'd be useful...

Also, is this an FAQ? I'm sure it's been asked before...

Answer: When does the custodial account terminate?  It can be set between age 18 and 25, when it's set up.  It sounds like you're not yet at the age for which this account was set up.


Title: My job was given to another employee

Question:
I live in the U.S., Southern Illinois, and am in banking. I am a teller supervisor at my branch location. Another employee, the same position as me at a different branch, put in her two weeks and to get her to stay they gave her my branch and position. In doing so I was going to be forced to go to her location. This takes my commute from 15 miles to 45 miles one way. I asked for some sort of financial compensation to make up for the additional gas, wear and tear on my vehicle, and hours lost spent on the commute. They denied me any compensation.

If I deny the transfer obviously I lose my job. Do I have any legal recourse or a claim for unemployment?

I make $15.50 an hour and figured it out to a loss of about $1700/year on gas and oil changes 180 hours extra spent in a car and 13k extra miles a year.

Answer:
 If you turn down the offered position and are fired you would probably be eligible for unemployment because it tripled your commute and they aren't offering anything in return. No guarantees though. Absolutely do not resign no matter what they say, it will hurt your unemployment claim.Answer #2: >If I deny the transfer obviously I lose my job. Do I have any legal recourse or a claim for unemployment?

Absent an employment contract and/or being a member of a union, you do not have legal recourse.

You can file for unemployment if you are fired for not taking the position or you quit due to having to commute 90 miles roundtrip.Answer #3: If you need some more in-depth information on unemployment benefits, check out [Illinois Legal Aid Online](https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/getting-unemployment-benefits)

There is a section on getting unemployment benefits if you quit your job. The website can also help run you through the process of applying and help you troubleshoot if you get denied. Answer #4: You are an "at will" employee (no bank that I'm aware of uses term contracts for teller/supervisor positions, and I know a lot of banks).  You can either choose to go to the location you are told to go, or they can let you go.

They actually did not have to offer you the position at the other branch, they could have let you go right then.  In either case, you can likely collect unemployment.

Your best bet, if you do not want to make this commute is to seek a new job, closer to home.


Title: Assassinated but not Dead (Employment Law)

Question: [removed]

Answer: This is /r/legaladvice not /r/longfuckingstories


Title: I want to file a claim against a restaurant regarding an incident that happened two weeks ago. So far I've brainstormed two ideas.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You're eaten lots of things in the last two weeks it will be impossible to prove that it was the oysters. Answer #2: Make sure you include "The Beach," "The Ocean," and "The Estate of the Oyster" as necessary parties.  You're going to want to have a pool of pockets to pay out any judgment.  Answer #3: > Option 2: ~~Go back and order oysters again and pretend the incident happened then and collect evidence and cooperate with the manager if he wants a statement.~~  **COMMIT FRAUD**

FTFY.

That's a terrible idea and no one here is going to support that.

You can get records of the work that was done and how much you paid from your dentist.

How long ago was this?


Title: [CA] Served with lawsuit seeking $200k+ in Damages. What are my options?

Question:
2 years ago I was 19, under the drinking age. Cops show up to a small party because a neighbor complained. I am detained and long story short I am sitting on the curb and one officer goes behind me and another in front of me. Without telling me anything they grab me and throw me on my right side as I am handcuffed. I did not resist and was completely taken by surprise. During that moment they claim I resisted and injured the one behind me.

Only one witness who sat 5 feet from me other than the two police officers. They both had body cameras however claim "it was not on" during the confrontation yet it was used when they interrogated the neighbor and me at the station.

Fast forward a year later and I take the plea bargain for no contest, in the criminal trial, as it seemed like a offer I couldn't resist or risk going to jail for something I didn't do. It was a scary decision.

Fast forward another year and I thought life seemed good and this was all a thing of the past. Unfortunately a couple weeks ago I was served a CIVIL SUIT by the police officer who claims he was injured. He seeks $200k+ in damages. I am 21 years old, I work at a restaurant for $10 an hour however don't even have $1000 saved up. My insurance denies helping me because I was convicted and plead no contest.

My dad cannot afford an attorney and believes we can fight this case on our own, however I have serious doubts even though I know I did not harm this man, intentionally or accidentally. If and only if he was harmed that night it was due to their unlawful excessive force.

What are my options? Worse case scenario I lose, how would I even pay for anything? I have too many questions and I know I should seek an attorney however I do not know where to begin.

Answer:
 This is going to be way beyond the scope of this sub. I don't think anyone can give you any useful advice other than you absolutely need an attorney.

Good LuckAnswer #2: Contact your state's bar association and ask either for a criminal defense attorney or a personal injury lawyer (specifying that you're the defendant on a personal injury claim).  A consultation with a lawyer may be free, but you'll definitely want to beg or borrow the money for an attorney than face a $200k judgement against you for messing up in court and being found guilty.


Title: Found I-phone, original owner won't come get it

Question:
I looked for another post similar to this but I couldn't find one, so sorry if its a re-post.
Background Story: Found an Iphone in the snow, put it in rice, plugged it in to my computer and found the name of the owner. Last text was from 38 days ago and hadn't been synced in six weeks. I live on a college campus so I searched our directory for the owner, found the person and emailed them. She responded and said she would come and get it the next day. She no showed on two more occasions. I waited a week to see if she would say anything, then sent another email three days ago. I told her that I would not hold on to it indefinitely for her, and that if I didn't hear back from her within the next two days I was going to get rid of it. She never answered the e-mail. This whole scenario took place in Ohio.

Question/Advice:
Does the fact that the last backup was six weeks ago make the phone fall under "abandoned property"?
Can I legally sell this phone since this girl has been given a "reasonable" amount of time to come and get it (2 1/2-3 weeks ish)? I think thats the necessary standard.
Should I hold onto this phone longer?

Answer: Can't you just take it to the campus police, tell them know who the owner of the phone is, and let them take over for you? You can ask them when you can have it back if she doesn't claim it.


Title: Child support includes...

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You are required to pay the amount ordered by the court. Anything above and beyond that is voluntary on your part and if she wants to make it mandatory then she will need to get the order adjusted, which you can dispute.


Title: [CA - Los Angeles] Felony DUI. What to do next?

Question:
Hey guys,

Last night my roommate "S" had crashed his car into somebody waiting behind the red light at 40 MPH effectively totaling his car. He was booked on a felony DUI when the police arrived at the scene in which he blew a .03 and was blood tested that came back positive for Marijuana.

From what I was told by him, at first the victim that he hit had said he had no bodily injuries, yet the police officers had said that he had sustained some injuries (it could've been that the victim was at shock at first and didn't say anything, i really dont know the full situation on that). I was also told by him that they took the blood test and only after was told by the police that he could've opted out of it.

At this point, he is in custody with a 100K bail, and wont see a judge until Tuesday. I had already mentioned to him to not speak about the incident to any prosecutors /police until he gets a lawyer.

If any lawyers in the Los Angeles area could point me in the right direction in what to do next as we are waiting that would be great.

What are his chances in court, what will they probably offer him?
How to find a proper lawyer?
Any bail bond that would take this high of a bail? Is it worth it or should he wait it out till he sees a judge?

Thank you.

Answer: He was booked last night and his test already came back positive for HTC!?!?!?Answer #2: Wait a minute. $100,000 bail for dui with injury? Bullshit.  http://www.occourts.org/directory/criminal/felonybailsched.pdf


Title: [CA] Is it legal to tell employees that want to protest that they need to self quarantine before coming back to work?

Question:
First of all, I fully support the protests and have donated to several causes.  I would be marching out there if COVID-19 wasn't still a thing.

My question.  Our office is fortunate enough to still be open during the pandemic.  Two of our employees have been going to demonstrations the last few nights.  While I support their right to free speech, I'm wondering if requiring them to self quarantine for 14 days from the last day they protest is legal?

We have several at risk employees, and several of us have very at risk people in our households, including my 93 year old grandmother who lives with me.

We have a total of 7 employees and are located in California.

Answer:
 Reading up, California does not currently allow employers to restrict domestic travel of employees, only international travel. This is the closest I could find related to this, as you cannot necessarily tell them where they can and cannot go outside of the office if it is inside the country.

If they have been exposed to a confirmed positive, you can require them to stay home from work:

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/employer-faqs-for-covid-19-coronavirus-23455/

I doubt that you can prove they have had such exposure though

You can also require employees get tested before reentering the workplace, but I am not sure if this applies to ones who have already been working there:

https://www.cdflaborlaw.com/coronavirus

What I am saying is I don’t see any specific guidelines related to this.

You could always ask them to stay home, and pay them for the two weeks that they do. You could potentially terminate their employment if they refuse as California is an at will employment state, but as it might be phrased that you were firing them for going to a protests, that would be a very risky move.


Title: Can someone ELI5 to me why this didn't work? It seems the parents followed the protocol people always tell LAOPs to force eviction.

Answer: It did work. If a tenant ignores a notice to vacate, you have to go to court to get an eviction order before police will escort them out of the house. The parents went to court and got an order (as soon as their lawyer drafts one, the judge will sign it). At the conclusion of the time in the order, they can contact the sheriff to escort the son out of their house.Answer #2: Jeeze. A faster way to get him out would have been to have sex in the living room and kitchen all the time. If my folks had done that I'd have been out the next day homeless or not.


Title: Can someone find out I called the police on them?

