Title: Bought a used car, engine died within 30mins of driving it home, company won't give money back?

Question:
6 days ago I purchased a used 2007 Mazda CX-7 from a decent used car place in San Antonio, TX. Not Carmax or Drivetime or one of those nationwide chains but not one of those skeezy under-the-table junkyards either, they seemed fairly reputable.

I drove it home after putting $2500 down towards it's $4900 (pre-tax/loan stuff) price and that was that. About 30mins in it started stalling a bit and wouldn't go over ~60mph which obviously wasn't good but I wanted to make it home (about 20mins away) so I thought if I kept it under 60ish then I could get it there to assess but a little under 10mins into that I decided it was too rough so I pulled over. I popped the hood and saw that the engine was very hot and I realized there was no coolant in it so I called AAA and had them tow it to my house from there. I filled it with coolant the next day and then attempted to drive it somewhere in town and it started stalling again after only a few minutes of driving it so I pulled it into a parking lot and had to leave it there overnight, my wife came and picked me up.

I called the company the next day and explained the situation, the guy who sold it to me (who I really believe was genuine when selling to me) said he'd come pick it up and take it back to the place I purchased it from and have it looked at and hopefully fixed. Well this morning he told me the engine was blown and said that it's my fault since I drove it home. I explained my perspective and he said he'd wait for the owner to get back to me, which I understand because he's just an employee. I'm anticipating the owner just telling me the same thing, I bought it so that's it but it was never communicated before or during the sale that 1) this was an "as-is" purchase and 2) that there was anything wrong with the engine. I don't believe they knew anything was wrong with the engine as the employee I was corresponding with said that it was fully inspected when they bought it and there was no problems, and he told me that this week after he had taken the vehicle back with them.

My question is two-fold: 1) Can I get my $2,500 back? and 2) Is there any possibility they would attempt to make me pay the remaining ~$4,000 on the vehicle?

Is there any actions I should take now? I have the contract from the purchase as well as the vehicle's history, and the majority of the correspondence with the employee has been over text so I have that on record, of course.

Answer: The fact that you continued to drive an overheating vehicle is going to really work against you here. Did you get any kind of warranty? Did you have an independent mechanic inspect the vehicle before buying it?


Title: Not hired because I sued a previous employer for sexually assaulting me.

Question:
This is in California / New York City. (I’m in the city, interviewing for a job In California.)

Two years ago I sued a previous employer after they repeatedly sexually assaulted me.

I was in the final rounds of interviews for a big tech company and they told me today— explicitly, in an email— that they had decided against hiring me.

Not because I wasn’t a good candidate, but because as a matter of policy, they don’t hire people who have previously sued employers. They told me this because my interviewer wanted to apologize for wasting my time, saying if he had known about this earlier he never would have called me back for a second interview.

If this was said in person I’d drop it... but I have it clear as day in an email from them. Is this... legal?

Answer:
 > The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that interprets and enforces the laws prohibiting harassment and discrimination on the job, has said that refusing to hire an applicant because he or she has sued a former employer is a form of illegal retaliation.

Either contact the [EEOC](https://www.eeoc.gov/employees/howtofile.cfm) or the CA [DLSE](https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/employment/).Answer #2: Nope, it's likely a violation of various laws. You should **PRINT** the e-mail and set up some consultations with employment attorneys in California. They will speak with you by phone.Answer #3: If future places you interview at see you've been involved in two prior work related lawsuits, it's going to be increasingly difficult to be successfully employed.  Keep that in mind as you move forward.Answer #4: The EEOC has said that this qualifies as a form of retaliation. That being said, there's also practical considerations worth weighing given the circumstances here such as whether the particular industry you're in is large enough that a second action won't follow you since suing this company could lead to a situation where you are not hired by future companies and they're on alert to give facially legal rationales. If that's not a real concern for your situation then you've definitely got a per se, express violation of the law in that email. Though, it's also not a slam dunk as the most likely thing the company would do in response is say something like "She misunderstood our directive, there is no policy like that which is why she didn't know, it was a simple miscommunication" then probably legal fighting surrounding that. Just my suspicion.Answer #5: Did you win the previous case?Answer #6: How did they know about the lawsuit?


Title: Neighbor parking in my half of the backyard (duplex)

Question: [deleted]

Answer: trespassing is not a civil issue. call a different police officer and stop being chickenshit and involve the landlord, it's your right to not have some unapproved person park there.


Title: [TN] My 6 year old became very sick at school and was left in soiled clothing. What is my next step?

Question:
My son was accepted into a county magnet school this year, which his father and I could not be more pleased with, until today.

Today at school, he became suddenly ill with a stomach virus. He attempted to make it to the bathroom but was unable to make it in time. He entered the bathroom and attempted to clean himself up but became sick again while still in his clothes. Another student notified the teacher who investigated and quickly realized he was very sick. She told me she grabbed his backpack, and was in such a hurry she did not think to check for a pair of clean clothes, and took him to the school office.

I received the call from the office. I informed that caller that either myself or one of his other authorized contacts would be there as soon as possible and that there was an extra pair of clothes in his backpack. I was told they were not permitted to assist or touch my son and "bring a towel." I also inquired whether he had any other symptoms and I was told "I don't know, email his teacher."

I made two quick phone calls and determined based on where myself, my husband, and my mother were located at the time, I could be there the quickest and i left work. I work about 45 minutes away from the school. Based on the time of the original incident my son was left in soiled clothing for an hour and a half.

And when I say soiled I mean SOILED. His underpants were stacked with fecal matter, his shorts were saturated with watery diarrhea, and it had leaked to the backs of his thighs and there were smears on other parts of his body. He was only mildly upset but still very sick-he told me he had defacated on himself 2 times while waiting in the front office of the school. He states he was not taken to nurses office.

After he got home and cleaned up, I emailed the principal and inquired if this was truly the policy and how this was concerning to me. I have yet to receive a response. His teacher called me to check on him and was sincerely concerned. She was unaware that he was left unchanged for over an hour and gasped when I told her he had been made to stand in the office covered in excrement.

How do I approach this? I have reviewed both the school's and the county's policy manual and can find nothing that relates to this. I don't see how a child could be forced to remain in their own waste. No one even guided him to the bathroom to allow him a chance to clean himself.

I am waiting on a reply from the principal, but are there any other steps I need to take? I find it hard to imagine they are not obligated to help a child in this state, and he was not seen by a nurse. But maybe I am way off base.

Any thoughts?

Answer: When my then 5 year old had accidents/sickness at school, they cleaned himup and helped him into clothes numerous times. Absolutely not acceptable that they didn't help him.


Title: If you're a public employee with unpublished knowledge of a plan that'll improve an area, is it illegal; akin to insider trading if you buy property around that area beforehand?

Answer: It works same, but that's use of public office for private gain.  It's a position of public trust, they have a fiduciary duty to public. Answer #2: Sounds like the sellers would have a good case against the buyer of unjust enrichment. Answer #3: Politicians do it all the time. They'll give "donors" little tidbits of valuable information, all you have to do is attend their $2000 a plate fundraiser.Answer #4: Normally there are laws or specific agreements about using the information you gain improperly as part of your work as a government employee. So probably yes.


Title: Retailer mailed the wrong item to my business. The retailer wants the item back within 15 business day and has threatened to charge the businesses' card on file for the item.

Question: Should we immediately freeze the company card the retailer has on file and ask for a replacement card?

Answer: Why aren't you just returning it at their expense?Answer #2: Just return it. If they try to charge you did it, dispute the charge.


Title: CA- What needs to happen in order for me to withhold rent for failure to repair a toilet?

Question:
I’m in California and our toilet (one of two) has been broken for over a month. We have a flaky maintenance man who never shows up and takes care of it even though we contacted the property manager weeks ago.

We also have a broken oven but I think we can’t withhold rent for that, right? Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 You have two remedies in CA. One is to repair the issue and deduct it from the rent. The other is to withhold rent. Neither remedy applies to you, as the issue has to be serious enough to impact health or safety. A broken toilet when you have a second functional one doesn't meet that test. Neither does a broken oven.

I suggest you contact the property manager again and ask the repairs be completed, in writing if need be.


Title: (TN) In TN, employees must have 30 minute meal break when scheduled for 6 consecutive hours. Can my employer schedule us for "two shifts of 5 hours and 45 minutes each" with "a 10 minute break in between" without any other breaks?

Question:
**[Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-2-103 \(h\)\(1\)\(A\)](http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2015/title-50/chapter-2/part-1/section-50-2-103/):**

Except as provided in subdivision (h)(2), each employee shall have a thirty-minute unpaid meal break if scheduled to work six (6) hours consecutively, except in workplace environments that by their nature of business provide ample opportunity to take an appropriate meal break. The meal break shall not be scheduled during or before the first hour of scheduled work activity.

(h)(2) doesn't seem to contain any provisions that would exclude us from (h)(1)(A).

I just started this job two weeks ago and it's been so bad that I've already lined up another job starting in a week. All the other stuff is totally legal, this is just the thing that kind of caught my attention. I work at a popular locally owned retail clothing store. No managers  besides the owners, husband and wife who aren't in the store often but live a block away. The rest of us are just normal bottom tier employees with the same duties. Every scheduled shift is the same; you work one shift of 5 hours and 45 minutes, then ten minutes later, you start your "second" shift of 5 hours and 45 minutes. There are no other breaks allowed during the day besides quick bathroom breaks. It feels like they do this just to avoid giving us a 30 minute break for an 11.5 hour shift. The employees are always, always busy and aren't allowed to have any kind of food while on the clock, so we definitely don't have ample time to take an appropriate meal break while working. Is this legal? Would it be worth reporting with the DOL?

