Title: Washington State ESA

Question: I currently live in Bellingham WA and have asked my landlords if they would allow me to have an emotional support animal to help me combat my anxiety and depression. They denied me and stated that they are going to abide by the rental contract I signed stating no pets. A emotional support animal, for those of you who don’t know  is not a service animal nor a pet. The purpose of the animal is simply to be around and in my circumstance, help minimize the chance of my depression escalating or my anxiety attacks returning. I have found multiple different posts regarding who can authorize a support animal but nothing that looks authentic. I am wondering if this is something worth fighting or if I should just accept my landlords decision that I can not have any animals in my apartment. It is very confusing I’ve tried to look up online but can’t get a straight answer I don’t like going into a battle without having all the right facts and etc. I think this is the correct subreddit. Thank you very much for the help!

Answer: How many rental units does the landlord have and do you have a letter from a medical professional “prescribing” an ESA?Answer #2: Do you have written letter from a medical professional stating you need an ESA?


Title: Texas: 4.5 year same sex relationship ended. I was sole provider; what am I entitled to?

Question: My ex of 4.5 years and I ended our relationship a few months ago.  However, we're still currently living together in a rented town home that both of us signed the lease on.  She has agreed to sign me off lease, but will not agree to return half the deposit or half of the pet deposit.  Also-- over the course of our relationship we financed couches, a bed, and a tv in her name.  We have a joint bank account that we pay all bills with, and I have been helping pay the monthly payments on these items even though they are in her name.   What am I entitled to? I make far more than she does and have been the main source of income throughout our relationship.   Any advice appreciated.

Answer:
 Are you married?Answer #2: Make a list of what you think you are entitled to. Have her make a list of what she thinks she's entitled to. See if they differ.

Separations are complex. You've mixed your finances. It's an open negotiation how you separate them. Divorce Mediation is an industry, you can hire someone to help you with the process. Divorce Mediators don't require you have been married to work for you.Answer #3: Unless you have a written agreement, you are probably entitled to very little.  But you can consult an attorney to see if they can help you reach an agreement.


Title: I think I just got my first speeding ticket...

Question:
How do I know if I did or not?
I'm in CA.  The cop didn't give me any physical ticket, nor did he say "I'm giving you a ticket."

He said, "I pulled you over for speeding."  He asked for my driver's license and told me to watch his finger (as he moved it back and forth in front of my face).

Then he said to pay more attention and drive carefully, and then he left.

So did I get a ticket?  Will I get it in the mail or something?  Or did he let me off easy?

Answer:
 More than likely, he let you off with a warning.  It sounds like he was more concerned with your state of inebriation than the actual speed.  When you passed a quick sobriety test, he decided not to ticket you for the speeding.

You may later receive a citation in the mail, but you're probably home free.


Title: Got caught smoking pot at school

Question: I am in high school, also 18 which is my cause for concern right now. Basically I have 2 infractions and a misdemeanor (intoxicated, possession, and paraphernalia). What can I expect? Jail time? I also live in California if that helps

Answer: You can expect fines. Maybe some sort of drug counseling or community service. You’re not going to jail. Answer #2: Everybody knows that smoking ain't allowed at school.


Title: Is it illegal to use food stamps for non-food related purposes? Or to advise people how to do? [US/TN]

Question:
Okay, so it’s not as bad (I don’t think) as the title makes it seem haha.

I had an idea for a series of cheap books to advice people on ways to stretch their budgets using their food stamps. Some examples might me-

-gardening: when you buy chia seeds you can take a few spoonfuls and sprout them into micro greens. Or, when you buy dried beans you can also plant a few in the garden to grow into plants

-gifts and crafting: save up your orange peels and use this recipe to make homemade marmalade. Or, save your old pasta sauce jars and turn them into this cute planter.

Now this stuff is technically to be about stretching your dollar by using stuff your food stamps have already boughten. However I suppose people might use it as a shopping list instead (though I don’t see the point since it’s about saving you money). Is buying something with food stamps if the intent is not purely nutritional illegal?

Answer:
 So long as you use SNAP funds at a SNAP-approved retailer, they're required to use their software to auto determine whether a specific item can be used with SNAP.

It would be illegal if you used the funds for non-authorized purchases, or if you traded the funds (eg, buy $50 for someone at a store, get $40 in cash).

But buying a jar of pasta so you can use the glass jar for a planter wouldn't be illegal.

[Also, you can use SNAP funds to buy seeds](https://www.snapgardens.org/snap-participant/).


Title: Can someone explain the Kentucky clerk/marriage license case and why it has any merit? As an elected official without the ability to make any laws, isn't she sworn to uphold the law of the land?

Question:
Washington, DC

Apologies if this belongs somewhere else, but I was curious to hear from some lawyers about why the county clerk in Kentucky who is refusing to give marriage licenses to gay couples has any legal standing. As an agent of the government without the ability to create laws (like a congressperson), isn't she bound to uphold the Supreme Court's decision whether she feels it violates her first amendment rights or not? Why is this even a legal case?