Question:
I live in an apartment complex. I heard screaming coming from the apartment below me. I heard it first through the window, but then closed it and could hear it through the floor.

I usually can’t hear anything from the other units, but the screaming did sound like someone was in trouble, or it was a bad fight between two people. I’ve only called the cops one other time in my life, and it was last year because there was disturbing things coming from the unit below me. Same one.

I called 911, said it sounded like fighting. They assumed my unit number, and I confirmed. They asked for my last name and I refused to give it. Is there any way the people below me could find out I called on them? I’m not exactly worried about them finding out, but just curious.

Answer:
 Probably not.

It really depends on how the state proceeds with the case.

A defendant has an *absolute* right to confront his accuser, so if they state needed *your* testimony to make the case, then yes, they will find out.

Here's the thing though. 99% of the time, the person calling in the tip is irrelevant.

No one cares. Cops testify that they got an anonymous tip and we all breeze past that because it's what happens *after* that which winds up being important.

If no one died, I doubt you're going to be hearing about this again, and they'll never find out.


Title: My roommate moved out and stole my things

Question:
Moved in with some friends of mine back in October and about a week in one started causing a lot of problems. She has a long history of being extremely manipulative and toxic and we finally got her out last week. As she was moving her stuff out she insisted I stole parts from her computer. I wasn't home at the time, my boyfriend and I were out and my other roommate was working. Came home just after she had left to find a tobacco pipe, a bag of vinyl records, an indoor grill, four HDMI cables, the hookups to my Wii, and multiple video game disks missing, none of which belong to her. She also swiped a coupon book which we caught a glimpse of in one of the vehicles they were using. The missing items had been there that morning and she was the only person in the house between that time. Is there anything that I can do? She refuses contact with me and refuses to remove her name from the lease (which I've been told I can file a lawsuit for that alone because she's no longer contributing to rent despite her name being on a legally binding document).

This is in the state of Virginia.

Answer: File a report with the police for theft.


Title: Emotional Support Animals and buying a house in HOA - Florida USA

Question:
I have two indoor cats that are emotional support animals (ESAs with DR notes) and I’m putting in an offer on a stand alone,non attached villa with an HOA.  Do I have to disclose my ESAs with my offer because I’d rather not.  I don’t want HOA to find some “other” reason to deny me if I do mention my ESA’s.  There are no other reasons they would deny me.

I don’t want to ask agent or HOA before or during closing about ESAs so ideally they wouldn’t know about my ESAs until after I close and move in and then I will provide DR notes if asked. Thanks in advance for any input!

Edit to add: the HOA pet policy states one pet.

Answer: Do the HOA rules prohibit cats?Answer #2: Does the HOA not allow pets? Otherwise you shouldn't have to mention it at all. I've never heard of an HOA not allowing cats in a home you own.Answer #3: Wait the HOA gets to review every buyer? That’s dangerously close to redlining. Answer #4: ESAs are not protected like service animals, only dogs and miniature horses can be service animals. It would be best to tell your HOA now rather than hide it.


Title: Took my car in for transmission repair (estimated time to fix: one week). It's been six weeks and still no car. Now, the transmission place has stopped responding

Question:
Some back story:
  Location: Washington, USA. I inherited a 93 Ford Taurus from Grandmother about five years ago after she passed away. She hardly drove it, so it was in pretty good condition and seemed to be in pretty good shape. It was, for the most part, until the transmission started deteriorating about two and a half years ago. I took it in to a transmission repair shop and paid to have the service done; a full repair/parts replacement with a three-year warranty. Job was done, car ran fine, and I was on my way.

  Fast forward to six weeks ago, and I noticed my car started having transmission problems again. I took it back to the shop that fixed it, and they told me it should take a week, maybe a week and a half MAX in order to fix the transmission. I called every now and then to check on the progress and they told me it would still be done on time. 10 business days go by and I check to see if it's ready for pick-up. Guy told me that had to order a new transmission and it got lost (?) somewhere along the way and they would need two, three weeks MAX.
  Fine. Shit happens, and I make other transportation arrangements.

  Fast forward three weeks, and I've called in to check on the progress (this was on a Monday). They then told me it would be ready by Thursday (an additional three days). Fine by me, I now know when I'll be getting my car back. Call back on Thursday to be told it should be finished tomorrow (Friday) and they'll give me a call sometime before closing. Friday goes by and I didn't get a call; I ended up leaving a message at the establishment seeing nobody picked up the phone (I called while business hours were still in effect - hmmmm...). Getting a bit concerned, I had my step-father, an engineer who's very well versed in auto mechanics, intervene. He contacted their corporate offices and eventually found out they weren't sure when the car would be ready (???).

  Now, for the past two weeks they haven't responded to our inquiries or really tried to keep us updated. I almost feel like as if my car has been taken from me, and at this point, I'm not really sure what to do.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Have you tried going by there and talking to someone? That would be my first step.


Title: Can I still do something? Orlando Fl

Question:
In May 2012 I had a son via c-section that I  in no way medically needed. My Doctor constantly bullied me into just getting one and getting it over with. It was my first pregnancy and I didint know this was not normal. A few days later my c-section started pouring puss to where I could ring out my clothes from how drenched. The hospital told me it was normal, I went to my doctor the next day and ge told me I was going septic. For over a month I had to go to the E.R and wait 2-3 hours to explain to the nurses (my doctor refused to see me in office saying it wasnt worth the money) how to scrape the new skin growing and stuff with gauze, I had to go through this extremely painful process for over a month. Towards the end of the month the hospital refused to see me anymore and my doctor finally agreed to treat me in his office, but after a week of non-stop trying to convince me to treat myself at home, I agreed. Almost 4 years later my
 c-section is still not healed and is so deep I can fit my hand in it. I am terrified of ever having anymore children. Is there anything that can still be done?

Answer: You should talk to a medical malpractice attorney because medical malpractice is way to fact specific to not be handled by an attorney that specializes in it. These attorney's usually give a free first consult.Answer #2: I think you meant that "pus" was coming from your incision. Nothing was "pouring" from your "puss" as that was not subject to a giant baby head coming out of it.


Title: (Illinois) My roommate who I have always given my rent money to didn't pay the rent and the money is gone...

Question:
... Is there any legal recourse other than suing him?  What can I do other than paying the rent myself?

Edit: All resolved, he had the money but he just didn't pay for whatever idiotic reason his brain came up with. (He claims hindsight is 20/20 bullshit). Only 6 more months dealing with this jackass and the lease will be up.

Thank you all for the responses. I've changed how things work so I won't ever get screwed again going forward, even if he fails to come up with rent.

Answer:
 Whoops. You done goofed. You can sue in small claims court. That's pretty much it.

Now you know: Pay your debts directly.


Title: My emotionally abusive husband is trying to force me to keep supporting him during dissolution process

Question:
Hello,

My husband and I are going through a dissolution (in order to save money). I requested we separate because he has repeatedly been emotionally and verbally abusive to me. We also decided to try polyamory several years ago, and he ended up basically leaving me for the third person who joined us, who was living with us during the entire several year period and continues to live with him.

&#x200B;

At this point, I am living with my parents and he (+ his girlfriend) is living in our house (we are both on the title and both paid 50% of the down payment).  When I moved out, he was continuing to question me about charges he saw on the joint credit card, so I switched to using my own credit card and paying it off myself. He demanded I continue to help support him, because he was still paying my other bills (note: he makes approx twice as much as I do). I spent a month contributing most of my paychecks, even tho I was not living there, and divided out as much of my bills from the joint accounts as I could. At the end of the month, I told him I was dividing our finances, transferred money from our joint savings to my personal checking and stopped transferring my paychecks to the joint account (tho I do still cover half the cost of the house mortgage and told him I would cover/assist with any other charges he pointed that are associated with me. I told him I would help cover home maintenance charges so long as I knew and agreed with them in advance).

&#x200B;

In response to this, my husband is trying to force me to transfer the money from our savings that I transferred out back. He repeatedly insults me, claims he doesn't feel comfortable proceeding with the dissolution due to my unethical behavior, has made questionable claims about large bills he states he cannot pay until I transfer the money back, and has threatened my credit score. When I try to talk to him about his concerns, he insists he needs me to transfer the money back to trust me enough to proceed with dissolution. Last month, he was claiming if I stopped transferring my paychecks to the joint account, he was going to spend all our savings instead, which makes me hesitant to do this.  He refuses to meet in person to discuss this. When I ask him about alternative plans that would allow me to divide out my finances, he insists we go back to the situation we had before (with my transferring him all of my spare cash and all savings in the joint accounts). He claims I took more than half the money, even tho I can and have offered to provide evidence that this is not the case.

&#x200B;

Legally, I don't know what to do. Getting a lawyer would effectively wipe out all savings, but transferring the money back would effectively do the same thing. I cannot move forward in supporting myself and finding a new place if most of my money every paycheck is going to him. I am concerned that if I force him in a corner on this issue, he may react angrily and start destroying stuff I still have at the house. What are my best options for maneuvering this situation, legally?

Answer:
 You need to use the word "No".

If he reacts by destroying marital property, that would be considered dissipation of assets, and it would be taken into account when distributing marital property in the divorce.

If you are not able to use the word "No" an attorney would be invaluable to you.

Those are your options:  Maintain your own boundaries, or hire an attorney to do that for you.

I don't think I can suggest strongly enough going the attorney route, as they can also help you navigate the divorce process.  And, may reveal to you rights, and strategies you, and no no one here might think of.