Answer:
 The obvious solution would be to contact the Department of Labor and ask them.  I certainly would ask - it's blatantly against the point of the law.

Interpret the 10 minute layoff as an unpaid meal time, and it is also a violation from that end as well.


Title: Seeking advice for a friend who is being abused but its high risk to report. Manitoba, Canada.

Question: I have a friend that is physically abused by her kids father. The problem is she does not want to report him because she sells cigarettes, and he threatens to report her if she reports him. But, the guy sells drugs. Both of these actions are illegal, but who gets in trouble here and what happens to the kid? I want to help her, but it's like she is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Answer: She should contact a women's shelter in her area. They will have resources for her and her children if she chooses to leave her situation. Feeling stuck is a big component in women staying in abusive relationships. That's why there is help out there. It won't be comfortable and it won't feel like luxury but accessing a shelter to get help for housing and financial resources is likely the best thing to do. The staff will be able to guide her into safely reporting the abused and helping her to safe guard her family against it in the future.


Title: (PA) subleasing apartment, sublet refuses to pay rent and gave false information

Question:
So I live in Pennsylvania and go to a large school. For personal reasons I ended up leaving this semester. My lease contract lasts through the summer so I decided to look for a subtenant by posting ads to craigslist and some Facebook groups. A few days later someone contacts me using a number from Philadelphia. They tell me a first and last name which I now suspect are false. This person then met up with my roommates and signed the sublease contract with the apartment company. They have been living in my apartment for the last 2 months and have yet to pay rent. apparently I'm still responsible for damages and unpaid rent under the sublease agreement. So I've been paying the rent and late fees.

Being a dumb college kid I never met up with this person or looked at their id or anything like that. I thought the apartment company would at least take a ssn, or photocopy his id, but they did not. Apparently he didn't even give them a last name and used a sloppy signature. How is it okay for apartment companies to do this!?!

Currently he is still at my apartment, and I have virtually no information on who he really is besides a phone number which doesn't turn up a name. he hasn't paid rent and definitely doesn't plan to. he already owes me $1000. What can I do? How should I go about this? If I contact a lawyer he might have already left before I have his real identification. Could I bring the police to ID him?

Answer:
 You can give him a pay or quit then go to court to evict. You can use whatever name he gave you when you file for unlawful detainer. If you win the Sheriff will remove him.

>  If I contact a lawyer he might have already left

Good. You want him to leave. You're probably never going to get a dime from this guy.Answer #2: >How is it okay for apartment companies to do this!?!

A sublet is between you and the renter.  Your apartment complex did you a **favor** by handling some of it.  They did not assume any responsibility for you.


Title: What to do if employer withdraws your paycheck?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Talk to your boss or payroll department? Mistakes sometimes happen.


Title: [FL] My neighbor is harassing me and trying to get my husband fired because she thinks I'm racist. Is there anything we can do?

Question:
While I'm not racist most of my family is. My uncles in particular would make your run of the mill neo-nazi look like Mister Rogers.

She found out my maiden name(easily found on the county court records site) and since then has found out who I'm related to and has been calling my husbands boss and demanding that he be fired.

She's gone so far as contacting my husbands clients and telling them that both he and I are racist and they shouldn't work with him.

She makes a point of confronting me when I walk to my mailbox demanding that I move out so I "no longer taint the neighborhood with my racist views".

Any we can do?

Answer: You can sue for defamation.  It's not defamation if the statement's are true, though.  If your husband can be associated with your family's behavoir, you may have problems with your case.


Title: Legality of 16 year old moving out of state, now living with a married couple in WA because mom said it was okay?

Question:
Is it legal for a 16 year old to move in with a married couple without anything in writing at all?  Nothing from a notary, mom simply says "it's fine with her", no lawyers were ever involved.  Meanwhile, the child is having her internet usage monitored and possibly cut off by the husband.  He has her working for him doing editing, has gotten her a debit card and pays her some kind of wage.

It seems like the whole thing is very sketchy to me but I don't know what the law is in WA, or if it's legal for her to be working for him.  She's originally from Michigan and has been living there since November of the previous year.

She's supposedly enrolled in an online school but there's no proof of that either.

The man she's living with has an unpleasant online history with younger girls.

I myself do not live in Washington.  If the suggestion is that I call CPS how would I do so not living in the state?

The guy has a youtube channel where he boasts about his prowess with young girls.  He has some measure of fame and seems to think he can continue to get away with things like this because he's been getting away with them.

The last public statement from the child in question was an apology to 'everyone' for 'what she had done' and then her twitter was deleted.   I don't even know if she has the ability to contact people outside.

Thanks.

Answer: Call the [Washington Hotline](https://www.dshs.wa.gov/ca/child-safety-and-protection/how-report-child-abuse-or-neglect) and report your suspicions. If the situation is a YouTube stunt and everything is fine, all well and good, but if it's not, you could be saving her life.


Title: My girlfriend is suing two hospitals after being clinically disabled with bilateral weakness in both arms after a bloodclot surgery and her lawyer told her there is no case

Question: In June 2016 my girlfriend experience intense abdominal pain in her small intestine and need emergency surgery performed on her. She was placed in a medically induced coma for about a month and a half. When she was brought back, she told us that she had weakness in both arms with the left arm being more severe (its been more than a year and she still cannot close her fists fully). After her stay in rehab and being home for a few weeks she continued to have pain and numbness in both arms and thought to consult a lawyer to see if we possibly had a case. After a year of reaserch she recieved a phone call a few hours ago from her lawyer informing her that she has no case and that she could continue with a new lawyer. The money from the case would have been a nice bonus but more importantly the case would have provided answers to how and why she is in the condition she is in now as it still makes no sense at all! I'm on this subreddit to get some advice whether we should continue with a different lawyer or if its we should find answers elsewhere.

Answer:
 You do not sue someone for medical malpractice to " provided answers to how and why she is in the condition she is in now"

You sue someone for medical malpractice when you are able to prove that the condition she is in now was caused by the malpractice of the doctors who's care she was under.Answer #2: A bad outcome doesn't mean anyone made a mistake.  Maybe someone did, but the burden of proving that is on you.

What does your girlfriend think the hospitals did wrong?  Did they give her drugs she was allergic to?  They they give her a massive overdose of something or not give her blood thinners?

A medical malpractice lawyer would first consult with a doctor to review your girlfriend's case for errors in her care.  If they don't find any, they will give up and tell your girlfriend she doesn't have a case. Answer #3: Not every adverse outcome is malpractice.  It sounds like your girlfriend had a very serious illness.  Those often cause lingering effects.

I'm confused as to why a malpractice suit is how she's trying to find out why she still has these issues.  Will her doctors not discuss it with her?  Has she sought out specialists for it?Answer #4: No one here is going to second guess her lawyer, who has access to the full facts of the case.

Medical malpractice is too fact specific for us to be much help with.  If she wants a second opinion she should consult with another lawyer.


Title: [Georgia] A friend of mine allowed an acquaintance to store stuff at his house for a short time. The guy now won't pick it up and is regularly breaking into the house. The cops are saying it's a verbal lease and there's nothing he can do without eviction proceedings?

Question:
So my buddy, we'll call him Bob, let a guy who we'll call Sean store some stuff at his house. This was a verbal agreement that occurred about a month ago.

After a few days, my buddy Bob asked Sean to come get his stuff. Sean came over while Bob wasn't home, crawled in through the window, and installed a padlock on the door to the room that his stuff is located in and then left. Bob was naturally incensed.

He got in contact with Sean and Sean basically told him to fuck off and that he would do what he pleased. Bob really didn't know how to handle this. They went back and forth arguing about the situation for about the last month.

Tonight, Bob came home and could tell that Sean had once again broken in and called the cops. The cops arrive and look around for Sean and find Sean and his girlfriend hiding in Bob's backyard. It turns out Sean has previous arrest warrants and he is arrested on an unrelated charge.

The cops then tell Bob that Sean has tenancy rights based on the verbal agreement that Sean could leave stuff there for a couple days. They advise Bob to not touch Sean's stuff and that Bob will need to go through eviction proceedings.

In short, what the hell? Does Bob truly need to evict Sean officially or are the cops off base on this one?

Edit: For clarity, Sean never payed Bob any rent nor was he ever required to. Bob simply said he could leave a few things there for a few days which then snowballed into this situation.

Answer: Realistically, he was not a tenant in any form or fashion. But legally, he may have been. The best way to go about this is to go through the legal eviction process


Title: Options to cancel a car loan. Baltimore MD

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >how would you feel if you could get a much better one and you could and save 1000 dollars?

It doesn't matter how we feel. You don't need to convince us that you think you have a legit reason to return the car, you need to convince the dealership. Because there isn't legal precedence pertaining to your situation, there's only the possibility that this dealer will work with you.

They have no obligation to take the car back. I'd start getting realistic about your situation and accept the fact that you'll be keeping the car.


Title: Someone signed up with Experian under my email, name and address

Question:
I got an email this morning while I was asleep saying "thanks for signing up with experian" I had to call and "retrieve" my account because obviously it wasn't me.  Not entirely sure why they'd use an email with my actual name in it instead of a burner email... Once logged in, my address was accurate but the phone number was not. Apparently you only need the last 4 digits of someone's social security number to sign up with Experian. I know that its easier to find the last 4 digits of someones social online but I honestly couldn't tell you if they have my whole social or not. I changed the security question, along with the pin. I called and couldn't get a hold of a live person. They don't have an email address that I could find. I checked my credit report and bank statements. Nothing fishy yet. However, my ID was stolen a couple years ago and recently got a call from a police station about an hour away saying a car was rented under my name. They had my drivers license number and everything. Not sure what I should do at the moment. Not sure if I should start freezing things. What should my next steps be?