Answer:
 I think the courts have been clear that the case does *not* have any legal merit.

It is a legal case because she is refusing to obey the law.Answer #2: I will be excited to see her perp walk and mug shot.Answer #3: What is this legal standing you are talking about. It doesn't. The Supreme Court as said as much.Answer #4: Worse, this goes beyond her own personal faith, because she also refuses to allow any of her employees to sign the papers.

She has shut down the entire office for her own religious beliefs.Answer #5: You may find it helpful to read [the initial decision](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marriage/images/7/76/Miller_v._Davis_43_Preliminary_Injunction.pdf/revision/latest?cb=20150813013010) issued by the federal judge from the Eastern District of Kentucky. That decision summed up the issue as follows:

> At its core, this civil action presents a conflict between two individual liberties held
sacrosanct in American jurisprudence. One is the fundamental right to marry implicitly
recognized in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The other is the
right to free exercise of religion explicitly guaranteed by the First Amendment. Each party
seeks to exercise one of these rights, but in doing so, they threaten to infringe upon the
opposing party’s rights.

After discussing the irreparable harm to the plaintiffs, the court went on to reject Kim Davis' arguments under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, the free expression clause of the First Amendment, a religious tests clause from Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, and the Kentucky Religious Freedom Act.


Title: Landlord/Tenant Issue - Unlawful Eviction?

Question:
EDITED: This is for the state of Oregon.

My dad lives in a townhouse-style apartment complex on a month-to-month rental agreement. He has lived here for 13 months and has never paid rent late. His income is six to seven times the rent. When he moved in, the owner of the property, who acts as the off-site landlord, asked me if there was any reason she shouldn't rent to him. I realize the question was likely illegal, but I disclosed at this time that he is alcoholic.

He suffers from severe neuropathy and has trouble walking. He regularly uses a cane but also has a walker. He has fallen a few times in the parking lot and instead of calling for help, will lay and wait for someone to notice him to pick him up. As a result, he began parking in front of his apartment door at times so he did not have to walk for a distance. He is the closest unit to the street and does not obstruct the driveway or any other apartments. His landlord asked him to continue using the parking space despite his disability and he does so as much as reasonably possible.

His landlord has called me, instead of him, on several occasions to complain about a variety of things that I consider trivial, like leaving the outside light on during the day and parking a boat in one of his two assigned parking spaces. Each time she has complained, he has complied with her requests.

On Sunday evening, he crashed his truck into a fence about four houses down from the apartment complex at the end of a residential street. He caused a few hundred dollars worth of damage to the fence, which surrounds a front yard of a residence, but he is insured and can easily pay if the damage is not covered by insurance. So, after crashing into the fence, he backed up and went home. He was contacted by law enforcement and cited for DUII. I provided his insurance information to the homeowner the next day.

His landlord found out about this and immediately told me that he needs to leave her apartments. She went to his apartment yesterday to provide him a 30-day verbal notice to vacate. However, in my state, to end a month-to-month tenancy without cause, a 60-day written notice is required.

For the driving issue, I've removed his vehicle from his location and he no longer has keys. He is not driving anymore and understands that.

Is the eviction unlawful? What remedy does he have? Is alcoholism a protected disability by which she cannot discriminate against him for?

Thanks.

Answer: Even if alcoholism is a protected disability, *drinking and driving* is not in any way protected.


Title: I co-signed for a vehicle in 2012. The person I co signed for has decided back in September that they didn’t want to pay anymore. The loan was through my credit union and we worked out a payment plan. Do I have any recourse to collect from the person that should be paying the loan?

Answer:
 You owe the credit union (that's what cosigning means). So CU can go after you, or other person.

If you wish to collect from other person, you'd have to sue *and* collect from said individual. A person that just reneged on a car payment and thus probably isn't inclined to pay back his/her debts owed.


Title: Old roommate secretly filmed me in the bathroom and uploaded it to the internet

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Yes. Call the police and file a report.


Title: [TX] Sue my lawyer?

Question:
I don't want to sue.

I desperately want to work with my attorney on a case he agreed to represent on a contingency fee basis. It was slam dunk case with all the evidence so he agreed to half of the $80k in loses.

When he accepted this case he had recently hanged up his shingles. However he soon left solo practice, being hired on as a partner at an established firm. This is when his interest and effort vanished.

He had admitted this was on a backburner because of other cases the firm needed him to work on. Through our email correspondence over the year he was always busy. Finally, after his wedding, said he now had time however replying to my emails seems to be a challenge. He still have things at a halt.

I don’t want to have to bug him about this case. Maybe I haven’t been bugging him enough. Either way I fear the statutes of limitations will soon be upon us.

How do I handle this? Preferable I’d like an amiable way to encourage him to start the work back up on this.

Answer:
 "I'm too busy to deal with your case" is never a good excuse for neglecting a client.  If he is too busy to work on your case he needs to withdraw.