Title: Suspected of cyber crime, federal agents took devices in raid, how long do they have to press charges if they find whatever it is they are looking for? USA

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Write off those devices. Even if you get them back, chances are they will either be damaged or hopelessly obsolete by the time you do.

If you don't already have a lawyer, get one. Specifically, get someone who knows literally anything about cybercrime. Depending on the specifics of your case, the EFF may be willing to offer some assistance.

IANAL.Answer #2: The statute of limitations for many cybercrimes is between 3 and 5 years.

So that's how long they can keep your devices before they have to file charges.Answer #3: if the phone is evidence in an open case, they can hold it until they decide no arrest is going to be made or if an arrest is made they can hold it until trial has completed. If you want the release of the phone, you can try to go to the DA's office and ask them to get the phone released they won't do it though since the police are still investigating with it.

They'll file charges when they're ready.

And yeah police can have people under investigation for as long as they want. I could be under investigation for something right now and i have no idea of it.


Title: Unfair employment opportunities?

Question:
My boss just told us this week, two days in advance that his brother would be starting here on Friday, today. He is starting full time, right out of the gate. I am a full time employee and work up front, along with a few guys in the warehouse that are full time we all had to go through the "part time trial" time. Like 90 days or more? I started in September of last year and wasn't made full time until January. I stressed I wanted full time to begin with.
This just seems wrong to me? My boss even went out to warehouse and told the supervisor to forget about the "regular" training like pulling orders for a designated amount of time since he would be full time just to teach him everything quick basically. Maybe I'm just personally upset but I feel like there's more there. I will also note that the place is shady in quite a few aspects. Also, I'm in Indiana, if that matters!
Thanks in advance!
TL;DR: my boss hired his brother full time right off the bat and I had to wait 3-4 months before being full time. Seems weird.

Answer: Nepotism is not illegal.


Title: Pulled over for speeding + failing to signal on a lane change, but officer recorded the wrong color of my car..

Question:
I was pulled over for exactly what the title says (although I am 95% sure I DID use my signal, I think the officer's view was obstructed by this one truck that was in front of him so he couldn't see the right side of my car which had the signal on). However, on the citation he recorded the color of my car as gray, but my car is a very obvious brown. Is there any way i can argue that he saw a different car or something?

Thanks!

Answer: I bought my daughter a car, color was called "marigold." I did it in part because it was pretty, but also because if a police officer writes anything other than "marigold" as the color, she'll be immune from any and all tickets.


Title: I have a few key employees that are morbidly obese. Is it legal for me to create an incentive program that would financially reward any employee who loses a specified amount of weight per year?

Question: If so, would it still be legal to tell them about it and encourage them to meet it? (privately of course)

Answer:
 Tread _extremely_ carefully. A number of jurisdictions have found that extreme obesity falls under medical disability protections, which could lead to expensive litigation if you discriminate - even "positively" - on that basis.

Get your company's attorney and HR involved. If you don't have those things, get an attorney involved at minimum.Answer #2: Create the program, give an incentive but for ALL employees.

Never in a million years tell individual person they should join in. 8/month, free gym reimbursement  or something.Answer #3: I have worked at several institutions that have rewards for healthy living, or weight loss. These have been offered across the board, and not specifically to obese employees. So, apparently it can be legal, but I do not know what would make it illegal or legal.
IANAL


Title: Say I'm building automated driving software and I use racing simulator video games to test and assist in some early computer vision work. What legal repercussions do I face from the video game publisher?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You don't "own a copy of the game."

You own a specific license to use the game in a specific way.  If you exceed the scope of that license you risk civil litigation.

You need permission to do this legally.


Title: Son experiencing racism as a McDonalds employee

Question:
I  believe my son is a victim of racism at McDonalds

He is 15 and has been working at McDonalds for about a month.  He has a white father and a South Korean mom.

I asked him to type out what happened tonight and wanted advice as to how to properly report it and what steps to take to stop this from happening and hopefully for him not experience any retaliation for reporting it.

Here are his words...

Shift 2:00PM - 10:00PM 10/08/2021 \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*

8:00PM - Co-workers were trying to get me to say the N-word . I did not say it back to them. They were saying, “ You won’t say it bro, cmon.” I was very intimidated. I just stopped talking to them. When I tried talking to them again about work they continued going on about it.

I did not exchange any words with them after, just continued my work.

8:30PM - Somehow the topic of music came up between myself and co-workers, employee 1, employee 2, employee 3.

We were talking about music and employee replied, “Shouldn’t you be listening to Chinese music.” I did not reply, just stared at him and continued working. I was upset by the comment but continued working. Manager \*\*\*\* was nearby in the office\[ and heard what was being said to me. He did not react to what my co-workers were saying.

8:35PM - I approached the Shift Manager \*\*\*\* , in his office,  asking him what he was going to do about this racist stereotyping. He replied, “ Understand that I’m Black and I experience racism on a daily basis, don’t be surprised.” I turned away and went back to the grill and continued working.

8:40PM - Shift Manager \*\*\*\* leaves his office and enters the kitchen. I was heading to the break room to grab my drink when he said in front of everyone, “ Slow Down Jackie Chan!” Everyone started laughing, I was quite upset on the inside but did not show it. I stopped heading towards the break room and turned around to continue working. I was humiliated and almost crying over the grill. Manager \*\*\*\* walked away as if nothing happened. I wanted to leave to gather myself but stayed professional due to the amount of orders coming through. I have shown no disrespect to my co-workers or managers. Anytime the manager gives me a hard time, I respond with yes mam/sir.

People Involved - employee 1, employee 2, employee 3 , shift manager \*\*\*\*

&#x200B;

Any advice would be appreciated

Answer:
 I’m certain this isn’t the advice you want to hear, but…maybe your son should just report it to upper management and resign?

I understand racism sucks, and we don’t want to remain idle and allow it to continue. But in a situation like this, with a fifteen year old working part time at a fast food joint…maybe expecting him to keep going back to work and trying to fight this battle via legal means actually helps your son less than asking your son if he wants to find a different job - especially considering how current management doesn’t seem interested in being helpful. All I’m trying to say is that if I were in your shoes, a cost/benefit analysis of this situation wouldn’t be worth trying to force change from the bottom.

Edit: typoAnswer #2: Restaurants are notoriously toxic and IMO not suitable for teenagers. Drug abuse, sexual harassment, and racism are rampant and typically uncontrolled. The McDonalds near me is run by crackheads and I would be floored if drugs weren’t sold out of it.

Ice cream shops tend to be run by teenagers and therefore more age appropriate. Retail may also be a better fit.


Title: [MI] dad gave me (18f) a phone under no conditions, can he take it back?

Question:
my dad sent me his old phone which is all paid off as a present because he said he will pay for his kids phones until they are 22 or whatever. he will be paying the service on it too.
he monitors who i text and where i am even though we never had a relationship, and blocks my mom who i live with whenever he pays my phone bills. i am going to take the SIM card out and buy my own service because of this when i get the phone, can he legally take it back or can i get in trouble for getting different service?

i am thinking about selling the phone too and buying a different one that's the same to make sure he didn't do anything weird to see where i am. is this legal as well (to sell it even though he bought it and pays the service?)

Answer: Your father gave you a gift.  You may do with it as you wish.  He cannot take it back unless you give it back to him of your own free will.Answer #2: No, he cannot.  You are 18 and he has no legal right to your possessions.  Sell it, throw it away, do whatever you like.


Title: Sister’s nudes were leaked

Question: My sister must’ve sent nudes to someone because my friend just told me. She is a minor. I am a minor. We’re both 16. (Were in Illinois)How do I handle this, I don’t think she knows yet and I have to tell her. If I call the cops my friend said since she took the picture she might get in trouble for having them too. I don’t know how this works. Someone posted them on Instagram. I want to get that person in deep shit because I don’t want anyone to ever think of doing this to her again. What should I do? If I tell my parents they’ll take away both our phones, I probably have to tell them though. Sorry for bad grammar and the bad writing I’m just really stressed.

Answer:
 Have you tried to contact Instagram and get them to remove the photos or shut down the poster's account?
And I agree, you definitely need to tell your parents.


Title: [IN] Wife in traffic accident, not at fault (per police report). Car probably totaled. Insurance asking for our portion of deductible.

Question:
Question on coverage in a "not her fault" accident in Indiana and whether we can handle this directly or if we should look at alternatives.

Wife was driving home, deer crossed the road and she slowed down (did not lose control, just slowed down).  Full sized pickup truck tried to stop, skidded on the slightly icy road, and hit her pretty hard.  Back end of vehicle pushed in pretty well, guessing that car will be totaled (2012 Honda Hatchback, just paid off in October, KBB Value around $6k+).

Police report says driver that hit her was "following too closely".  No idea if they were cited or not.

Took wife to ER since she seemed a bit "off" post accident.  No major issues, X-Rays/CT negative.  Our Insurance company said since she was still having back pain to go to other doc to do further tests.

Spoke to adjuster and they wanted me to pay my $1000 deductible now and to have them process the claim.  Seems odd since the accident was not her fault and the car would most likely be totaled.

Normally I would expect to have to pay out my deductible if we had repairs done or have it taken out of the cars value.

I don't expect (pending additional testing) that my wife would have any long term injuries from this accident (she is diabetic though, and I am not a doctor nor never played one on TV).  I don't expect that we would need anything over the value of the vehicle, the time off from work she has taken, and then any immediate medical costs.