Thanks in advance!

Answer: Yes freeze everything it’s time consuming but free. I would also contact DMV and request a new DL number if yours is compromised.


Title: Interview Questions -- Are these Illegal?

Question:
A friend of mine sent out 100 questions that were emailed to him in advance of a scheduled interview. Some are benign but others seem inappropriate or even illegal. The main areas I'm concerned with are a deliberate line of questioning aimed to get around asking: are you a christian(there were 2 other questions paired with #6), are you a democrat, and the last question here seems transparently ageist.

Please give as detailed an answer as possible to each question:

1. What are your feelings about safe spaces in challenging work environments?
2. What are your thoughts about the Justice department Jeff Sessions and also the former FBI Director James Comey?
3. What does the first amendment mean to you?
4. “You’re in Starbucks with two friends. Someone runs in and says someone is coming in with a gun in 15 seconds to shoot patrons. They offer you a gun. Do you take it? What do you do next?”
5. What are your thoughts on the current events at the NFL, the Commissioner, Colin Kaepernick & NFL Owners?
6. Describe your spiritual life?
7. What are your thoughts about the stereotype that Millennials are lazy, entitled, narcissistic, hedonistic, consumed with social media, opportunistic and ungrateful?

Answer:
 It's not illegal to ask, it may be illegal to discriminate based on some of those questions; mainly are you a Christian one.

If he is applying to work at some kind of religious or church run organization then discrimination may not even be an issue Answer #2: What's the job and what type of employer? Private? Public? Religious organization?Answer #3: It's not illegal to ask, it's just illegal to act on certain information in a discriminatory fashion - such as religion, unless it's a for a religious establishment.

That said, this does not look like the kind of place a sane person would want to work at.Answer #4: All the questions except #6 are legal to ask, and even refuse to hire if answered "incorrectly". Political beliefs about guns, the NFL, Jeff Sessions, or your attitude regarding entitled Millennials are issues that are legal to discriminate against.

The issue with #6 is that it may lead to illegal discrimination based on religion, which is a protected class (along with gender, race, etc...). Depending on the specific job, the employer may be taking a risk asking such a question. Answer #5: an interview works both ways as you are also deciding if a company is a good place to work

fortunately these people have left no doubt that they are crackpot looney tunes and there is no tough decision to make


Title: [US-CA] GF ordered item, had to cancel it, company still sent item and forced through a charge on her account (complicated, help please!)

Question:
My girlfriend ordered an Xbox One from Microsoft a couple days ago, however there were issues and Microsoft support was being rude and unhelpful.

She then proceeded to try and cancel the purchase (because the item was only ordered half an hour ago at this point, had not sent or processed) but Microsoft support told her they couldn't cancel the order right away, but they said they WOULD cancel it in 4-6 hours (from the time of the phone call).  She was on the phone for hours in total with Microsoft, and was very clear she needed the order canceled and she would not be buying from Microsoft again. During this time, she was pressured multiple times by the representative to not cancel the order, and buy the item from them anyways, and he was very rude when she stayed adamant.

She purchased the item through another vendor with no issues the next day, and I had her call her bank to make sure they knew not to allow a second charge from Microsoft to be charged, just in case.

Sure enough, Microsoft sent an email later that day saying the item has shipped. What? Didn't they say they were cancelling it?

Now, my girlfriends PayPal account (she was going to use for the Microsoft purchase) got hit with the charge, which then charged her bank account, even though she explicitly called to tell the bank yesterday NOT to allow any charges. She now has an empty bank account with overdraft fees because the bank failed to do their job, and she has filed a PayPal dispute for an unauthorized claim.

What do we do? At every single opportunity, it was made VERY clear that this order needed to be cancelled, and especially clear that it should NOT be charged to her account.

Thank you guys so much for your time, I know this is a crazy case.

Answer: Did she specify the bank to not allow any PayPal transaction be allowed or simply Microsoft ? (this may be why it was eventually taken from her bank account)


Title: [WI] Got an underage, plead no contest, and am able get off if I complete a drug and alcohol class. However, it is cheaper to just pay the fine. If I pay the fine and plead guilty will I risk raising my car insurance?

Question:
The fine ($263.50) is cheaper than the class ($350), but if I plead guilty I could risk a license suspension which I am unsure if it could lead to my insurance going up. Also, even though I plead no contest am I still able to just pay the fine instead of doing the class, therefore pleading guilty and allowing for the license suspension? I didn't know it worked like that.

Edit: Should have specified it's underage drinking

Answer: Insurance going up... And a criminal record


Title: My parked car was hit by an unregistered uninsured car what do I do?

Question: I had my car parked on the side of a residential rode with two tires in my friends grass and two tires on the road. An idiot was driving down the street in an unregistered uninsured truck and hit the front right of it going 25 ish mph. I called the police they came and told me to just do an exchange of information. The cop seemed like he just wanted to leave. The driver of the truck had the mannerisms of being drunk but the cop said he wouldn't do anything because he did not smell alcohol. its about 4-5k in damage. Im not sure if I should go through insurance, or sue or submit a police report? All the cop did was write down both of our information on a form and give it to each other. If I submit a claim will my insurance go up? I live in a no fault state (FL). The guy was apologetic but doesn't seem like he has money to repair my car. he did say he had car insurance on his registered vehicle. Please halp.

Answer: Tell your insurance.


Title: I lost my bag and it had weed in it, bag was turned into police

Question: So basically I live on campus at a university. On campus there is a cafe, so around 6 I went with my friends, brought my small backpack. Annnnnd I accidentally left it there. The backpack has my wallet in it, and all my other mess of shit like earbuds phone chargers, and also another smaller purple bag with rolling papers, cones, a lighter, and two (1g) THC dab cartridges. The cafe is closed right now and they don’t have a phone number i can call. I don’t doubt whoever picked up my bag there was a worker, and they probably looked through it. Lucky for me there is a lost and found on campus.... but it’s at the campus police department. I look it up and it turns out the lost and found on campus is only open Monday - Friday . So I’m guessing there is a chance they kept it in the cafe? My question is ... if they turned it in to the police, do I bother trying to go and pick it up? Are the legally allowed to look through my whole bag? It has my whole wallet and ids in there so there’s no doubt who the bag belongs to. I live on campus and they are the campus PD so ... I don’t know what to do :(. Any advice will help :(

Answer:
 Yes, the police can look through your bag to determine ownership.

Yes, if they see anything illegal in the bag, you can be charged with it.


Title: (AZ) Tucson court continues to harass me over a PAID ticket from almost a year ago - what can I do? I've contacted them at least 6 different times.

Question: Just to vent, the traffic violation was complete crap. I passed a TURNING car in a different lane while going 15 MPH in a school zone. They counted that as passing a car in a school zone. I went to traffic school immediately and since then, they've sent me a bunch of letters telling me I owe them more money. I've contacted them several times and got things semi cleared up. Originally, they failed to get payment from the traffic school and told me I was responsible for making sure traffic school paid them. Luckily, I'm paranoid and had screenshot all the completion stuff with the traffic school and was able to prove I completed traffic school. The traffic school then made sure the court received their money. I'm still getting continuous letters regarding fines and now, they're suspending my registration! Each time I've contacted them, they tell me the issue is resolved or oops, we made another error. This is getting ridiculous and I don't want to take time off my job to fix this issue.  Is there anything more I can do? One lady said they'll garner my wages for something I've already paid for.

Answer: Take time. Actually go in there. Don't leave till they present you documentation showing that this is resolved.


Title: Teacher has students take down Fiber Glass wall panels

Question:
This is in Texas.

A teacher in my past high school had students take down fiber glass wall panels, many of them came in direct contact and didn't have protection, also the school was quite old, been around for at least 50 years (Possible asbestos exposure?) and the incident happened approximately 9 years ago.  Most of the people were under 18.

This is child endangerment isn't it?

Answer:
 Depends.

Did the kids have signed waivers from the parents? Also, 9 years is likely past any statute of limitations.


Title: I bought a condominium unit in a hotel and now now they are saying I can’t book during Christmas time period (Florida USA)

Question: I bought the condominium unit years ago and they allowed one to book during the Christmas season, when I tried to book this year they denied me from doing so stating that one must book 3 months in advance. They stated that they sent out an email informing me of this change but I never received it. I have contacted the hotel multiple times and they haven’t given me any type of response other than stating they apparently sent the email. Is this against the law? Is the hotel in the wrong or am I? Is there anything I can do to make them accept my reservation? Any help is appreciated. Thank you very much.

Answer: Ah timeshares, and the pains they bring. You can't fight it. Try again next year and follow their rules.Answer #2: They cannot just change a contract through email.. are you sure this is not a time share. Do you own the unit?Answer #3: You must have entered into some kind of contract when you purchased the condo. You need to refer to that contract so see what you agreed to and what rights you have. This question can't be answered without reference to the contract between you and the hotel. Any advice you get here is just guessing.


Title: Written up for insubordination because I wanted to work

Question:
I work in fast food. A common lunch shift is 11a.m.-2p.m. At 12:35 I'm told by my Manager to clock out and leave. Not asked, but told. I was in the middle of something that the manager had assigned to me and did not really want to leave seeing as how I'm part of the working poor and need the hours. Manager comes back five minutes later screaming "you do not get to decide when you leave. Get off the clock right now!" I leave. I am of course pissed off and drive like a pissed off teenager out the parking lot. Next day I am written up for disobedience, insubordination, and reckless driving. Friend of mine who is in management position at same company tells me it is illegal to forced to leave your job before the scheduled time.