Send him an email list asking for an itemized list of all work done on your case.  Once you get that, send him an email withdrawing your case, for a copy of your case file, and find a new lawyer.


Title: [Va] I left a pair of glasses at an ex-friend’s house that now won’t give them back.

Question: As the title says, I was dog sitting for this friend last week, I knew I brought my glasses over that night and when I ask for them “I don’t see them.” I really need my glasses and am starting to get headaches. I don’t know what else to do, this friend and I had a falling out after some other stuff and is now just being super problematic. Medically/legally is there anything I can do?

Answer:
 You can sue them in small claims court for the glasses however you'll have to prove that you actually did leave them at their house. Do you know 100% that you left your glasses there?Answer #2: Perhaps you should go there and volunteer to look for them.

Maybe they fell down the couch or something.

Maybe he did take them and sold them/hid them/using them, etc.

Maybe he legitimately looked to no avail.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Legally? You can *attempt* to sue. You have 0 evidence he took them from you, so you don't have much of a case. Just a "I left them at his house and now they are gone".


Title: Falsely Accused. Help!!!

Question:
I'll try to keep this short. On July 3rd of this year I was walking home from the bus stop when the police stopped me. He said the reason he stopped me was for Jay Walking. I did it. He ask for my Id and as an innocent person with nothing to hide I gave it to him. He went back to the car to run my ID.

When he comes back ( he found nothing when he ran my ID ) he tells me I fit the description of a person who was wanted for shop lifting from a local Staples store. He said he saw a photo of the suspect and it looked like me. He said that someone tried to steal an Apple Tablet. I told him I had been in that store, trying to kill time waiting for a bus, and that I had looked at the computers but I sure as heck did not try to steal anything. He left and said he would keep in touch. A week went by and I heard nothing from him so I figured I should just forget it.

Well a week ago my name comes up on the facebook feed of the police Dept saying that I had been arrested for shop lifting, a 4th degree offense - N.J.S. 2C:20 - 11C(3). It said I try to remove a security Device with a screw driver.  I go down to the police station to sort this out and the only sorting out they did was to finger print me and tell me I have a court appearance late in August.

I am freaking out. I know you guys don't know me but I am totally innocent of this charge. I did not try to steal anything at all. I sure as heck did not have a screw driver with me.

What is next? I am very poor and I can not afford a lawyer. Should I look for free legal service. What will happen at this first appearance that I have to make in late August? Should I start watching old Perry Mason episodes to build my defense?

Answer:
 Never talk to cops. They have one job, to find criminal action and arrest people. If they are talking to you chances are one of those two are being done.

Talking to cops very rarely works in your favor. Answer #2: I've been arrested lots of times as I am politically active. I never provide any answers to any questions; you have to ID yourself if they are investigating a crime (which you never know at the time so sometimes I do and sometimes I don't--failure to ID is not a crime per se but interference is, a "catch all" charge, so take that for what its worth IANAL). When asked a question the perfect response, a golden response and the only golden response is: if you have any questions please provide me with your contact information so my lawyer can contact you as I will not answer questions without advice of my lawyer. They always release me.


Title: [NC] Guy put my female friend in the hospital, need help with civil case advice.

Question:
Story time: A group of my friends, including a girl we will call Laura, were at a fast food joint early one morning (2am) ordering food on foot.  A car went through the drive through with the windows down and loud music.  Someone in the group, not Laura, somehow mocked the car for the loud music.  After getting the food, the people in the car emptied out, not really sure exactly went down.  I do know that a guy, we will all Jordan, hit Laura knocking her out before she hit the ground.  After that Jordan's friends got him in the car and left.  Police and ambulance were called, Laura was taken to the hospital.

Since then Jordan turned himself into police and was charged with Assault.  Laura is out of the hospital.

I was wondering what kind of civil options Laura has.  To my best knowledge, I believe that assault, battery, and the hospital bills would be the "charges" in the civil suit.

Any help would be much appreciated, if you have any questions about the situation ask and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 > To my best knowledge, I believe that assault, battery, and the hospital bills would be the "charges" in the civil suit.

Not quite.

In order to have a civil suit, you must prove that the defendant has committed a civil wrong(called a 'tort') and that you have suffered damages.

Your tort, in this case, is the assault.  The hospital bills and any other costs are your damages.

She can request reimbursement of those damages in one of three ways:

1.  By drawing from a victim's rights fund.

2.  By getting restitution from Jordan, if he is adjudicated guilty.

3.  By suing Jordan in civil court.

1 and 2 require Laura to work with the prosecutor, but they cost her no money out of pocket and are handled entirely by the courts.

3 requires Laura to file a suit, and pay the fees; if she wins, she is then responsible for collecting.


Title: Plenty of fish scam?

Question: Met a girl on POF. Profile said she was 19. We talked for a few days and exchanged numbers. She then says she is 18. She send me naked pictures. Then I am told her dad is upset and pressing charges. I am contacted by a company called Premier Investigations in Charleston, SC. They are asking for $500. Cannot find the company and the number is a cell phone number. Should I respond or be concerned? He has somehow determined my full name. He threatens to notify authorities if I do not pay.