My agent is telling me that I should let them handle everything, but I feel incredibly uncomfortable in cutting them a check for $1,000 and then hoping they would get me that money back.  Especially since not a single dime has been paid out to anyone.

I am also guessing that getting this money back from my insurance company will be far harder than giving it to them.

I am also hesitant in getting an attorney since it's a relatively normal/boring accident and don't want to have this get lost into a legal morass.

If I missed anything or broke r/legaladvice guidelines, please let me know and I will edit/change.
Topic:
Insurance

Answer:
 > Spoke to adjuster and they wanted me to pay my $1000 deductible now and to have them process the claim. Seems odd since the accident was not her fault and the car would most likely be totaled.

That's not odd at all.  You owe the deductible regardless of fault.  In some cases, your insurance company will waive or refund it, but they're not required to.


Title: eBay scam and now I'm in the middle of it

Question:
I listed an item for sale and shortly after an account purchased it and paid for it through eBay. I then received a message from the account asking to ship it to a different address in very broken English, so I figured it was a scam and called eBay. They realized it was an unauthorized account access (to the purchasers account) and they immeadily canceled the transaction and wiped the entire history of the transaction off eBay. At that point I had no access to the listing or any information anymore. So I figured it was canceled.

Now a month and a half later the guy who owns the account contacts me and says I have been reported to eBay and the police because I "put a charge through" for the transaction. I obviously didn't put a charge through, his account put the charge through and then I assumed eBay canceled it when they wiped the transaction off of eBay.

So I go back and yes I see his account was charged but for some reason when eBay canceled the transaction his charge was not reversed and the money, along with the money from my other 10-15 sales were still in pay pal.

I have no problem getting him the money back from the original transaction , but he already filed with his credit card that was accessed as well so I figured I shouldn't do anything until eBay says to.

Am I responsible for this happening or is this just an angry seller (he obviously has a right to be upset that his accounts were accessed) but is this my fault in any way? And if so what steps would you personally take next? What should I do in this situation?

Thank you in advance

Answer: It's definitely just an angry seller. Worst comes to worst, PayPal will take the money back assuming you haven't touched it. You have all the proof that you did nothing wrong so you're in the clear.Answer #2: Keep referring him to ebay or paypal to solve it.  Either that or just don't respond.


Title: The fumes from my neighbors idling truck are coming into my small apartment. Despite speaking to the tenent and landlord this health hazard continues. Even after making them aware of Massachusetts idling laws no one is taking my concern seriously, what legal response is there to ensure our safety?

Question:
When I first mentioned this to my landlord he spoke to the tenent and for a few days our neighbor wouldnt idle his truck for longer then 5 minutes which was fine because it takes about 15 for the livingroom and bedroom to start smelling like exhaust. However the reprieve didnt last long, Massachusetts winters are cold so my neighbor will idle his truck on average for 20 minutes- right beside our livingroom window. Our 1 bedroom is small and the smell quickly seeps throughout all but our bathroom.

When both my fiance and I spoke to our neighbor we told him we honestly dont care if he idles his truck, so long as his truck end isnt backed up to our window. His reply was that it would be too hard for him to get out of his parking space if he parked any other way. ( we live on a narrow street and peole park on the street because all the multifamily apartment/homes offer little off street parking.

My landlord seems bothered that we as tenents cant work this out, and trust me I wish we could,  but I feel this is an unhealthy situation. I've even offered my landlord to walk through my apartment when hes had his truck idling for so long so he can see that im not just complaining against my neighbor.

A friend suggested we threaten to stop paying rent if it continues but I feel that would put us in the wrong and we'd just get evicted. I dont want to aggrevate the situation I just want to stop the smell from getting into our small home.
What are my legal options to make it so we dont have to wake up to exhaust fumes?

Answer:
 I would get carbon monoxide detectors for your bedroom and living room. When he idles, if they go off, call the fire department.  They will hopefully fix the issue.Answer #2: Massachusetts has an (PDF warning) [anti-idling law ](https://www.mtholyoke.edu/sites/default/files/ehs/docs/massidlinglaw.pdf) that he is probably in violation of. I would start by reporting him the agencies recommended in the link. Sorry I don’t have a better answer. Answer #3: Not a legal solution, but vehicle exhaust contains carbon monoxide. If you can smell the exhaust, there are probably significant carbon monoxide levels in the house. Call 911 when this happens and ask the fire department to check for carbon monoxide. Do you have a functioning CO alarm?Answer #4: Record this happening. Get a carbon monoxide detector in the video too for good measure. Call the police every single time and show them the video.  Force them to at a minimum create a police report if not issue a citation to the neighbor.  With enough police reports you could probably sue your neighbor and get a restraining order. A compelling letter from a lawyer may have the same impact.Answer #5: Your law says you can idle to clear a windshield, so I think that would probably be his excuse.
 I wonder more why the exhaust is coming into the house? Are the windows not sealed good enough?  Are there leaks in other places around the windows.Answer #6: Where is his truck when it's idling?


Title: uninsured car wreck.

Question:
i know laws vary state to state, so this took place in illinois.

so my best friend has a gorgeous BMW e30. we just got back from vacation and he was itching to drive it. a neighbor of his swung by and started talking about his car and he said he wanted to take it for a spin (because they were discussing a possible wheel bearing going out and wanted to try and further diagnose it.)
they take off down the road normally listening for the noise. they end up turning around and heading back to my buddy’s house. out of no where the guy guns it on a straight away and was doing 110 and came up to a corner and lost control and went into the ditch.

my buddy is lucky to be alive and virtually unscathed, just some bruising. the other guy had to be air lifted to a hospital and has a broken pelvis.

MY QUESTION IS:
my buddy didn’t have insurance on his car. what can be done? he is wanting to lawyer up in case the guy tries to sue or anything.
all my buddy wants is the guy to replace his car, nothing more or less and then they can go their separate ways.
the neighbor told the police he was doing 60 and passed out, when my buddy told them what actually happened. the neighbor was totally conscious the whole time according to my buddy.
the neighbor will be facing some time for a felony given by the sherif for wreckless driving i believe.

any help is appreciated.

Answer:
 Just for the record, driving without insurance is illegal in nearly every state, including IL, and highly irresponsible on the part of your buddy.

If he could afford to buy a ‘gorgeous’ BMW, he could afford to buy and insure a less expensive car. There’s no excuse for this.


Title: Social Security Disability overpayment advice for an 18 year old. Country = USA; State = PA

Question:
Hello reddit I need a bit of advice on what to do about this situation. Last summer my mother received a letter from the SSA declaring that SSD child support from my father was overpayed and that we owed $ > 40K (I was 17 at the time). My mother proceeded to go to the social security office and explain the situation which ended in her opening a waiver request on the overpayment. The SSD child support was sent into a representative payee account that was in my name with my mother as the rep payee. At this point my mother being who she is never followed up on the waiver request to see how it was progressing and low and behold over 8 months later I receive a letter in the mail from the SSA requesting access to my financial information so they can determine if I am capable of paying off this overpayment. The letter also explicitly states that without authorization to my various financial records they can not fulfill the waiver request.

Now this is where most people would just sign the form, say I don't have the money, and be done with it right? Well, that doesn't really work in my situation. The problem however ironic this may be is that I actually have significant assets. Long story short I was in a major motor vehicle accident when I was an infant, this resulted in a lawsuit and I now receive a hefty annuity until 2035 because of it. I receive $ > 20K a year from a pool that is larger than 200K. Me hoping to be financially smart about this annuity placed over half of it in a betterment investment account and nearly all of the rest goes into my savings account for when I start college. Now my concern is that if I authorize the SSA to access my financial data they will see large sums of money leaving and exiting my bank accounts as well as notice that I have upwards of 200k in assets (Funny how having money can bite you sometimes eh?).

I will now add some more background info to help you guys give me some advice. From what I understand my father did not report some sort of pension that he received from a previous work place for nearly 10 years. This caused an overpayment on his SSD and now the SSA is trying to claim these lost funds. I posit that during the years in which this overpayment took place I was under age and unaware of this overpayment furthermore, this was not my income that was not reported and income which trickled to my mother through child support never saw my hands. In addition my mother and myself were unaware of this activity and could have done nothing to prevent it.

I've thought of a few options here please tell me if any of these are good or bad paths to follow and feel free to recommend your own ideas.

1.) I could go to the social security office and explain the situation and see if I can claim Without fault, however, I do not know the process and and do not even know if without fault applies to SSD as the only info i have found so far is on supplemental security income. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0502260010

2.) I could go talk to my father and see if I could convince him to claim responsibility for this and explain that I should not be involved. The problem is that I don't even know if that would get the SSA off my back as I have very little knowledge on this subject (5-6 hours worth of googleing) Also, I add that my father may not even comprehend what is going on as he is schizophrenic that is on medication which impairs his mental faculties.

3.) I could go get a lawyer and offer a retainer of a couple grand as I understand that generally lawyers don't take cases like this because even if they win there is no financial gain outside of what the client can offer and usually in cases like this the client is of low income.

Also to make matters more urgent the SSA wants to hear back from me by the 25th of may. Please give me constructive feedback here folks as I'm at my wits end on what to do.
Topic:
Disability Issues

Answer:
 Ok. Let me know if this sounds accurate:

You were receiving Social Security child benefits (not child support) through your father, who is either disabled or retired. You and your father were overpaid because he did not report a pension (because benefits are supposed to reduced if you receive certain types of pensions).