My Question: Is it illegal to be forced to leave your job before you are scheduled to be off? I live in Arkansas.

Answer: No. It's not.


Title: Co-Owner of Property in North Carolina with family and I want out but they does not want to sell!

Question:
Hello,
This is my first ever reddit post, I have been lurking here for years and after seeing this community give great advice for so long and due to recently more elevated frustrations with my situation, I felt someone here would have some great advice on a good way to proceed.
Let me explain the situation.
My wife's grandfather passed away almost a decade ago. He had a couple of acres of land with two houses on it located in the smoky mountains area of North Carolina. One house is complete and liveable, the other he was in the middle of building for her and it is about 90% complete. The entire property and house is paid off. When he passed he left the whole thing to her and her father jointly 50%. The father has been controlling since the beginning as if he has the authority over any decisions on the property. We have paid the taxes ourselves for the last 5 years due to his own economic hardships and we have maintained it the best we can without any help from him. We just want out, we want to sell it and get something we can enjoy on our own instead of dealing with him. Any mention of repairs or updates, he goes into a tyrade of how it is his retirement home and he begins his controlling bs.
What I want to know.
What can we do as legally half the ownership is my wife's. How can we sell our half or get out of it without just giving him the half. I know him buying us out is never going to happen....
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

*First reddit post ever and I blow it on the title (grammar) :(

Answer:
 If your father-in-law isn't willing to buy your wife out, she can sell her share, with or without his consent. It's very likely nobody will buy half an interest in the property, though, which is why she should talk to a real estate lawyer to see if a partition action would be appropriate.

A partition action _generally_ results in the courts forcing a sale, with the proceeds split between the owners. If her father wants to hang onto the property, the threat of being forced to sell so she can get her equity out may scare him into negotiating. If her lawyer thinks it's a good idea, a strongly-worded letter (edit: wrong word) implying she will pursue a partition suit if he's not willing either to sell the place or to buy her out might bring him around.


Title: Kids playing injury accident (broken bone) Washington State.

Question:
Two 12 year old boys playing at a church function. While running to get seat on a couch they tripped and one fell on top of the other. The one broke his collar bone. He wasn't in agony at the time. He felt a little pain and was laughing the rest of the evening. The pain got worse and was taken to the hospital (same night or next morning, not sure yet) where they found he fractured his collar bone.

Is there fault or is this just an accident from two kids playing?

Answer:
 > Is there fault or is this just an accident from two kids playing?

In your opinion, what should have been done that would have prevented the injury, and who should have done it?


Title: Friend received very poor medical treatment post-birth, what can she do?

Question:
I'm a Brit, so very unsure how the American system works. My best friend (also British) moved to Texas a few years ago for her husbands job. She's just given birth to premature twins. After the birth she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and received treatment for this in hospital for a few days.

A couple days after she got home, a week after the birth, she started bleeding a lot. She called the ER at 2am and the on call doctor was dismissive, since she did not have nausea or dizziness. She called back three hours later at 5am and said she was still passing lots of blood, and had passed seven big clots in the past few hours, and again the doctor downplayed it. She said she would prescribe her a medicine to reduce the contractions of her uterus, and to take it every six hours and after her third does (18 hours ahead) to call back if the bleeding was not reduced. Her husband left her on the bathroom floor, blood everywhere, to collect the prescription and get adult nappies.

She took the first dose of medication and she continued bleeding lots and was faint, so they called an ambulance. Upon her arrival to the hospital the same on-call doctor was called in to ER, and the doctor assessed her and said she'd need surgery right away to remove blood/clots and also to remove retained placenta, so my friend got emergency surgery. (She is now recovering OK.) I spoke to my Dad, who's a doctor, and he said her care from doctor sounds disgraceful. I've also researched online and it seems that both twins and pre-eclampsia make you an increased risk for complications like hemorrhaging after birth - so she was about ten times more at risk than others.

My question - how would my friend go about legally challenging her standard of care? What steps should she take? My friend is naturally someone who doesn't make a fuss, and yet she keeps having flashbacks to being in bathroom with blood everywhere "Texas chainsaw massacre style" in her description, being told everything was OK. She's also quite distressed to think what could have happened if she'd waited the 18 hours she was advised before going in (having been prescribed wrong meds.)

Answer: If she believes she was inappropriately treated or given bad medical advice, she should talk to a malpractice lawyer or a personal injury lawyer. There are too many variables for rando internet advice to be of any use.


Title: I had my “million dollar idea” about two days too late this year. But now I’m curious how legal it would have been.

Question:
Basically it boiled down to Women’s March and selling stuff like poker cards that had Trump less flattering tweets on them.

Is there a copy right that stops me from selling images that look just like Twitters website?

Even though he’s the President, is there an issue with selling something with Trumps Twitter handle or profile name on it?

Are his tweets considered to be owned by him or Twitter, preventing me from profiting off them?

Are there about 99 other problems here that I didn’t think of?

Thank you.

Edit: A bot informed me that I needed to include a location. Since there are Marches all across the US, I guess it’s worth asking whether this would work in some states but not others.

Answer:
 In addition to copyright violations, Twitter's name and logo are trademarked. Trademarks don't have the same fair use or parody defenses as copyright; but a trademark violation is also much more strictly construed/defined than a copyright one.

Answer #2: The main issue would have been using photographs you haven't taken or paid for.

His tweets are public statements by a public figure and can be quoted.


Title: My employer changed my clock out time to give me less hours to prevent overtime

Question:
As said in the title, the gm of the place I work at changed my clock out time to prevent me from getting overtime. It’s only 35 minutes, so it’s not much, but if he did it once there’s nothing stopping him from doing it again. What can I do? I have my clock out slip from last night when I worked, and it’s currently in the system with the reduced time. I can’t afford to lose this job at the moment so what do I do? Can he fire me if I bring it up and try to get him to fix it? Should I wait and keep track of all my times until I can find another job and then do something about it? The owner lives in the area and comes into the store for business purposes sometimes, should I talk to her about it?

I live in Michigan and I’m 22 getting paid minimum wage.
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 I would get a notebook or find a way to start tracking your clock in/out times. Also make sure to note if your supervisor/boss asked you to stay late to help with a project or task.

In the future, if your boss asks you to stay over, inform them this will cause you to accrue OT. They cannot ask you to clock out and finish your task.

I would review previous paystubs to make sure you haven't been screwed out of OT in the past. I would bring it up to your manager casually. For example "hey I dont know if there was a mistake but I didnt leave on Wednesday until 7:30. My check is showing me short that half hour, can you correct the mistake?"

If they dont fix it, call your HR department and report your boss for failing to pay you overtime and report the manager to the department of labor.

Just because you work for minimum wage doesn't mean that you deserve to be shorted your money. That was an extra 10-15 dollars that you could've used for gas in a car or to buy some extra groceries. It's your money.

If you do get fired, then you'll want to file for unemployment. Make sure to keep the notebook handy as you'll need it if they contest the claim. Keep in mind you CAN be fired. Whether or not the termination was legal is another matter. Regardless you'll be without a job if they do retaliate and any litigation takes time. Have an exit strategy (numbers for temp agencies and keep track of what's hiring in your area.)


Title: Is my employer allowed to make me only use my vacation days in a block? For example, I asked to have next Thursday off as well as a day in August off and was told I can't do that. That my "vacation" has to consist of all my days together. Seemed ridiculous.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Probably. You need to provide a location. What's ridiculous is thinking anybody can answer your question without one.


Title: ALL OF UNITED STATES: can a person be charged with two different charges for the same criminal act?

Question:
Hello, i know this is going to be a weird question so please bear with me, i was watching the movie "No Country For Old Men" and in the beginning of the film the fictional character Anton Chigurh Kills a police officer and it got me thinking

"can a person be charged with two different charges for the same criminal act?"

and what i mean is, if Anton killed the police officer, and there are two laws or two different charges, one for normal murder and another for murder of a police officer, can Anton or the defendant or who ever, be charged for both murder and murder of a police officer for the same criminal act?

i hope my question makes sense, thank you.

Answer:
 Yes, you can be charged for many crimes for the same act. On top of that if  applicable you can be charged with state and federal versions.

It's a fairly common tactic to charge every applicable charge and then plea down to only the most relevant ones.Answer #2: Yes.Answer #3: Yes it’s called charge stacking


Title: CA - One tenant wants to permit a problem guest to enter the apartment while the other tenant refuses entry.

Question:
My father and I share 3 bedroom apartment. We are both on the lease. Long story short, my sister causes problems every time she visits that result in screaming and fighting. Following the latest episode I told her she wasn't welcome until further notice.

Fast forward 3 months, my father has indicated a willingness to let her start visiting again -  I'm adamantly opposed to this because last time she was in the parking lots going off on a profanity filled tirade. When told to keep quiet or leave lest the neighbors call the cops, she said she didn't give a crap about the neighbors.

Our property management is not lenient when it comes to this sort of thing and she knows this, thus reasonably should have known she was jeopardizing our home.

She's a chronically homeless alcoholic/drug addict and seems to be angry that we have a roof over our heads while he doesn't (her substance abuse issues get her kicked out of every place she moves in).

Anyway, I told my father that if he brings her to the house again it will cause a lot of problems. His response was that I can't tell him who he can and can't bring over. I replied  that I wasn't telling him he couldn't bring her over, simply that if he did it would be causing a major shitstorm and he should be prepared for that.