Answer: Scam. Absolutely. Not even a very good scam - if she was 18 it would be legal for you to exchange pictures. But there is no girl, there is no father and there is no investigation company. So block everything and in future doesn’t exchange this sort of picture until after you have met the person in question and actually have a relationship.


Title: MA I want to terminate my Social Security and Medicare permanatly.

Question:
I am sick and tired of paying taxes on things that I will never use nor would I ever want to use. I would like to know how to go about terminating my involvement in paying taxes specifically to Medicare and Social Security. I will refuse to use both for as long as I live.

The end goal which would be awesome (but I don't think is possible) Is to legally stop paying all taxes while still working my normal job, having a bank account and what have you. I don't mind paying excise tax (Altho even that is ridiculous, I paid sales tax, wasn't that enough?) but I'm only really concerned about the taxes being taken out of my paychecks.

Is this possible and if so, what kind of lawyer should I get ro represent me and would you have an estimation as to how long of a procedure this is?

Thanks :)

Answer:
 >things that I will never use nor would I ever want to use

Right, until you get into a car accident that leaves you permanently disabled and unable to work; or get cancer or any number of other debilitating conditions.

You could move to another country and renounce US citizenship.  Answer #2: Stop earning money.  That's perfectly legal and exempts you from all those taxes.  Of course, I'm talking about actually not working.  If you earn money and don't report it, it's the Gray Bar Hotel for you.Answer #3: >what kind of lawyer should I get ro represent me and would you have an estimation as to how long of a procedure this is?

One that is a Master of the Dark Arts. It will probably take several lunar cycles to accumulate that much mojo. They are hard to find and usually cost your first born child as retainer.

Barring that, you can try to find an exempt job, if those even exist. You're most likely going to have to pay taxes. Answer #4: Its likely impossible for you to maintain your normal lifestyle while not paying taxes. Here's an article about a guy who was able to stop paying [income taxes](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/11/can-quitting-your-job-help-stop-war/382648/) (in part to protest the use of his money to fund the Iraqi War), but the main crux of his strategy was to earn significantly less money.

You're right that your main goal is impossible. If you want to avoid paying taxes while maintaining your current lifestyle that just wont happen. Please either seek the advice of a financial planner/accountant to figure out how to legally reduce your tax burden or continue to pay your taxes unless you want to be pursued by the IRS.


Title: Do cops monitor r/legal advice

Question:
Location: US

If you admitted to a crime being committed on r/legal advice, would police be there to flag it and start an investigation on it, even if the details were vague and ambiguous?

Answer:
 Former cop/current LA mod/commenter here.

There are for sure cops who comment on it.

And there's no privacy to anything you post online. Law Enforcement is not actively monitoring the site for tips as far as I know, but they can access anything posted publicly if it comes to their attention.

If you have a situation that you're concerned about and you're afraid LE might see it and use it against you, then don't post about it online and go see an IRL attorney.


Title: Bail bondsman won't return money owed and doesn't respond to phone, walk in, or mail.

Question:
Hi redditors, I'm really at a loss here. My grandfather was misled and paid the bondsman the entirety of the bond, instead of just a percentage, with a receipt stating he'd get the majority back after my case finalized. The case finalized in June of 2018. I have made 2 attempts to provide the papers to the bondsman and he won't return the money. He also won't answer the phone, isn't there when I go in person, and didn't sign for the court documents proving resolution of my case that I sent via certified mail. To make matters worse, he told my grandfather when he finally reached him that he has filed bankruptcy, which I believe is just a further lie to get out of returning the money owed. I have had zero luck tracking this guy down. Does anyone have any suggestions for ways that I can get him to return the money or possibly a way to determine if he in fact did file bankruptcy?

Thanks so much for your time!

Answer: I'd contact a criminal defense attorney in your area. They likely deal with bondsmen all the time, and once a lawyer starts poking at someone they tend to fold


Title: What can a towing company do to me if I don't pay the towing charges? [Florida]

Question:
 My shitty car was stolen. Police told me 4 days later that my car was in the tow yard and went to the towing company the same day I got the car.  I racked up a bill of 300 dollars without any of my fault.  Lol. I looked at my car yesterday and realize it's not worth 300 dollars and it is time to say goodbye to the family car of 17 years.  Now the bill is probably at $375 as it's one day after they called me. The towing company says they can put a lien on my license. Reddit and everywhere else seem to say otherwise that lein is on the car, not on the license.

What actions can they put against me if I decide to leave my car there?

Answer:
 You can offer to let them keep the car. They may accept. But they will send you to collections, damage your credit, and maybe sue you if you don't settle. Yea it sucks but you still owe it.

> The towing company says they can put a lien on my license.

And they may be able to do this as well, not 100% sure.  Still best to just deal with it and put it behind you.