After receiving notice of the overpayment, your mother went to Social Security and filed a request for waiver. Social Security is now following up on that request.

If that is the case, let's talk about your questions:

**1** - There is a two-part test to have an overpayment waived. Showing you were "without fault" is the first part. Then you also need to show that paying back the money would "either defeat the purpose of the act or be against equity and good conscience."

As a minor when you received benefits, you are presumed to be without fault. [See here](https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202250005).

Your issue will be the second part of the test. It is not clear whether you definitively do or do not meet either of these requirements.

**2** - Nothing your father says or does will affect whether or not you have to repay the overpayment.

**3** - *You should definitely consult with an attorney.* It is a lot of money on the line. You are going to want someone who can review all the relevant documents and discuss your circumstances in detail so they can put together the best argument for the second part of the waiver test.
Answer #2: This is way beyond the scope of this sub, we're talking about a complicated situation and a large amount of money on the line. Your best bet is to hire an attorney familiar with social security and disability benefits.


Title: Was charged with Controlled Substance, 3rd Degree Felony.

Question:
I was speeding and I got pulled over, the cop ran my license and saw that I had 5 warrants so he took me out to arrest me and that's when he found the "dab" in my pocket and I totally forgot that I had it on me.

 I've never been charged or convicted with a Felony before. And this is my first drug charge other then and older paraphernalia charge. But what can happen to me? They say I'm looking at 4 years in state prison! I can't afford my own attorney cause I can't afford one so now I'm stuck with an appointed one.

EDIT: I'm 19 male from Texas I use weed illegally to help with my anxiety due to me having autism.
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer:
 I am confused. What is a dab? You reference weed later but also a small amount of weed is typically not a felony.

Yes, this is a big deal and you could be incarcerated on a long term basis depending upon the facts.

This will be especially true if you have a criminal record, which seems likely given 5 warrents.

Other than that, dont be silly. You are a criminal.

Stop comitting crimes including drug crimes and underage drinking, ask for a court appointed attorney, be honest with him, and do as he says.Answer #2: Your appointed attorney does this all day, every day. They know what they are doing.


Title: [Buffalo, NY] Parents' landlord won't let them do laundry past 3 p.m.

Question:
Hello /r/legaladvice! I just have a quick question - my parents rent the upper unit in a two unit home. The landlord lives below them. I just recently moved out in November and we have had frequent problems with the landlord.

Yesterday my parents received a note saying that I'm not allowed to park in the driveway (my parents were allotted two parking spots), I'm not allowed to do my laundry over there (my parents own their own washer and dryer), and their laundry must be done before 3:00 p.m. because the exhaust from the dryer blows onto this little seating area that they built in the yard after we moved in. They cited that this is a "quality of life" issue.

Can they do this? I can almost understand the parking issue, but my parents own the washer and dryer and they pay for the gas and electric. The landlord pays for water, but it's a flat rate, not metered, so it's not like I would even be driving up the water bill by doing my laundry there. Also, when we first moved in we were told we could do laundry from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the only reason they asked us to do that was because you can hear the machines in their apartment. I don't feel like limiting my parents to 3 p.m. to finish their laundry is a reasonable request, and this has just been added on to the list of other things that they get mad at them about.

Just as an example of other issues we've had:

* No turning around in the driveway because the tires leave marks on the cement

* We used to have a third parking spot but one day I came home to a "No Parking" sign on the fence with no warning

* We have a room in the basement for extra storage but they are remodeling and leave tools and supplies all over the basement so we can't get to the room

* They had a fit when I was moving in and out from college every fall/spring

I just feel like my parents are being forced out of their home and they don't have the money to move right now. Do they have any sort of recourse?

Thanks a ton!
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: This is why you should NEVER rent a property without a written lease agreement. Answer #2: What does the lease say about all the things you mentioned?


Title: Staying with family in Virginia and received a misdemeanor of public intoxication.

Question: So last night I had a little too much to drink and got myself a misdemeanor charge. I am just wondering since I am from Massachusetts and got the misdemeanor in Virginia how long would it take for the charge to be lifted from my record and how I should proceed. I can either appear in court or pay a fine of $116.

Answer: Talk to a lawyer. These charges never drop off your record and ones involving substance abuse can have impacts on future employment and insurance. Don’t just pay the fine because that is the same as pleading guilty.


Title: Two questions, both of which may render me homeless. I need help :'(

Question:
DuPage County, Illinois

The first question I have is that I've been on unemployment in Illinois since june. Someone told me there is a way to apply for an extension, but I think they may be misinformed. At any rate, I have been keeping paper job search logs. My girlfriend just came to get her stuff out of our apartment (long-distance relationship - she got a job in Iowa and is on the lease with me, but I'm paying the rent as agreed). Not sure what to do or where to go for help on getting some income coming in. At least rent paid.

Second question is: I just got hit with a wall of threats over the phone, then by email by the "management" at my apartment complex. I accidentally overflowed the bathtub for a couple minutes, which I apologized for but didn't admit fault for because there is an overflow drain which obviously doesn't work. I don't think it's unreasonable for a tenant to expect something like that, built into the bathtub, to work.

The first contact from them was a phone call of this angry c**t yelling at me, not allowing me to rebut at all. They claim this has happened three times. They also said "I fell asleep" and my apartment was so messy that it is a fire hazard. Called the fire department and discussed, they said it doesn't sound like that is a problem and no worries. They also said they felt threatened by me raising my voice and would call the police, ooooook. Well, I called the police department, and they were not alarmed either. I called and left a voicemail for the building commissioner of the village here. Not exactly a way to get a productive discussion going though, and they have not asked for any particular course of action to be taken regarding a resolution.
They stated that they have contacted their attorney, so I said "Good, please have him contact me. At least I can expect a reasonable, productive discussion then."

This is very noteworthy and indicates lying: any attorney would've contacted me now, and advised them to cease contact with me. And Megan. But...

They called my girlfriends mom (her reference on the lease) to get her contact info which we already gave to them. Not to mention, they have her email address. We are both on the lease, and should be contacted together CC'd whatever as was typical before. There'd been several issues with the pipes under the sink leaking, apparently causing big issues downstairs. They had their maintenance guy come up a few times to fix it, but it was still leaking until a short time ago. I guess he replaced the pipes, but honestly they should hire a plumber. This is a big complex, and they need more than one guy.

There is a long, provable history of negligence and laziness on their part, maintenance requests that we have submitted that got neglected, along with some indication that on a few occasions people have come in here in direct violation of the lease terms.

I'm not even feeling good, I'm running out of money and don't know what my options are or outlook is. Pretty bummed out honestly. My inclination is to hang onto my @ send a notice to vacate and push it a lttle.

Answer: There are no more unemployment extensions. Did you actually get a notice to vacate? Answer #2: So......what were your legal questions?


Title: Can my employer refuse to pay me?

Question: I am a 21 year old broke college student in the state of Illinois. I was working at a company in 2015 in which I was fired from. I still believe me being fired was discriminatory back then but I can't do anything about that now. Anyways in 2016, I was contacted on multiple occasions by a recruiter who was working for that company. I decided to apply again, and when I applied again my answers were saved from the first time I applied and I just clicked through them. I ended up getting hired and worked one day before they contacted me about previously working there and getting fired. They told me that I lied on the application to get hired and that I was being fired. I was confused when she said that I lied but she said that when they asked the question "had I worked there before" I said no when in reality I had. I told them that I did not lie and did not know what they were talking about. After getting off the phone I went back to the website where I worked and logged in to my application. I saw that my answers had been saved from the first time I worked there and I had done no editing. I called back to apologize to the hr manager.  It has since been a month since I stopped working there. While the HR manager said that I would be paid for my one day of working, I have yet to receive any compensation. I was supposed to get paid 3 weeks ago and called 2 weeks ago to discuss the matter with the HR manager. She stated that she saw where I hadn't been paid and I would be getting paid in the next time period. The next time period was yesterday and I have still yet to get paid. I want to know what relatively cheap options I have as well as since I accidentally lied on my application to get hired do they have an obligation to pay me at all? Once again, this is in the state of Illinois.

Answer: Ring HR manager and inform it that you haven't yet been paid. Say that you will keep escalating the situation until you get paid. They can't not pay you


Title: Is my attorney purposely delaying things? Claims that it takes "over several weeks" to get police dash cam recordings. Can anyone practicing in law verify?

Question:
Hello there, I am interested in hiring a lawyer for my recent DUI (first, no-accident) arrest.  My .BAC was 0.10%. I wanted to ask one question to complete a research I'm conducting. How long does it take for the attorney to grab hold of the police dashcam recordings? My attorney recently stated that, "The request is made to the District Attorney's office, They then forward the request to the arresting agency.  The agency then prepares it and provides it to the DA's office.  The DA's office then has to prepare it and give us a copy.  Being that all parties involved are government agencies you can imagine how long each exchange takes...  it generally takes about several weeks for us to be notified that it is available for pick up".

Could you verify this claim? Does it really take that long to get the videos? I google'd arround and found that it takes only a few days for the police to give the recordings.

Thanks!

Answer: That is not in any way a long time, nor would it be out of line in my area.


Title: Limits of vigilantism/hypothetical on being a superhero.

Question:
USA. Probably NYC? Any big city you criminal lawyers have experience in.