If he attempts to bring her in against my wishes, what can I do, if anything?

Answer:
 > His response was that I can't tell him who he can and can't bring over.

He's right.


Title: DUI charge in Illinois.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: a low BAC means nothing. you still had alcohol in your system while you were driving. talk to your attorney.


Title: Neighbor's dog pissed on us through the stairs, all over our dinner & my fianceé's clothes. Can we ask at least to pay for our damn dinner & dry cleaning?

Question:
So pretty much as it says on the tin: we were walking up the stairs & suddenly liquid began to drip through the stairs above us. We went around to the other stairwell just because it's HOT in GA & the other stairs were in shade. And then I looked down the hallway & realized the liquid pouring down was DOG PISS, because I saw a woman & her dog sitting at the top of the stairs. Can we seek out minor damages for this? Just, like, ask the neighbor for $30 to cover dry cleaning & replacing the now inedible chicken? It was DISGUSTING.
Topic:
Douche

Answer: I am not a lawyer, but have you tried approaching the neighbour politely and asking her to compensate you? It seems a little extreme to be considering legal action in a case like this.


Title: Landlord made handwritten changes on my lease agreement.

Question:
I currently have a 12 month lease with this complex and have only been here a short 3 full months.  The two last months my rent has increased so I requested a copy of the lease. The property manager said she would email it to me and I left her my email and she made note of the request. A week goes by and I did not receive anything. I walked into the office today and requested the original lease and she copied it for me, upon review I noticed she has crossed out the original rent that was shown at the time of signing and wrote in an amount $100+ higher.

She initialed changes but did not date them, my other occupant and I were never contacted or consented changes and the lease does not specify a rent increases may happen, it was supposed to be the same fee for each 12 months of the lease.

What is my best bet? I am planning on giving a notice to leave this complex due to this and various other reasons, would it be more beneficial to pay the lease break fee and run or should I try to fight it?

Answer:
 A landlord can't do that, of course.  IDK about AZ, but in places I'm familiar with, even if the lease had a provision that the rent could increase during the term, it's generally going to be unenforceable unless it is rigidly structured somehow and not a blank check for the landlord to charge whatever she wants.

The lease protects her interests and yours, at the expense of you giving up certain rights that are customary in a tenancy arrangement.  The primary protection a tenant receives from signing a lease is that the rent won't go up.

So a contract giving a landlord the ability to change the rent arbitrarily would defeat the tenant's interest in having a lease in the first place.

But I don't know how AZ handles this, or what your lease says.  I'd think you could treat this as an irreparable breach of the lease, and walk away owing rent only up to the date you vacate.  Can't say how a judge would react though.


Title: (CA) Turkish Airlines stole $900 from us and refuses to refund them.

Question:
Hi, all. Sorry if I break any rules or am not very descriptive, as it's my first time posting here.

On March 21st we purchased two tickets with Turkish Airlines, but on the same day decided to change them to a different date. We called the customer service line, and the staff member told us that it would be easier to cancel and rebook than to change the existing tickets. We followed his advice and canceled our tickets and rebooked.

Since we canceled in the 24 hour time period, we got refunds. However, we've found that only one of those tickets was refunded. The other one is still reserved, and we're still missing $900.

We called the customer service again and they kept repeating that we messed up in not giving the right number for the other ticket.

I checked my email and I received two receipts of the refunds, yet they are both for only one of the tickets. This leads me to believe that they simply messed up and ordered two refunds on the same ticket, instead of on the two different tickets.

Now, we're stuck on hold with their customer service for the past two hours and we are missing $900. My grandfather has cancer and lives in the country of our destination, and money is very tight for us right now. However, my parents wanted to make the trip to make sure they can see my grandfather before anything bad happens. Also, the extra ticket that was not refunded is under the same name as my parent, which makes it obvious that it is a mistake.

What can we, a frightened and broke family, do in this situation?

Edit: we used a debit card

Answer: You can initiate a chargeback on your credit card if you have all the evidence above, or sue TA.


Title: Is it legal for current and former cops to issue and/or sell "get out of jail free cards" that are implied to entitle possessors to preferential treatment by police?

Answer: This is something I don't and never have understood, being from an area outside of the east coast.  Those things and everything like them are meaningless where I work.


Title: [PA] I discovered a theft in my workplace. What are my options?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Report your findings to your manager


Title: Housing keeps rejecting my ESA request despite having all the proper clarifications.

Question:
I live in Georgia and I (20F) have recently moved into an off-campus apartment, effectively transitioning from an on campus dorm/apartment to off campus housing. During the 2017-18 school year, I was hospitalized in a psych ward and officially diagnosed with a mental illness (that I don’t want to disclose) and decided to get a cat that the Psychiatrist (or more specifically, my Mental Health Nurse Practioner) signed off as an emotional support animal.

On campus housing & student disability resource offices were very friendly and even went as far to give me a grace period for me and my cat while the paperwork was processing. I literally went back and forth between the housing office and my psych office about 3 times in one day because on campus wanted the letter to be very specific. The entire process was essentially completed in 3-4 days. All of this happened back in September.

During the first week of May 2018, after already signing my lease (August 2018 - July 2019) at my current place, I decided to plan ahead of time and give my current landlord/management my ESA letter. About 2 days later, they denied my request, saying the letter was too outdated and wasn’t applicable for August 2018 to July 2019. Understandable. I go to the Psychiatrists office and they write me an updated letter. I drop it off at the leasing office and during that few days’ time, I moved back home during the Summer.

Once again, they denied my request, saying they wanted a qualified person who is familiar with my disability since my disability isn’t known or obvious to them. Now I’m a bit confused. I’ve been seeing my mental health nurse practioner for almost a year. She prescribes me the medication for my disability; the actual psychiatrist there has to prescribe me my ADHD medication since she can’t do so. So if she can prescribe me the medication for the disability I also have my ESA for, is she not qualified enough? She’s on the office’s front sign, her name’s right next to the doctor’s name for christ’s sake.

I’m guessing that I might have to get the actual doctor to write a letter and he probably has no idea who I am, but if that’s what I takes then, I suppose that’s what I’ll have to do.

The place I’m staying at allows pets, as long as there’s proper documentation and it’s been approved by the office. I gave them the proper paperwork; if it could be accepted by the on campus housing office, who has an extremely strict rule about pets in dorms, then why can’t these people accept it?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 Almost always, the person approving the ESA needs to be an actual doctor, since a lot of people are trying to get around "no animals" rules with fake ESA documentation.

Have you tried just going down to the leasing office and asking them who they consider a "qualified person"?  It'll be faster than playing guessing games and whinging on reddit.


Title: How to get out of mortgages?

Question:
I live in Quebec, Canada.
I have a mortgage with my family (mother father and brother). I have some problem with them and to make it short, I want to get out of the mortgage

Answer: You can't just quit a mortgage. It isn't like an apartment lease. You can either pay off the mortgage or have them refinance without you on it. It is going to be extremely difficult.


Title: Mother died and had written me out of her will. Mental health was definitely a factor. Do I have any recourse?

Question:
TL;DR: My mother died.  She had a history of mental-health issues and wrote me out of the will after moving in with me and not liking it.  Dickwad cousin is Trustee and Executor.  I'm probably screwed, right?

Longer Version:

My mother died at 72, just a few months ago.  I'm 50, married and have two kids.  I have one sister, who lives in Israel.  My mother had been widowed about eight years ago, and basically lost her will to live.  She requested to move in with us about three years ago, and we gladly accommodated.  She sold her house just two years ago, and had about $400K in cash.  But things went bad, fast.

A little backstory.  I love my mom.  I really do.  But looking back through the eyes of an adult at my mother's life (when she was younger than I am now), I began to see a pattern.  She has a history of broken, acrimonious relationships throughout her life.  My father, uncle, certain cousins, old friends and coworkers... she has done this over and over and over.  I could probably name a dozen people in her life that she was really, really close with at one point, and then she completely ended the relationship and wrote them out of our family history.  And that was done with my Dad as well, after they divorced when I was a little kid.  She went through two bad marriages when I was young.  About 30 years ago, there was a falling out between mom and my sister, and so mom put me as the 100% beneficiary of her will with my sister getting nothing.  Later they reconciled and the will went to 50/50.

After my step-dad died, she took in three freeloaders who lived with her, basically on my mom's dime.  My mother has a heart of gold.  But she lets people take advantage of her.  So she was in a relationship with one of these people.  She considered it a sisterly relationship, but I think her partner considered it more of a spousal relationship.  Mom changed her will to include her partner for 50% then my sister and I for 25% each.  WTF? Long story, but that five year relationship went bad, and she asked to move in with my wife and I and two kids.  We welcomed her with open arms.

She was euphoric for about 12 months then quickly went downhill psychologically.  I'll spare you the details.  It went ugly, fast.  Went to counseling, nothing helped while it spiraled downward.  She packed her shit and got out of there to move into her own place, near a cousin that nobody else in the family talks to.  He and his wife were always Mom's favorite.  She changed the will again to my sister 1/3, evil cousin 1/3, and my kids 1/3, skipping over my wife and me because my wife and I are evil.  We are excluded from the will, explicitly mentioned by name.  Only afer a year at her new place and she had a heart attack with complications.  My cousin pulled the plug on her, and I got no say in the matter.  Heartwrenching.

So three months later, things are starting to shake out.  I got a copy of the will and the trust last week from my sister.  What recourse do I have?  Should my sister and I be entitled to 50% each?  Does her history of bad relationships, depression, medication, etc factor in at all?  Or is this all just a waste of my time.  The whole thing is frustrating on so many levels.