Title: Ex employer not paying when Dept of Labor ruled them to

Question: I filed a claim with the department of labor because I wasn't paid hour worked from home. Ex employer said they didn't have to even though they had agreed to while I was still working there. They have made it clear to me that they will not pay me. Is there anything else I can do before hiring an attorney? The Department of Labor said they'd likely have to pay my attorney fees back if we go to court & any liquidated damages (I'm honestly not really sure what that means in my case, I googled it but still can't make sense of it) they've done this to people before. They don't pay overtime, don't keep medical records HIPAA safe etc. I would like to avoid court for a few reasons-the first being that it will cause us financial difficulty to pay for an attorney right now; the second is, on the off chance I don't win, I'd be out of legal fees. I live in Indiana if that makes any difference. Thanks

Answer: IANAL, but in a contract, liquidated damages typically refer to the costs an entity has to pay for failing to hold up its end of a bargain. In this case it's probably referring to an award/penalty the employer would have to pay for failing to comply.


Title: Moving into a new apartment and the old tenants have changed the locks and refuse to leave

Question:
My boyfriend and I signed a lease and paid the deposit to move into a new apartment today. When we asked the landlord what time we could move in he told us the tenant was not responding.

Fast forward to today we packed our stuff into a moving van and returned our keys to our old landlord and drove over to the new place and the old tenants are not gone. When we knocked on the door a man answered and told us it was his girlfriend's apartment and she was still sleeping (this is past noon) and that we should speak to the landlord.

When we spoke to the landlord it is revealed that he had served the woman an N12 notice of eviction 2 months ago stating she must vacate the premesis by September 1st. Yesterday and today he served her additional eviction notices threatening legal action if she is not out. Turns out she has changed the locks and stopped paying rent and now says that she is having trouble finding a place and refuses to leave. The landlord was not upfront with us about the situation when we looked at the apartment and we did not find out about the old tenants eviction notice until today.

 The landlord wants to avoid involving the the police if at all possible, but we don't know what else to do. The city we live in rentals are in high demand and we have nowhere else to go. What kind of legal action can be taken to get them out or for temporary accommodations, even during a holiday weekend.

Answer: Your landlord has breached his contract with you if people are still living there. The police won't kick them out. The landlord must evict them.


Title: Questions about a judge

Question: I was recently released from state prison and I'm now currently in the middle of a custody ordeal. Firstly when discussing my prior arrest he said "Your lucky you didn't pull this at my house or I'd have killed you" and secondly he said "your lucky I wasn't your sentencing judge or you'd never have gotten out of prison." So the question is: Is this within his right to say and if not what are my options?

Answer: They can say it, but still must act within the confines of the law.


Title: Truck would not stop for 2 miles

Question: (North Austin, TX) So last night I was on the way to a buddy's house after work, around 7:45 pm. I pulled out of a shopping center and onto a busy road and stepped on the accelerator as to not impede the flow of traffic behind me. As I did this, the RPMs stuck on in the truck around 4k and would not stop. I was going about 45-50 mph. The brakes were doing next to nothing although they were engaged. I stood on the brakes and still blew through two intersections, dodging traffic, driving on the opposite side of the road. Somehow I didn't hit anybody. I was panicking by then and tried to run myself off the road which I couldn't do safely. Eventually I was able to slow myself down by riding against the curb, maybe to around 15-20 mph at which point I just put it in as many different gears as I could. At some point I was able to throw it in reverse and park which gave me the worst mechanical noises imaginable in return. Eventually I was able to turn the key off and the truck stopped completely a couple hundred feet before I would have waltzed right out onto a busy highway. It was a pretty traumatizing experience and I still don't know how I didn't hit anyone. Now I'm wondering how I should go about getting this malfunction resolved. After the incident I contacted my local non-emergency hotline and later followed up with the police and filed a report. However there were no witnesses that I know of, and no damage to any other vehicle. My truck definitely shredded quite a bit of tranny though. As far as I know this isn't a known manufacturer defect either. I just want to be armed with as much information as possible before I contact the manufacturer about this incident. I should have been killed!! The truck is a 2004 F150 Heritage model with the 4.2 motor, not sure about the tranny.

Answer:
 Do you have a legal question?

You couldn't just shift into neutral?Answer #2: I'm not sure what you will get from Ford other than an apology. That truck is *way* out of warranty. A 12-year-old truck of any brand will have issues.


Title: Lost a job because judge didn't dismiss a case 5 years ago.

Question:
I've been job searching for the past couple months and I finally got a hit for a great job 2 weeks ago. I've gone in and done all the paperwork and blood tests needed (hospital) and I was supposed to start tomorrow. Last Friday I was contacted by the hr department saying they couldn't let me work for them because there was an open case on my record and that I would need to get it sorted out before start.