Obviously I couldn't beat down muggers without being investigated, risking my identity. Opposing such an investigation would label me an unlawful vigilante, unless there was some sort of statute that would guarantee my anonymity?

Failing that, could I threaten or temporarily restrain a criminal? Use my webs that dissolve in an hour to stop a mugging, say. Unlawful imprisonment?

If that's not cool, what if all I did was swoop in and grab the victim, delivering the victim to a safe spot? Could that be argued as some sort of kidnapping?

What if there was a mugging, the muggers have some guy's wallet and are demanding more. I step in, threaten the muggers and they aren't fleeing, instead demanding the jewelry. Victim is an amateur boxer and with me at his side he wants to fight back and recover his wallet. I'm not willing to risk anyone getting injured, so I grab the victim and fly away, delivering the victim to a safe spot. Technically, my actions made the wallet unrecoverable. Some sort of conspiracy charge tying my actions to support the theft of his wallet? Or are my actions justified, being in defense of the victim?

If I decide to wait for the police, do I need to give up my secret identity, or is the testimony of my masked alter ego, the victim's testimony, and the tied up bad guys enough to let me go without identification.

I understand that it's up to the discretion of the prosecutor to press charges, but if one decided to throw the book at me, what do you think would be the charges?

Answer:
 You may be interested in the blog Law and the Multiverse, which goes into questions such as these in great detail, in the context of applying real world law to comic books and superheroes.

For example, many of your questions about the legality of vigilante superheroes are covered in this post:

http://lawandthemultiverse.com/2012/07/06/the-amazing-spider-man-warrants-and-assault/

and about secret identities in court here:

http://lawandthemultiverse.com/2011/01/03/costumes-and-the-confrontation-clause/

but there are many other articles covering many legal aspects of superheroics.  Take a look.Answer #2: Not a lawyer but a writer who just wrote a book about superheroes. I avoided this question and just gave them a really strong union. Answer #3: I believe there is some guy in Seattle who actually does this.

Edit: [Looks like there's a whole group of them](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/seattle-phoenix-jones-superhero-friends-alert-public-string-sexual-assaults-article-1.1266613), actually.


Title: Medical records of deceased parent

Question: I did not have Power of Attorney or Healthcare Directive management in the United States. My Mother died in the hospital, and I don't have any way of learning anything about her time in the hospital. Do I have any rights at all to understanding what happened to her? Thank you for your time and any help, I really appreciate it.

Answer:
 You're in luck...maybe. If you provided care to her before death, you may be able to access her records unless she stated otherwise. If you did nothing, you get nothing. This is apparently independent of your sister's wishes.

Edit: you don't have a right. This change means you may get access at the hospital's discretion. Probably state dependent too but you left that out.

http://journal.ahima.org/2013/04/01/accessing-deceased-patient-health-records-faq/Answer #2: Who is her listed next of kin or the exeuctor of her estate?


Title: Stuck in Egypt with $97K for an apartment I sold, want to transfer it to my account in the US, only way for this to happen is to transfer them over 9 separate transfers because the central bank has a limit of $10K, thinking about splitting them.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If you have $97k, you can afford to hire an attorney to ensure that the rest of your money doesn't get lost or confiscated due to some crappy transfer advice you got for free off the internet.Answer #2: Based on the title alone: Get an attorney, it is better to spend a view bucks right now then to do something that could get you in legal trouble with either the US or Egyptian government (like prison/jail/seizure of all money kinda trouble).Answer #3: Your question is worried poorly. You may want to change your tldr.

So Egypt has no problem with transfering out via this plan, your issue is you are worried that 10 10k transfers into a US account will set off so many red flags that you US will stop your access to money.

I don't know the answer but I thi k you should clarify that your concern isn't on the outgoing but the incoming unless you don't trust guy at the Egypt bank.


Title: Update to Dog bite in Indiana

Question:
Previous thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3bnznu/dog_bite_case_civil_and_citation_indiana/
I know you guys were not super into this case or anything but I thought I'd update a previous post where my elderly step mother in law's dog bit a kid who startled her.

She pled not guilty to the criminal and it's been pushed off til April 2016. The mom was also suing her. Turned out the kid was 13 so he was old enough to be on the stand. He told the judge how he rode up to her and the dog on the scooter and the judge ruled the kid was responsible for the incident and it was dismissed. Hopefully since the civil was ruled in her favor the criminal will be as well. That is all.

Answer: I like it when OP delivers, especially when it's good news.Answer #2: Original post [Original](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3bnznu/dog_bite_case_civil_and_citation_indiana/)Answer #3: When your step mother receives the order from the judge dismissing the civil suit, she should keep it in a safe place.  If the criminal trial actually happens (I'm guessing they pushed it off so far in the hopes of just dropping the charges when the angry neighbors forget all about this and move on) she can absolutely use it to help her.  Considering the civil case has a much lower standard of evidence it should be very helpful.Answer #4: Im a little confused. How did you MIL dog attack in self defense? Did the kid try to ram into her or something? Answer #5: That's good to hear. Good luck on the criminal side next April! Thanks for the update.


Title: Bereavement; Should I get 6 days or 3?

Question: I have two grandparents dying right now, 2 different states and I'm in a third state. TN. Shouldn't I by law get 3 days off for each even if they pass on the same day?

Answer: There are no laws that require bereavement leave in your state. So you get whatever is outlined in your employment manual. Likely you don't get it twice in twelve months. But read your manual


Title: No one will accept me for court ordered community service

Question:
Not sure if this belongs here... If not, could someone direct me to a more appropriate sub?

In 2018, I was ordered to fulfill 60hrs of community service. Since then, I’ve had several personal setbacks which led to me (stupidly) fail collecting those hours. As outlined in the pre trial diversion program, I had until mid February 2019 to finish them, got an extension for early May, but I’ve missed that too.

Goodwill and Salvation Army needs a minimum of 80hrs. My charges are felony assault+battery so working with kids doesn’t work. Even the Chicago depository and park district won’t accept me.

Does anyone know where I can actually go? My case is in Indiana, but I currently live in Chicago

Tl;dr can’t find anyone to accept me for court ordered community service (felony assault+battery) and I’m running out of time... I need to know where I can actually volunteer
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer: Why not just do the 80 hours at Salvation Army?Answer #2: Go down to your local church. When my friend needed to do his community service he went and spoke with the priest at the local Catholic Church. They put him to work for a week scrubbing floors and cleaning up.Answer #3: In the most general terms, community service can be performed almost anywhere as long as the agent who is in charge of your case approves. See if they will allow you to pick up trash, do yard work, or run errands for someone who needs help. There are thousands of non-profits in Chicago also just start calling all of them.Answer #4: Not a lawyer, not legal advice. I did volunteer coordination for a reputable charity for many years. Do you have a parole officer? Is there a list of volunteer organizations that they, or the program may be able to provide? Unfortunately, many places simply will not bring in people who were charged with felony assault. My advice would be to be extremely proactive and if your only hurdle is taking on more volunteer hours, then do it. It may be difficult to find another place that will take you.


Title: Renter's insurance required - is this legal?

Question: Looking up apartments for rent and one says renter's insurance required (in Oregon). I've heard this is an illegal practice. Is that true?

Answer: Not having renters insurance is foolish.Answer #2: Legality aside search this sub for how many people have issues because they don't have renters insurance.  It is cheap and can save a lot of headaches. Get renters insurance.


Title: [MI] Compliance with landlord regulations but still concerned

Question:
For almost three years, my roommate and I have been living at our current apartment. As adults, we sometimes enjoy and accept the risks of using recreational cannabis. The only issue we ever had with this was shortly after moving in, when a neighbor approached us about the smell and asked us to contain it as much as possible. Following that interaction, we had no issues with neighbors or management about it until last month.

Upon arriving home one day, I saw a notice posted on everyone's door that mentioned how there have been complaints about marijuana smoke. I had noticed for a while that there was a strong odor near a different floor's door and assumed that someone else was smoking as well. However, in order to not push the issue, we took additional precautions to mask and/or limit the smell.

 Fast forward to yesterday and there was a letter in our mailbox from the landlord stating that the smell was coming from our apartment and that this was our final warning before they went to the court to request possession of their apartment back.
Following that letter, in order to remain compliant with their policies, any and all paraphernalia was removed from the premises and we will not smoke in the apartment until the lease is up. However, I am concerned still because there is another individual or group of individuals in the building that also smokes and I'm worried that if they continue to do so we might be wrongfully accused and forced to move out. What, if any, options do we have here in order to ensure that our remaining time is issue-free?

Answer: well had you not smoked in your apartment you'd argue that with proof, the fact you have, and there's a witness to that, plays against you. honestly, if it continues and they want you out I think they will be sucsessful, so start prepping for that or find a way to talk to them about the other apartment. Answer #2: Update: We discussed the matter with the landlord and found out that someone was threatening to move out if the issue wasn't fixed. They were not aware of another tenant smoking, especially when we would both be at work normally, and encouraged us to let them know when it occurs again. From the sounds of things, as long as we remain clean it should not be an issue. Thanks for the advice!


Title: My mom died, and my brothers gf/common law wife took a couple days off. Now AT&T is gonna fire her because it wasn't her mom. This ok?

Question:
Basically the title. I don't know how to look this up myself. Her boss says if she was actually   married, everything would be fine. They've lived together for years, they have a little girl, they represent themselves as man and wife, they refer to each other as family as in-laws etc. Are there no protections?