I live in CT.  She moved to NY.

Answer:
 Let's look on the bright side: she skipped you personally but instead gave a decent share (1/3 isn't bad) to your children. How old are they? If they're minors, then you presumably use this money for their benefit, and while that won't _directly_ help you (and it would be illegal and unethical for you to use it as such), if it helps pay for college or something that's going to benefit you indirectly.Answer #2: >Does her history of bad relationships, depression, medication, etc factor in at all?

None of this automatically means she was mentally incompetent. Answer #3: Op- Per your narrative, your mother doesn't sound legally incompetent, which would be an initial requirement to even *think* about challenging her wishes/will. Do you agree that she was mentally competent if maybe misguided?


Title: Local dogs home wants to euthanize the healthy dog I am about to adopt.

Question:
I live in England and have recently moved into a new place with my girlfriend. We're both experienced dog owners and decided to adopt a rescue do that may be otherwise difficult to rehome.

We went to our local kennels and spoke to the team there who listened to our circumstances, work patterns etc and paired us up with a beautiful 3yo mastiff cross, I'll call him Rocco.

My gf and I have been visiting him twice a week for the last month and have built up a great bond with him. Rocco has had a difficult life and gets very nervous around new people, which makes our bond with him feel even more special.

Rocco has never ever bitten anyone. He has however 'lunged' (that's how the kennel staff put it) at strangers whilst he's been on the lead and had a mussel on.

Last week we went to visit Rocco and instead of going straight through to pick him up like we usually do, we were instead met by a manager at the kennel who informed us that they have decided to vote between the kennel trustees as to whether or not to rehome Rocco. Obviously if they decide not to rehome him they will put him to sleep - with a bolt gun!!! (Wtf found that out today)

This is really tough to hear because we obviously have a great connection with him, he hasn't ever bitten anyone, we've already started preparrig our home for his arrival, we've both taken annual leave to ensure we can see him during the week and worst of all, until this week everybody we spoke to at the kennels had been really pleased with his progress and they were encouraging us to take him home ASAP!

Appreciate that this may not strictly require legal advice but any advice would be welcome. My gf and I are determined to fight for him. His hearing is next Sunday so we have 1 week to do all we can.

I appreciate this is quite long winded but I would be happy to provide any more info or answer any questions you at have.

Thanks Reddit :)

Answer:
 There's no legal avenue to force them to turn over their property to you short or a court order due to some extraordinary circumstances. It's their dog. Answer #2: Not legal advice, not a lawyer.

Maybe bring up the costs they’ve already spent in keeping him alive? Dog food, shelter expenses, etc.  From a financial standpoint, they’ve spent X amount  already on him. Your adoption fee would recoup some of that cost.

Also how you’ve bonded with the dog, and you guys feel you can provide the care and training he needs. Present a plan, something detailed outlining how you are going to cope with certain behaviors of his & train him, evidenced by cases you can find that these methods will work.

Maybe also offer to keep in contact with the rescue and update them on his progress for x amount of time, or ask for a trial period for x amount of time?

Why all of a sudden the change of heart for them?? Good luck, you guys are awesome for adopting a dog that nobody would otherwise!Answer #3: NAL and I don't know the laws in your country. But is a bolt gun the standard normal way pet animals are euthanized?? If not I'd raise hell about that and report it to any and all animal groups/organizations not just for Rocco but for all the animals. Even it were the usual way I'd push for something less cruel like lethal injection.


Title: Found animal bone in my ‘Vegan’ dish

Question:
I live in Ontario and frequent a grocery chain ‘Farm Boy’ which offers vegan options at there food bar, one of which is fake sticky beef which is actually just soy protein (made 100% sure before purchasing)

Upon eating it at home, I came across an animal bone that was mixed into it. I’m obviously torn by this but not sure how to go about fixing this with the franchise.

A lot of people will probably think this isn’t a big deal and that I should get over it, but when you’ve been vegan for 7 years and love animals dearly, it hurts a lot.

Topic:
Canada

Answer: I’m sorry that you are upset but I am not sure that this is a legal issue at all, as you don’t really have any financial damages. You can request a refund for your meal.


Title: Wife took our son away from me. Is not letting me see him unless we work it out, which I do not want to do

Question:
Long story short. Title says it all. I have video and voice note evidence that my 2 year old son did not want to go with her and she forcefully took him away from me. He was crying at the top of his lungs and neighbors even came out to see what was going on.

I even cooperated with her and told my son that he had to listen to his mom and go with her which is on the video. She is now lying to people saying I kicked her out when I did not.

She pays for his daycare but I pay for everything else. I told her that we are done at this point and want whats best for our son but she is saying if we (me and her) cannot work out our issues I cannot see him.

What are my options??

Answer: You go to court and get an order for custody/support/visitation along with the divorce.Answer #2: You need a lawyer.Answer #3: She can't just decide you can't see your son but if she is completely unwilling to listen to reason you will need a court order.Answer #4: Get a temporary custody agreement in place ASAPAnswer #5: In most states, divorce isn't really something one party can stop. If one party wants a divorce, the other party can't force them to try to  work it out Answer #6: Hire a divorce attorney.Answer #7: Go to court and file for emergency custody. Look for a family law attorney, they could literally spin this into her only having monitored visitation due to being a flight risk.


Title: Early Termination of the Lease and Landlord's Duty

Question:
I live in St. Louis, Missouri.

My one-year lease started in July 2016 and I have renewed it for another year in the summer of 2017.

This April I told my landlord that I would like to move out earlier than the end of my lease term, due to personal reasons, and she suggested me to find someone to fill it in so I did.

Now, here's the problem. I had thought that my lease would end at the end of June because my original (first year) lease was from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017. For some odd reason, however, my renewed lease was from August 31, 2017 to July 31, 2018, which I had signed but mistakenly forgotten about.

Everything was moved out of the unit by June 30, 2018, and I returned my keys to my landlord asking to return my security deposit. (I was still not aware of the fact that I miscalculated the lease term at that point). Today I've received the email from the landlord saying, "Attached is your lease showing that your lease ended July 31, 2018. Since you did not pay July rent we will be using the security deposit for July rent."

It was totally my mistake that I miscalculated the dates. I admit it. However, during the text messages and email conversation, the landlord has never mentioned this to me even when I was telling her specific time and dates, etc for my moving out.

I looked up Missouri State Law but couldn't find anything for this particular situation, except for the one that says a little bit about the landlord's duty to mitigate the damages (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 535.300)

Is there any way I can get at least some of my deposit back because I feel it's unfair that I have to be solely responsible for the mistake that my landlord and I both overlooked (or she intentionally ignored it.)

I'd really appreciate your advice on this.

Thank you for your time.

Answer:
 > Is there any way I can get at least some of my deposit back because I  feel it's unfair that I have to be solely responsible for the mistake  that my landlord and I both overlooked (or she intentionally ignored  it.)

No.  Because, the landlord did not overlook or ignore your true move out date. The date was listed on your lease agreement.


Title: Person keeps calling my kids....and now me too. How can I stop them?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You can file a police report without the persons identity.  This will establish a paper trial.  You can then eventually go to court and see if they'll issue your telecomms provider a subpoena to identify the caller.Answer #2: My guess is they're using an anonymizer app to mask their real number; I know several people who have these on their iPhones. They can call/text through them, you can even call/text back; but it's not their real number. All your cellphone provider will do is tell you to block the number, but that's a short-term fix as the app can just give them a new one to go around it; and without a real number with a name attached, there's not much the law can do about it, you can still make a report to establish a case of harassment over the phone. Outside of changing your daughter's number or taking her phone away, there's sadly not much you can do.Answer #3: Not legal advice but I had this same problem some years ago.
I bought a "rape whistle" (a really, really loud whistle) and blasted it nonstop every time the jerk called.  Which was twice.
It was actually fun to do!


Title: [Atlanta, GA] A software company I work for is pressuring me to release a version of software with a security hole.

Question:
I am a software engineer concerned about the implications of my work. I have been positioned to deliver software that puts our customers at risk. I informed my supervisor of the risks to the best of my ability and asked the C-levels to make a tactical decision, but I refused to release the code unless they overrode me. They did so, and I am to release vulnerable software today with no timeline for a patch. I could only put the issue "on the radar."

Obviously I am keeping this as anonymous as possible, but I am worried about this precedent of business expediency coming before our greater responsibilities because this is not the first time this has happened. Can I blow the whistle? If so, how can I minimize damage to my career?

Answer:
 Oh, you sweet summer child.

Unless your employer is bound by some specific regulation or contract requirement, security bugs are a matter of customer satisfaction and of the company's risk tolerance, rather than a matter of law. You've done your due diligence internally, and in most software orgs I'd even say you've overstepped your job by quite a bit but it appears to have worked out for you.

If your company has a compliance officer, let them know. If you believe this runs afoul of specific regulations, contact the relevant regulatory or industry body directly and ask - you can do so without implicating your employer, if you're looking for information on how to handle this. Otherwise, this comes down to your personal morals and preferences: are you willing to work for an org which makes risk management decisions you disagree with?

Because you've made your position on this so visible internally, I would think carefully before taking steps like submitting a proof of concept to the CERT advisory program or to Mitre's CVE list. Even if you report it anonymously, there's a good chance your employer will trace it back to you. Unless you are regulated under something that requires disclosure, it's unlikely you would have any whistleblower protections, and you may be breaching your NDA if you have one by doing so. I would speak to an attorney before you push this any further.