I called the county clerk and they told me a case was never closed and that there was a warrant out for my arrest. Well 5 years ago I accidently walked out of a grocery store with a bunch of food in my cart while I was on the phone and the store owner flipped out and refused to let me pay, instead he called the police. I was given a ticket and went to court where the judge understood and said I just had to do some community service and he would dismiss it. I did and the person in charge of signing off on my hours faxed it in and everything was fine. Flash forward to today and apparently the letterhead was wrong and the case was never closed. I was never contacted and nothing was mailed to me so I've had no clue until now. I've faxed a letter to the new judge in charge of my case explaining the problem and I'm now stuck waiting.

The hospital has said I can't start until it's closed. The problem with that is the department I was hired in was looking to fill the spot right away, so while I wait for this to get figured out I'll probably lose the job. Is there any legal action I can take after this is closed? I can't go into the courthouse or I'll be arrested, I've quit my last job to start this one and now I'll probably lose this one. I helpless and extremely nervous about being unemployed.

Edit: Live in Idaho, which is also where I got the ticket.

Edit 2: Thanks for the responses. Seems the fault laid on my past self and not being knowledgeable enough. I'll take the advice given and, if ever needed again, make sure I personally see that a case is closed.

Answer: onus is on you to ensure everything is turned in and handled. you need to have this taken care of and no, no suit can be filed.


Title: Can an employer make an employee pay out of pocket for production errors? (Graphic designer--California)

Question: Here's the scenario: I am a graphic designer. I made a design error on some T-shirts and boss is asking me to cover the cost of replacing the T-shirts out of pocket--$300. Is this legal? Is there anything I can ask for in writing to protect myself from future errors/omissions?

Answer:
 No.  The employer cannot force you to pay for your mistake.

I have to disagree with /u/Philanthropiss in part, because [California Labor Code 2802](http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=02001-03000&file=2800-2810.5) protects employees from being sued by their employers for damages resulting from the employees' ordinary negligence.

As an at-will employee though, you can be fired at any time for any non-discriminatory reason, which would include botching an order.


Title: [OH] Does falsely claiming to have car insurance constitute "insurance fraud"?

Question:
I'm reading a highly upvoted post elsewhere on reddit where a user says that they:

> forged documents to make it look like I had car insurance so I wouldn't get fired from my pizza delivery job.

> During the 2 months it took me to pay to get my real insurance back my fake cards and documentation fooled 3 bosses and a cop.

> Made them in MS paint by scanning an old card and changing the dates 1 pixel at a time. The paper documents and receipts were a bit tougher. Can't say how I did them, I don't know how long the statute of limitations is on that.

Do these actions describe something illegal? What kind of laws are broken if you show a fake insurance-related document to an employer or a police officer?

The person's post suggests that they believe they committed "felony insurance fraud" but I thought the phrase "insurance fraud" referred to making a false claim with an insurance company. I'm confused about whether this is really an illegal thing they claim to have done, or just a bad idea.

Answer: Driving without insurance is illegal.  Committing fraud to drive without insurance is illegal.  This is not insurance fraud, as no payment was being sought.


Title: My mom’s boyfriend smashed a phone on purpose that was leased under my name

Question:
I have 6 lines with sprint and each line is leasing an iPhone 7+ all phones are under my account and me and my fiancé pay for everyone’s bill.
At the end of the lease we are expected to either pay the remaining price of the phone ($300+) or return the phone. I explained to my family and my moms boyfriend that this was the case and i had planned on returning the phones once the lease was up and leasing used phones instead (much cheaper).
Long story short my moms boyfriend claimed i paid for no bills so i demanded he return the phone early since he has NEVER given a single payment for the phone(or anything else). Rather than returning it to me, he smashed it on the floor and stomped on it and it seems irreparable. The phone is still under my name and i cannot return it in the condition it’s in. I demanded he paid for the value of the phone and he laughed in my face.

Can I claim destruction of property since he has not made any payments and since the account is in my name?

I’ve read about small claims court but I’m unsure if this is applicable.

Also if he has no job how do they demand money from him if i were to win in small claims court?

TIA!!

Answer:
 Sue him for the remaining value of the phone (the amount to be paid at the end of the lease).Answer #2: Since you are the owner of the account, I’d suspend his line until they pay for the device. If there is insurance on the device, submit the claim with the insurance company, pay the deductible and get the replacement to turn in. After that’s settled and he’s paid what he owes you, I’d tell him to find his own account.Answer #3: Well part of your ownership means you don’t have to release that phone number to him to get his own service, until he pays for the repairs or replacement.

Leasing phones means they also have to have insurance, so I would recommend taking the remains to the store, and pay to repair or replace so you don’t get in trouble with sprint. Then you can return the phone, and sue him in small claims, but ultimately you assume responsibility for the phones on your account, so that’s the only way you will be able to recoup your losses.


Title: Random friend's friend offering to buy mom's house

Question:
PENNSYLVANIA. Start with this house is all my mother has. I live 3 hours away. A friend's friend has offered a decent deal to purchase the house outside of realestate agents. This person says they have a lawyer that will do the transfer.