Edit: They're in West Virginia but also cohabitated in Texas.

Answer:
 No location, but assuming this is in an at will employment state (it probably is), then no, she has no protections.

She can file for unemployment. Answer #2: unless it's a locstion where common law marriage exists and she has some right to grief time she has no claim. people who aren't married aren't treated as though they are married.


Title: Landlord charged me 1100 for blinds and “cleaning.”

Question:
Washington state, king county

Now, I know this isn’t anywhere near as interesting as some of the posts you get here, but I do have a couple questions and would appreciate any assistance.

Long story short, I recently moved out of an apartment I’ve been at for the past five years. Did the usuals deep cleaning, minor repairs, etc.

My original deposit was $1250, less a $100 non-refundable cleaning fee. My old landlord sent me a check for $45, citing “damaged blinds and apartment not left in a clean state.”

Both of these charges I have an issue with. Admittedly, two or three sets of the eight blinds in our apartment needed repair. We had two cats and a dog over those five years (all allowed in the lease), and you know how animals can get. However, they were not new when we moved in, and we were charged $60/piece for all sets of blinds in the apartment, which does seem reasonable for a restring, but I don’t understand how I’m on the hook for all of them. He did send a copy of the invoice from the company, where it shows they charged $528 for the work. Which he subtracted $600 from the deposit for, so that’s obviously not right.

Ii
As far as the cleaning, nothing was ever specified as to why or what needed cleaning, just that the apartment did, and they used a flat fee “move out cleaning” service that charges by the hour, for which I was charged $55/hr for 11 hours of work (in a 600 sq ft apartment, mind you) and deep cleaned the whole thing.

Again, I don’t understand if I should be on the hook for what (to me) seems an egregious sum designed to pass on as much of their turnover costs on to me as possible. If say, the cupboards weren’t cleaned, how does that justify $600 of charges during which the entire apartment was cleaned?

I did receive invoices from both companies they used, not estimates, and as mentioned before, the math was wrong as those charges do not add up to 1105.

Do I have any recourse here? I’ve scoured local tenant rights materials, but can only find information on if deposits are withheld without detailed invoices.

Thanks you in advance.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 I live in King County and had the same issue. Small claims court. Send them a summons via certified mail and make sure the landlord received it (not another resident/kids etc.)

You'll have a strong case for overcharging wear and tear. You can also see if they replaced the blinds with comparable ones or did an upgrade with your money.

11 hour deep clean is absurd.

It's really simply and straight forward.


Title: [Texas]Stole a bike last night and got caught, received criminal trespassing warning, will they be able to continue action later?

Question:
Hi, last night I stole a bike from a university campus, university police came and interrogated me but I never admitted to theft so they let me off with a criminal trespassing warning and confiscated the bike. They said if I could prove the bike was mine they'd let me have it back.

I'm wondering if the original owner found and proved it was their bike can I be charged with anything and what would happen

Answer: You can be charged for all crimes committed up to the statute of limitations which is generally years.


Title: Friend of mine announced that she was turning in her two weeks at her small company, and her boss announced the next day that they are implementing a non-compete for her industry. MN.

Question: Is this legal?

Answer:
 Did she sign any paperwork on the non-compete?

At this point she could say that she wont sign off on accepting the new policy and let them fire her


Title: Cat may have eaten plastic bits found in his canned food

Question:
So this morning I was feeding my cat his wet food as usual, except I noticed something dark in the middle of the pate. I fished it out and cleaned it off. It’s a very hard piece of plastic about 1/4 inch long.

I’ve been in contact with the company and so far they’ve offered to replace the food, but my cat has been eating from this particular can for the last 2 days. They are also sending some sort of envelope which they want me to mail the plastic to them.

They are going to call me back later today and I’m going to request they pay his medical bill (X-ray). If they refuse to pay the xray bill for my cat, which will be around $600, what legal action can I take?

I still have the can and the plastic. There’s still some food in the can I plan on digging through when I get home. Thank you for help

Answer: Non-legal advice: you found a piece of PLASTIC in the cat food? Unlike metal, most plastic doesn't show up on X-rays (unless it's had an X-ray opaque additive incorporated), so an X-ray might not do any good. If you do decide to get one done, don't send in the plastic yet. Wait until after the vet visit, and have the vet put the piece of plastic somewhere that it will be in the X-ray picture. This will let him know whether the plastic (presumably other pieces the cat may have eaten would have come from the same object) is transparent or opaque to X-rays.


Title: Can a cop lie about having probable cause?

Question:
For instance, an officer pulls someone over for a tail light out. He sees an open container in the car, but the driver doesn't appear/smell intoxicated. Officer pulls him out to breathalyze, which he passes.

Prior to issuing citation for the open container, and assuming the officer DOESN'T have probable cause to search the car, the officer tells the guy "I have probable cause to search, so I'm going to. Will I find something?"

Guy gives incriminating statements about drugs, which the officer then searches and finds.

Would lying about having probable cause rise to the level of coercive, or probably be viewed as just a ruse?

Answer: But the open container described DOES give probable cause to search. Makes the rest of it moot.Answer #2: This would be coercive and any statement following it would be involuntary. See generally Bumper v. North Carolina (1968) 391 U.S. 543, 549-550.


Title: [OH] Are there any laws on employers posting working hours ahead of time?

Question: I (16f) work a minimum wage fast food job, and my employer posts a schedule but it is commonly unfinished when posted. Today, I had to call to see when I worked and after finding out I was off, I went to see when I work tomorrow only to find my "slot" had not been written in yet. Is there any law against this or concerning advance knowledge of scheduling?

Answer:
 As far as I know, [Oregon](http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/09/news/economy/oregon-advance-scheduling-law/index.html) is the only US state with such a law. Answer #2: No, there is no law against this.  Answer #3: if it is a corporate location, you might find some assistance in the organization's handbook.

At the store I used to work at, the company policy was that schedules were to be posted two weeks in advance. This was never done except when I took over the schedule (and ended when I was no longer in charge of it.)

The reason people don't make two-week schedules is because it is "hard" and people don't make plans that far in advance, so people always want to move their shifts around. So they just make the schedule as late as possible and confirm with the workers they will show up. This is bad management.

My advice (for a corporate location): Check the company policy (You might not have access to the up-to-date current policy, if you can't get it, refer to employee handbook.) If the manager is not following the policy, ask they do. If they dont, talk to their supervisor. If nothing changes, contact HR.

probably not worth the trouble this time, but just wanted to give you an appropriate path forward as an example.


Title: How can I convince my sister to file a Harassment claim and should I?

Question:
My sister came home nearly in tears. Her supervisor, after a failed event, chose to "evaluate" her in front of the other employees. This isn't the first time he has done this. In fact, all of his "evaluations" of her have been rather public. She think it is because he didn't hire her/ promote her. I know this is harassment. I've told it is and that she needs to inform his superiors of his illegal and toxic actions, but waves it off. She says that because he is the Area Manager's favorite, that he won't be fired. She says he isn't worth the headache and that she will just go find another job.

I think that is letting him get his wish. Maybe I'm just burning with familial fury right now. What should I do? [Arlington Heights, IL]

Answer:
 >  I know this is harassment.

Not really.  It's possibly poor management, but it's not illegal harassment.

If she wants to go to her superiors, she can.  You can't force her to, and there's no legal issue here.Answer #2: >I know this is harassment.

Except it's not.


Title: Trying to help my friend keep her adopted son. She just lost him in an appeal by the 70 year old dad.

Question:
My friend has been the guardian of a little boy she thought was her nephew since he was a crack addicted 3 month old. He is now 4 and she was awarded full custody last year. He turned out not to be her nephew, this was known before she was awarded full custody, and the bio father is a 70 year old pharmacist with no kids.

The bio father appealed the custody decision and won. The little boy has now been taken from the only mom he has known for four years and is going to live with a man he has barely spent time with, who has no family, was banging a 24 year old drug addict stripper (bio mom) 4 years ago, and will probably die in 5-10 years theoretically sending the boy into the foster care system.

Is there anyway she can appeal this ruling or anyone we can write to try to have her get him if the Dad dies? She loves the boy and wants to keep him. I am unfamiliar with custody law and maybe bio parents are given priority until they prove unfit even if they will die soon. It just seems awful to me that the boy will probably end up back in foster care when the Dad dies. The bio dad didn't know about the boy for about two years but it was known he was the Dad when the judge (same judge the whole time) awarded custody to my friend and not to him only to change the decision a year later.

Answer: Sorry to say this but this is way beyond DIY territory this is: go and talk to a familly law attorney territory. I suspect that your friend already had one for the past two years.


Title: Gave 60 days notice. Didn’t receive year end bonus.

Question: So my fiancé who is a nurse practitioner gave her resignation letter 2 weeks ago and in her contract it states there is a 60 day notice. She’s been with the company for 10 months. Last week she was supposed to receive her year end bonus but never received it. She has emailed her bosses but they have yet to get back to her about this issue. They keep saying they are “busy” or they “will talk about it”. I don’t see them actually paying her the bonus she deserves at this point. She would like to break the 60 day notice and leave the company ASAP.  Can they legally come after her if she leaves the company before the 60 days?