Please understand that I think security bugs like this _are_ a big deal - but often there is no, or very little, legal liability involved in releasing broken code.


Title: Worked for a company that sent me money and now a month later is trying to reverse the payment.

Question:
I am in Texas. In early March I was hired by a company to do price comparisons in my local market. I was very skeptical of the company as they were overseas, but my last job was very similar and so I went into it cautiously.

About two weeks in, my “manager” called and said the guy that was doing business in my area had to leave for a family emergency and asked if I could finish a transaction. They sent me money and I was apparently paying for a “research analysis of crypto currencies” that they were buying from another company asked me to deposit it to the other companies account so they they could get their report. (I have all this information saved.)

Here is where I stopped. A million red flags went up. I contacted my (top 3 big bank chain) and told them the situation. I was afraid I would take this money out to pay for the report and then the people I was working for would reverse the money sent and leave me in the hole. I talked to three different reps that assured me that it could not happen, that they had sent me the money and there was no way to reverse it and even if they tried to, the bank would be on my side and I would be protected from fraud charges. I even confronted my employer and asked why they were trusting me with this so early in my employment. How did they know I wasn’t going to just take off with the money instead and disappear? They insisted they do a background check on employees and that I didn’t have anything to suggest they couldn’t trust me with it. I asked if I could send it back and he said yes, if I didn’t want to take the deposit they could try and find someone available. With the assurances from my bank I went ahead with it.

I was ghosted on payday. The number just goes to voicemail and I never got a reply from my last email about the last assignment they had me do. I was upset of course, but I didn’t care a whole lot. I was only out some hours of my life but not any money and so I was thankful for at least that. I reported the company as a scam for not paying me, even though I did work for them.

Today, an entire month later, I get a charge from Big Bank for partial reversal of funds from that transaction back in March. I didn’t have enough in my account that would recover the entire sum which is the only reason I’m only out a couple hundred. I called Big Bank and talked to three people.

The first one I explained the situation, she told me the money was reversed because the person that sent it to me was claiming it was stolen money/fraud and put me on hold and eventually hung up on me.

The second one I explained and she sounded like she was accusing me of stealing the money and said “hold on let me find the script I have to read for this situation”. I protested and told her I was not the scammer, I was being scammed and that I didn’t need a script, I needed help to figure out what I can do. She told me “hold on, no, we have a script for this” and I so I hung up on her.

The third lady was much more helpful. She said the money was sent from PayPal (I didn’t know this, it says sent from JPM on the transaction) and that whoever sent it is telling PayPal it was a fraudulent charge so PayPal is trying to reverse it. She also said there was nothing they could do.

I am coming out on the shit end of this. At this point I don’t know if the company is scamming me, if the company stole money from someone and that person is being scammed as well, I have no idea. The person that sent the money is getting theirs back, but what about me? I’m obviously being scammed and the bank is basically telling me “too bad so sad”. Am I fucked or is there anything I can do? Should I close my bank account to prevent further withdrawal?

Answer:
 You were never hired. There was no "company". This is a ridiculously common scam.

File a police report, get as much back as your bank will help you with, and move on.Answer #2: Sounds similar to a common fake-check cashing scam.

If it is, you don't have much recourse other than reporting it to the bank, and reporting it to the police.  Since the scammers are overseas, likely nothing will come of this.

The hard truth is that you're likely on the hook for the funds and won't see any money coming back your way.


Title: [California, San Diego] My apartment is flooded, water is coming down from the second floor. I have called the emergency number from my office. No one has answered nor returned the call and it has been 40 minutes since I called.

Question:
I'm in San Diego California, as the title says water is coming down from the apartment ontop. No one is there to see with them if they left a faucet on or something. The water is coming from walls, light bulbs and roofs.

Everything is wet such as my sofa, bed, some plug that had my TV was plugged in was emitting smoke and my dog is going nuts cause of the water.

A few Pictures because I don't want to upload every single one of them.:[https://i.imgur.com/bCtEwXf.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/bCtEwXf.jpg)
[https://i.imgur.com/aXjLXbh.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/aXjLXbh.jpg)
[https://i.imgur.com/RwQRign.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/RwQRign.jpg)

At this point I feel defeated, they are not responding and I'm honestly pissed off they are not responding.
Any advice?

Answer: Go upstairs right now and see if anybody answers. If not, call 911 and say you have reason to believe somebody is in trouble. It could be somebody has become incapacitated or maybe even died.


Title: Employer Provided Health Insurance Issues. (South FLorida)

Question:
I work for a company in South Florida. They provide health insurance for the employess under a group plan from Blue Select. Each employee has health insurance paid for by the company 100%. The company has 14 employees.

My daughter was born in August of 2013. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) was added to the group plan in November of 2012 and my daughter was added upon being born in August of 2013.

I pay 100% of my wife and child health insurance by having the amount automatically deducted from my paycheck. While the company pays 100% of my (the employees) health insurance, they do not pay any percentage of my wife or childs health insurance. They are simply addded to the group plan and I pay the costs associated with thier addition to the group plan. I figured it would be a reduced rate since we are all part of a group plan as opposed to getting them health insurance seperately. All this was before Obamacare went into effect.(I think)

I have $283.04 deducted from every paycheck. I get paid biweekly.  That amounts to $566.08 per month for my wife and child. There are some months that I get 3 paychecks. The amount deducted is still $283.04 on those months (which is 2 months per year) which equals $849.12 ($283.04 x 3) for 2 months out of the year.

My rough estimates put my health care costs for my wife and child at the following:

52 weeks per year/2 = 26 paychecks a year (2 per month and 2 months with 3 pay checks)
26 paychecks x $283.04 = $7,359.04 per year I pay for my wife and childs health insurance.

To me, this seems kind of high. With a group plan rate, I would think the costs for my wife and childs health insurance would be less. (Maybe around $400.00 per month?)

Is there any way I can find out what my employer pays for my wife and childs health insurance? Either through the insurance company, insurance agent, or simply asking my employer directly. I would just like to have piece of mind that I'm not being overcharged for thier health insurance and find out if I am being screwed or not.

Do I have a right to know what they are paying the health insurance provider on my behalf for my wife and child? I feel like I do have the right since the money is being taken out of my paychecks directly, but I don't know the law so I'm not entirely sure.

Thank you for any advice you can give!

Topic:
Insurance

Answer: Just a comment on the amount: it's not at all unusual. Especially given the maternity coverage. Most of us are pretty sheltered from healthcare cost because of employer-subsidized plans, and in this case you're not. I doubt you're being screwed by your company, but we're all being screwed by insurance companies.


Title: [CA (USA)] Neighbor Refuses to Leash His 100lb Dog (or Pick Up After It)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 hand over (a copy of) what you have.

Report every further incident (with a copy of the evidence) right away when it happens. Answer #2: In my area animal control deals with these issues directly, not the police. Can you call them yourself?Answer #3: Every time you see the dog off leash, pick up the phone and call animal control. Take a photo/video. Repeat. Even if it's 10 times a day, call. Turn over video/photos of incidents to animal control.Answer #4: Pepper spray


Title: Recently terminated without just cause.

Question:
I live in PA- So I was recently terminated from my job. It came out of no where. I had never been written up a single time. Never had a verbal warning. Never even had any idea my job was in jeopardy. My job performance reviews were always great.

So Wednesday, on my two year anniversary with the company, the administrator calls me into her office at the end of the day and says she no longer has confidence in my ability to complete my job correctly. She said she had been researching my work and found and assessment I had completed and submitted late. I explained to her that the patient had changed payers so her assessment had to be reopened and resubmitted as per regulations. She didn’t understand. She listed three other things that again she didn’t understand that was what was supposed to be done. Regardless of what I said she was determined to fire me.

When being escorted back to my office to pack it up I asked about my current PTO and if it would be paid out to me, I had a significant amount saved up, I was told by HR I would not be getting it.

My question is there anything I can do to get my PTO time as well paid to me??? It would be helpful in the time looking for another job.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Answer: I have some bad news for you, they don't need just cause to terminate you. PA is an at will state so you can be fired for just about any reason unless you are part of a union or have an employment contract that states otherwise.Answer #2: Pennsylvania law only requires a PTO payout if it’s the employer’s usual policy to provide one. Unless you can show that your employer typically pays out PTO to people in your situation, you have no legal claim to a payout.


Title: Medical emergency speeding ticket

Question:
[removed]
Topic:
Removed

Answer:
 If it is a medical emergency then you call 911. You don't speed, break the law, and endanger other people's lives. The law doesn't allow that.

No one here knows what the judge might do. You willingly and knowingly broke the law when there was a safer option available to you. You need an attorney if you want to mitigate the damagesAnswer #2: He might.

Your actions likely endangered your wife (and the baby, and you, and anyone else who might have been on the road) more than just calling 911 from the house would have.

You have no lights or sirens to warn other cars, you have no special training in emergency high speed driving, and not even the ambulance would have been driving that fast in that area even with all of those things.

I hope your wife and kiddo are okay, and I'm glad that no one else got hurt in your attempt to get them there.Answer #3: They may. If you have a clean record, you should see if they'll allow a diversion or traffic school instead. If they do it'll also help you avoid insurance premium hikes.


Title: I might soon get engaged. But 1 year ago, my boyfriend was on drugs and fired a disabled employee, using a homophobic slur and later sending him texts mocking the disability etc. They never sued, but how long would they have to sue? And could a judgement apply to me if I marry him? In PA

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 Typically a person has 180 days to file a charge for discrimination or 300 days if your state or local government has a law prohibiting the same type of discrimination, which PA does.

Sorry you've only been given moral and life advice. There are subs for that, and this is not one.