English is my mother's second language so reading and speaking comprehension is not there.  She isn't going to read any document to make sure it's her terms or what she agreed to.

I want her to get a lawyer to help. Review the document before to make sure it has what she wants. Then, I guess go with her to make sure nothing funny is going on? Or maybe I'd go and just make sure the document they are signing stays the same?

This is all new to the family it's always been realestate agents.
Appreciate any help.

Answer:
 Yes, she needs a lawyer of her own. The other party's lawyer works for them and is working in their interests, not your mother's.

Chances are there's a legal aid society in your area that speaks your mom's language.  Contact them and ask for a real estate lawyer that also speaks that language.


Title: Prevent My Own Funeral from Being Held

Question:
(USA)

Hello,

Is there anything I can do to prevent my own funeral from being held? I come from a religious family that I cut myself off from and I do not want them holding or at any funeral of mine (mostly because of a tendency to harass my friends, including calling and visiting them, for not being part of the same religion.) Other than recent health issues, I am not in any danger or at risk for anything but if my health worsens, I want to be prepared.

Thanks

Answer: There isn't any way to stop your family holding whatever service they want. Location dependent but there should be a way for you to designate who deal with your remains and they can refuse to allow your body to be used in the ceremony. Answer #2: Nope. But you don't have to attend your own funeral...


Title: The "package with a lawyer" trope

Question: The old spy movie/novel scene where a spy is captured and says he has a package with a lawyer, and if he doesn't contact him every so often, the lawyer will open it and send it to the cops/press/whoever. Has that ever happened? What would you normally charge for that service?

Answer: There's are a lot of software solutions for a deadman switch these days, but I'm curious what the human touch would cost. It'd be a lot cheaper to have the deadman switch send to a lawyer though, rather than having him also manage the contacting too.


Title: USPS lost husband's greencard in the mail.

Question:
Hi /r/legaladvice.

My husband applied for a renewal greencard in late October, and received approval mid-November. After the approval notice, obviously, we started the waiting game because we know the cards can take quite awhile to show up.

Well, around that time my husband and I talked about joining the military. He is now in the works with enlisting in the Navy and has all of his documentation submitted to his recruiter. Unfortunately, because his current green card is expired (and has a valid thru sticker on the back till August 2016) she is unable to schedule him for MEPs until he has his new green card.

Since she informed us that she couldn't accept the current card, we filed for an expedite request (and were told that they were only on processing applications from August 26th, 2015) and received an email 3 business days later saying that they already mailed out the card and it was delivered January 31st.

We never received that card. When we called USCIS, they basically said you need to reapply and eat the 450 fee all over again, and basically wait the long processing times... again. So now we're reaching out to our local congressman, he's emailing the ombudsman, we put in a request through the "Card Never Received" request through the USCIS website... is there anything we can do to move the process along without having to pay the fee? It's startling how many hits I get when I search "usps lost my greencard."

**Edit: Eating the fee isn't necessarily so much a problem as is the waiting time for doing the biometrics all over again and then waiting for the processing time. I would drop 450 ASAP if I was told they could mail him out a new card in two weeks to a month.**
Topic:
Immigration

Answer: To be honest, in the world of immigration, reaching out to your congressman is the best idea. USCIS and other agencies don't mess around with answering the  liaisons.


Title: I've been paying the gas bill for my landlady and all her tenets. What can I do legally?

Question:
February 2nd, I rented out a restaurant space on the bottom level of a building. Above us are 4 apartments, including my landlady's.

When I first viewed and rented the place, it was trashed. The landlady said the previous renters didn't take care of the place and she was picking up the mess. There was grease everywhere, dust, old food in places, generally just really nasty. But the place came with all the equipment needed to own a restaurant, so I figured the work was worth the investment. So I put $900 down for first months rent and went to work.

Also, there's a parking lot next to the building that the landlady said we'd be allowed to use. As soon as I start renting, I try parking there. Some guy comes to get me and says if I park there again he'll call the police. So it turns out the lady doesn't even own the parking lot and just said it to get me to rent.

So shortly after I start renting, I'm told by the landlady that I need to get the gas transferred to my name, and the electric turned on. So I do this and the gas/electric people come and turn it on. I can now start using heat and electric. One day she came in when the heat was on and said "wow if you keep using the heat your bill will be expensive."

Over the next two months, I spend tons and tons of hours cleaning and getting ready for open, which was April 1st. The end of the first month I get a high gas bill, considering I only used the heat a handful of times since February was so warm. The next month is a $450 dollar bill for the gas. (Gas and electric are separate bills). Keep in mind these months only got cold a handful of times. These bills have really made it hard to make ends meet for my restaurant.

The ex husband of my landlady came to pick up his son who works at the restaurant. So I figured I'd ask him a few questions about who would pay for a replacement ceiling, landlady or me. As we're discussing and he's looking at the lease, he tells me "oh there's only one gas meter for the whole building. So you're probably paying for everyone's gas."