Answer: Bonuses by their very nature are optional and discretionary (unless there is a contract in place stating otherwise).  Bonuses are paid in part to cultivate loyalty to an employer.  Since she's put in her resignation, there's not really much motivation to pay that bonus anymore.  And unless there's terms in the contract guaranteeing a bonus, there's not any avenue to legally compel the employer to pay one.Answer #2: Are bonuses addressed in her contact or any kind of policy manual?


Title: Bouncer assaulting me

Question: Hi, first time poster long time lurker, not sure if this post belongs here, I went to a nightclub tonight in the UK, a bouncer tried to remove my plastic cup of alcohol from my hand after being told by a bouncer upstairs in the nightclub that i could take it outside bc i had paid for it as long as it was in a plastic cup. As i was leaving the nightclub, another bouncer grabbed the drink out of my hand and pulled it away from me. I argued bc the bouncer upstairs had told me I was allowed to take it. When I spoke to the bouncer who ripped the drink out of my hand numerous times after I explained that I’m allowed to take it outside and had been told previously by someone in an equal position as him had told me it was okay. The bouncer ended up punching me in the face and leaving me with a black eye. He justified it by saying that was his job. I have a picture of him but I couldn’t get his badge number as he didn’t have it displayed until after he attacked me. I’d just like to know, legally, whether i’m in the wrong for being physically assaulted. I have contacted the police who will be over for a statement off me tomorrow but I’d like to know that he will face the consequences for this. Is it likely to happen? Thanks for any and all advice

Answer: I don't think any bouncer can authorize you to drink outside if its illegal in your area. They'll usually take the cup and will get into more trouble if they don't. They'll probably be just fine.


Title: [Iowa] I was in a car accident that wasn’t my fault. The woman that caused it had no insurance and my own keeps trying to pressure me into using mine and paying out.

Question:
On May 25th I was on my way to my boyfriend’s work to visit him. I was fully stopped with my turn signal on to turn left. The car behind me saw all this and also stopped, the woman behind him didn’t see 2 stopped cars and hit the middle car head on which made them slam into me.

I called 911 and all that. On the info exchange report it said she has insurance. My insurance had called now 3 times to tell me she doesn’t actually have insurance and that I should just use my own policy and pay them the $1000 deductible and pay for the repairs and they’ll “go after her for reimbursement”.

To me this means: “Pay us $1000 and do the repairs on your own. We say we’ll try and get your money back but all we care about is getting your $1000. Also we might increase your rate for an accident that wasn’t your fault.”

Also I keep trying to call the police to see what’s happening but they’re too busy sucking each other’s dick to answer or return calls.

Anyway, is this really the only option I have? My back bummer is really damaged and my trunk won’t close but my car is drivable.

Thank you for any help!

Answer:
 You don't actually pay the $1,000 to your insurance company. You simply pay the first $1,000 of damages because that is your collision deductible that you agreed to when you got your policy and your insurance company pays the rest. This is normal, it's done hundreds if not thousands of times a day, this is called subrogation and they will go after the other party to try to get your deductible back. Your insurance company is not trying to screw you over, they're actually trying to help you get your car back on the road in the most efficient way possible. By the way, your disparaging remark  on those who risk their lives to protect the rest of us just because they aren't getting back to you on your time schedule just makes you look scummy.
Edit : additional comments


Title: Am I allowed to change the price of a service/item at my shop (from free to a fee) for only one person if they have been taking advantage of the free item?

Question:
**tl;dr**- I own a coffee shop, we offer free refills on drip coffee. There's a guy with mild mental "differences" who comes into my coffee shop from open to close, 7 days a week, and drinks drip coffee/uses our wifi. Pays for one cup and then gets the rest free. Average 11 cups per day. Can I charge *only him* a fee for refills? /tl

I'm right outside of Memphis, TN. I own a coffee shop, small store, but been here for years. We're a popular spot for the students at the local college close by, quiet, free wifi and free refills on drip coffee. The refills were started for the students who sit in here for extended periods doing homework and studying. We don't really advertise the free refills, it's mostly a word-of-mouth and "be pleasantly surprised the first time you come up to get a refill" policy. Most people end up buying a small food item as well.

My issue is with this one person who I feel is taking advantage of this. He has been coming in here for a few years, but has been relatively unnoticeable until about 7 months ago. He comes to our shop before opening and leaves when we close late at night, 7 days a week. He is the first person in, last person out. From the time he comes in, he drinks drip coffee non-stop. He pays for one coffee, then sits at our store for 14 hours, drinking cup after cup after cup for free while using our wifi. I counted last week and he drank 11 cups of coffee on average per day. We've asked him to slow down a few times, which works for about a week, and then picks back up again.

He is the only person I've ever had a problem with regarding this. Is there any legal issue with me charging only him for a refill? It wouldn't be the price of a full cup, maybe half or a bit more. I feel like if I *tell* him I'm going to start charging him, he'll stop drinking so much. But I want to make sure I'm not running blindfolded head first into a sea of legal trouble before I do that. Am I in the clear? Anything I should watch out for?

I also want to mention that the reason I don't want to simply ask him to leave is that he's really an okay guy. He's got some mental trouble (perhaps mild Aspergers, but it's not my place to speculate). He's been coming in here for years and I'm not going to be the one to tell him he can't hang out at a place he feels safe and comfortable, where he has friends. He is also pretty well known and liked around here and I'm afraid of public backlash if I were to just kick him out.

Answer:
 Frankly, your best bet is to change your policy so that no one gets more than x refills. This works better if you are using disposable cups and have control of the pot, since you can mark the cup each time. Answer #2: The main problem is not legal at this point, it's PR - if he makes a big deal out of being singled out, you're going to have to deal with a fairly large media backlash.

I'd recommend just putting a general cap on the refills or the amount of time spent in-store without purchasing something.
Surely your non-system abusing customers can afford a new (paid) cup of coffee every 3 refills or once every 3 hours?Answer #3: > He is also pretty well known and liked around here and I'm afraid of public backlash if I were to just kick him out.

And there will be no public backlash if you tell him he doesn't get free re-fills while everyone else does still?Answer #4: Best just to change the policy blanket to 3 free refills or something like that. You know your business and you know how many refills people get on average. I can't imagine most people get more than three refills on a single visit, right? Add it to your menu and call it a day. Answer #5: The place I go offers unlimited refills for X hours from first purchase (3 on weekends, 2 on weekdays). It's a popular group meeting/study spot for local college students, and that tends to keep the tables turning or people adding more revenue.


Title: Landlord charged with sexual assault, awaiting trial. What to expect as a tenant? (Ontario)

Question: My landlord was just released from custody on sexual assault charges. Moral issues aside, what could this mean for me as a renter? (Ontario, Canada)

Answer: For the immediate time being, it means nothing. Continue paying your rent as specified in your lease.


Title: Accused of Theft, Please Help

Question:
Bear with me...

I worked for a woman for almost a year, lived in her home, had her credit and debit cards, primarily took care of her children.

The wife had no friends other than me. We spent 16-18h/d together. She trusted me. She gifted me many of her old things when she would replace them, as they were wealthy. Two gifts I’d been given were a laptop and camera.

Throughout my time there I was forced to lie to her husband about her multiple affairs she went into great detail about to me.

I told them I was moving away, they helped pack my SUV with half of my belongings and I returned with an empty car for the rest of my things one week earlier than discussed. The reason for this being that the husband was catching onto her infidelities and was asking me questions. The wife was being intimidating, I felt very uncomfortable, I told the husband what I knew when he asked me, and I simply left.

After leaving, without having found work in a new town, I attempted to sell some belongings online. My expensive bracelet, my ipad, my guitars, the camera she’d given me 9 months prior, etc.

Initially when she found out I left, she text me that she was so sad and wished she could tell me goodbye and wished me all the luck in the world on my new endeavors. However, when the husband revealed what I’d told him- she flipped a switch.

She filed felony theft charges >$1,500 against me in one state. My first knowledge of these charges was being arrested for Fugitive from Justice with a $200,000 bond for being in a different state. I spent 6 days in jail before seeing a judge who immediately reduced my bond to $500 and I was released.

Now I face charges in my home state, I’m employed but lost my second job due to the charges showing up on my background check.

She’s claiming I stole a wedding band (mysteriously went missing months ago when her husband was upset about her not wearing it; had me looking for it all over the house). She saw some of my sale posts and said they were hers; the gifted camera I sold online, my bracelet I attempted to sell online.

I took nothing of hers. I just wanted out of an uncomfortable situation and start over elsewhere.

I’m terrified of losing my job having to go back home for all of the court hearings. I’ve never been in trouble. I don’t have money to keep pouring into lawyer fees.

She’s got all the time and money in the world to come down on me for leaving her to have to care for her own children and being honest when her husband, my other employer, asked me about her indiscretions. What can I do? It’s her word against mine.

Edit: I have hired a criminal defense attorney, but I don’t have much communication with or confidence in my lawyer so I’m trying to aid in my defense as best I can. It’s a very small town, this is a wealthy family with many connections. I was limited by the number of lawyers available.

Edit: I was helping her clean out her house in preparation for a garage sale when I was gifted the camera and the laptop. They’d been in storage and she even went as far as to say, “sell them if you can or keep them if you want”.

I was paid up the day I left. I do, however, have electronic communications from her saying she would approve me for unemployment to then be denied after she flipped her switch.

Answer: You should hire a criminal defense attorney. If you qualify based on your income and assets, you can ask the court to appoint an attorney to defend you instead. Do not speak to the police, to this woman, her family, or anyone else about what happened, even if you think you are just clearing your name.