Title: (US-NC) Me with my Uncle, he may have completely mishandled inheritance from my grandfather.

Question:
It was advised I post this here from /r/relationships

This is in the state of North Carolina. My grandfather died 7 years ago. In his will he left everything to his children (three of them), and if one of his children was deceased that portion went to their decedents (my father, his son, had died years earlier). If the money went to a decedent they were to receive it when they turned 30, which I have recently. My uncle (father's younger brother) is the executor of the will and we set up the trust for that money a little over 5 years ago. My uncle said he was going to be conservative with the investments.

Since then, the market has done well. Even if he'd done my idea of conservative investing, putting everything in an S&P 500 index fund, the money should have grown 85% with this white hot market. I spoke to my uncle yesterday and it sounds like he invested a good portion of the trust in gold and has lost money in a market where that should have been near impossible. If it isn't obvious he's a Fox News style Republican so he may have thought "black Democrat president can't mean anything good for the market" when the market was making the kind of gains to make a 25 year old Arnold Schwarzenegger jealous.  For the sake of argument lets say $225,000 went in, I'm looking at getting $200,000, and had my uncle invested it in any way decently I'd be getting $400,000.

I'm to meet him to transfer whatever funds are there in the next few days. I'd like any advice on how to confront him about his poor decisions with my money.

tl;dr: My uncle may have bungled handing my inheritance. What do I say to him that isn't an angry conflagration of four letter words?
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 Step 1:  Get what money you have coming.

Step 2:  Review the documents to figure out what exactly happened.

Step 3:  Talk to a professional about it  Someone versed in the duties of executors.

Generally not having great returns isn't actionable as long as you did not commit fraud, or in some other way deliberately cause losses.  But context matters.  Talk to someone.  You should be able to get a short free consult.


Title: [IL][GA] Receiving bank statements for account that isn't mine

Question:
I recently moved from IL to GA and among the items I updated with my new address was my bank account. My bank's portal allowed me to update my address online and within 3 or so business days the update came through as I received confirmation via standard mail.

However, I recently received a bank item for an account belonging to my sister. I have NO JOINT accounts with her, we just happen to use the same bank. The item I received for her account has my current GA address.

I'm wondering if this constitutes a mishandling of PII. She never requested this address change and neither did I. This seems like a major security/privacy concern especially when it's one of the big banks. Thoughts?

Answer:
 Tell the bank what happened. Mark the mail "Return to sender" and put it back in the mail box.

No need to make a federal case out of a simple mailing error...


Title: What do you do when your cab driver goes off the road?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Scream?


Title: [PA] Cops came to my door asking for my roommate/sister. My rights?

Question: I get a knock at the door just an hour ago and it's a police officer. I open it. He asks for my sister, who is also my roommate. I tell him she isn't home, but if he leaves his info I will give it to her asap. He asks for her again. I reiterate that she isn't home. At this point, I'm getting nervous so I called 911 to verify and he was indeed an officer. I think this pissed him off. He tells me that if I am lying, I can go to jail along with her for obstructing/lying, that she has an outstanding warrant, and he could easily get a search warrant so I should just oblige. I decline and tell him to go get the search warrant. My sisters job has a strict no cell phone policy so I have no idea what thats about but what do I do if he or another officer comes back?

Answer:
 If he comes back with a search warrant you follow the warrant.

Other than that you can do exactly what you just did.Answer #2: An arrest warrant alone does not give the police permission to enter your property.  They may try to convince you it does.

Do not get physical with a police officer in this regard.  An officer may even choose to ignore your rights.  Don't get physical.  Repeat this line in your mind.

"Officer, I will not physically obstruct you, but I DO NOT consent to this search".

Make sure to record all interactions.Answer #3: >He tells me that if I am lying, I can go to jail along with her for obstructing/lying

This part is true, fyi. If you were to lie about her being there, you can be charged with a crime.


Title: I ordered two items as a duel package. Amazon.com only sent me one of the two items and will not send me the other item.

Question:
Sacramento, Ca USA

ATTN: brief summary below!!!

Hello everyone,

On 10/4/2016, I ordered two Sena 20S-01D Motorcycle Bluetooth 4.1 Communication Systems with HD Audio and Advanced Noise Control. I ordered the dual package meaning it came with two units. They were used; however, the order was from amazon's warehouse deals. The price of the item was $287.91. I received my package on 10/6/2016. Upon opening this box, I noticed only one unit was in the box; it was their (single) option. Before calling Amazon, I went on my computer to double check the invoice and order details to make sure I purchased their (Dual) option. After researching to see if I made a mistake I found that I did in fact order their dual option. So i took screen shots and printed out everything: [Item description](http://imgur.com/sjJBEqx), [More item description](http://imgur.com/KGJJLEK), [my invoice](http://marquelkemp.imgur.com/all), [and the box that arrived to my house](http://imgur.com/zWnZetQ). I called amazon and talked to a service rep. The only thing she could offer me to remedy the situation is to refund me my money and for me to send the item back. Now, if you looked at those pictures I am sure you noticed two of those units new are almost $500 dollars. Amazon's warehouse deals sold me two used ones for 278.91. I don't want a refund; I want my additional unit I paid for. I spoke with that service reps supervisor and still, Amazon would not budge. Their explanation, "We do not have any more used ones in stock to send you. Clearly someone made a mistake when advertising it." I asked to speak with that person’s manager and he was unable to do that. He told me the best he could do is have a manager call me back first thing tomorrow morning (10/7/2016). Well that is today, and I didn't get a call first thing in the morning. So I called Amazon customer service again at 8:00 a.m. this time I got a more compassionate experience. The supervisor i ended up speaking with, Edgar, fully understood the issue; however, in the end it was the same result as the day before. Except for when I asked to speak to Edgar’s supervisor he placed me on hold for 10 minutes and then the phone hung up. On 10/6/2016 I spent an hour on the phone, and today this morning I spent another hour on the phone.

Brief summary:
I ordered a two pack of used Sena 20S-1D Motorcycle Communication Systems for $287.91 from Amazon. A pack of two units brand new cost around $500. When I received my order I only received one. I called amazon and the only thing they could offer was to refund me and have me send the unit back. The service rep admitted that someone made a mistake in advertising. Called again the next day and got hung up on.

My Questions:
Where do I go from here?
Is this false advertisement?
Can I complain to some government entity regulating company to consumer conduct, and who would that government entity be?

I know there is much more important stuff going on in the world but if you could take the time to help me out I would really appreciate it.

Thanks

Edit: I called corporate and spent 15 minutes on the phone. They understood that amazon.com should honor the prices they advertise. They gave me a full refund and allowed me to keep the unit. To all of you pessimistic legal advisors...suck a dick.

Answer:
 > I don't want a refund; I want my additional unit I paid for.

That's nice.  They're not offering that.  You have two choices: take what you have or get your money back.

Your damages are the amount you paid.  That's all.


Title: My girlfriend's daughter was sued to pay for her mom's care by her long term care home. Will her (the daughter's) suicide affect my girlfriend's care?

Question: My girlfriend has to be in a long term care home in Pennsylvania. Paying for it was not something she could afford. From what I know the home sued her daughter for money to pay for it. It was a long time since my girlfriend had saw her daughter but she was surprised when she got news that her daughter killed herself after the court case. She didn't know her daughter was mentally ill and thinks maybe she was diagnosed or something by the social worker or her foster parents and no one told her. My girlfriend and I don't know what this means. Would her death affect my girlfriend in the long term care home?

Answer:
 As a related aside, a bill has been introduced to repeal PA's grossly unjust filial responsibility law. Details - http://marshallelder.blogspot.com/2015/01/bill-introduced-to-repeal-pa-filial.htmlAnswer #2: If the home won a judgment against the daughter, then upon the daughter's death, her estate now owes the money to the home, and the home files as a creditor and gets paid out of the estate, if the estate has enough funds.
Answer #3: I'm pretty sure this is someone trying to bring to light the issue in Pennsylvania.


Title: Wisconsin neighbor building new garage raised ground level.

Question: The yards are in a flood plane. In the three years I lived here the yard has not flooded.  They have raised their ground leval a foot and still have a large mound of dirt left. Garage is not finished yet. Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer: What's your question exactly?


Title: Falsely Accused of Sexual Harassment Help!

Question:
I was falsely accused of sexual harassment by a woman that I turned down. I and my girlfriend work together, and after I turned down this woman, I'll call her Jane. She went and made up lies to break my girlfriend and I up. My girlfriend sniffed through her lies and we stayed together. The next day, I brought her flowers to work for her desk as I do every week. And women in the office raved about it in front of Jane. The next day I was called into the office for sexual harassment.  She has no proof at all, and I have 12 different witnesses that would speak up about how she harassed me by calling me Black Hercules, Mr. Buff, The Adonis and many more names. She was constantly at my desk and even asked me to buy her a Lyft to get home(She is a married woman). This is second time she has cried sexual harassment, and she has not yet made it past 90 days.

I provided 4 pages of written testament and 14 screenshots of this woman contacting me. I do live in a At will state, so I know I can be fired for any reason. But this would be a huge hit to my career. Should I be hiring a lawyer now? Should I file a counterclaim with all my proof? What should I do in this situation? I have never saw this woman outside of work, and no one can claim they saw me make any advances towards her, why am I guilty until proven innocent, when she has no proof but her word?

Answer:
 What did your employer / HR department do after you presented the texts and statements from others?

You could push to have your employer look into her behavior for discrimination and harassment. Though, if you showed that to them, they should be looking into that anyway.

Or did you already lose your job?