With this info I do a little digging. I first talked to previous tenets who told me that gas was included in their rent. Also that the landlady had rat problems in the building and wouldn't do anything to fix any necessary problems. They also had the same problem with the parking lot.

I asked another current tenet of the building, he also said gas was included in rent.

I asked the previous owners of the restaurant space. They said the same thing happened with the parking lot. They also were tipped off about the gas as well, when they started to investigate, the owner had them evicted and started screaming at them telling them to get out.

The lady has numerous felonies after looking up public records including assault with a deadly weapon. After some other digging, I've found out she also deals with

So basically, I rented out a restaurant space in a building, there's only one gas meter and I've been paying for everyone's gas bill because my landlady is scamming me. What can I do legally to get my investments back and all my wasted time?

Edit: Thanks a whole lot to everyone who helped me out. I'm consulting with a lawyer tomorrow and I'm hopefully gonna get this all sorted out.

Answer: Where are you located at?Answer #2: What does your lease say about gas and about the parking lot?Answer #3: *Tenant


Title: [CA] Homeowner is increasing rent from $650 to $850 because another person (Me) is sleeping in the room my girlfriend rented.

Question:
So we (Me and my GF) have been living together at this house that we rent with no lease. My girlfriend talked with the lady on the phone and came to the price of $650 a month utilities included. I have been staying with her most nights because she makes dinner and we like to sleep together, being in a relationship and all. We have been staying there for over 6 months now with no problem, and out of nowhere the landlady demands i start contributing my weight in utilities because the room rate is for only one person(never stipulated in writing or talking). I see her point and offer to pay a portion of the water bill since i am showering there in the morning before school, but she refuses to negotiate and says if i was to sleep in her house i need to pay $200 a month, starting immediately with 100$ now to pay for the rest of the month. Other than the fact that it is ridiculous she keeps saying its utilities (My parents in the same county with a pool and 7 ppl in the house pay about 80-100$ for all water and gas, rented place has no pool and 4 people including me and GF), I read that increasing rent with no notice is illegal in CA. I think she is having a rough patch and is trying to exploit me for making more money. I want to know what are my rights? I want to sit down with her and the utility bills and work out a fair number, but she keeps ignoring me and saying I am using her house so I need to pay, even though we are renting at the agreed price. Is she allowed to just increase rent with no notice? If not is she in the right for raising prices since there is 2 ppl in the room even though it was never stipulated the rent rate was for one person? Thanks for your guy's help!

Edit: I felt like I should say I have started sleeping at my parents house since she has demanded increased rent to avoid any problems while we figure this out because i think $200 for utilities is egregiously expensive, and we would have trouble affording a sudden 30% rent increase. Just in case that factors in to anything

Answer:
 Is your girlfriend the tenant and you are just staying there or are you both living there? You’ve said it’s both of those things.

Assuming this unit was rented to your girlfriend only, your rights are either to pay to also live there or don’t live there. Rent isn’t being increased unilaterally, an additional tenant is being added.


Title: The price of my friend's driving ticket doesn't add up...is he lying?

Question:
So my friend tells me he got his first speeding ticket the other day. However the amount that he was charged with doesn't add up based on the rules of the road. To put it simply,  I think he is lying about the amount of the ticket due to the fact that he owes me money.

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He claims the total was $430 - that is $230 for him driving without a license and $200 for speeding.

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Here are the circumstances of his ticket:

\- My friend is 18 years old

\- He does not have a license

\- He had 3 other guys in the car with him (presumably friends and not family members)

\- This happened in San Antonio

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Now, I was under the impression that if a first time offense for driving without a license resulted in a fine - that it could be no more than $200. However, he claims it was $230.

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The additional fine for speeding ($200) seemed a little high as well.

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So my overall question is that is there any case in which an 18 year old without a license who was pulled over for speeding result in an EXACT (total) fine of $430 ? Given the circumstances, is this possible to occur - or is he just lying to me because he owes me money?

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Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 His owing you money and the fines on the ticket are completely unrelated things.  Not sure why that's an issue -- he owes you money regardless of whether or not he got a ticket.

Both driving without a license and speeding 16mph to 20mph over the limit in Bexar county seem to each be a $215 fine, which would total $430 exactly:

[https://home.bexar.org/jp/ticket\_schedule.html](https://home.bexar.org/jp/ticket_schedule.html)


Title: Got caught drunk underage and sent to hospital, what now?

Question:
I was very drunk (to the point that I blacked out) and apparently I was stopped by the Kansas police. They realized I had a BAC of .3, and had me taken to a hospital by an ambulance. I was released to my parents by the hospital. I have no paper work from the police, and my parents didn't even talk to the police. Should I be expecting something in the mail or did the police choose not to issue anything citations? Thank you in advance for the help.
Edit: I was outside of my dorm, standing when I was caught. Someone had pulled the fire alarm as a prank so we all had to go outside. I was NOT driving.

Answer:
 There is no way to know time is the only way to tell.

Ok now that the legal advice is out of the way the Dad  in me is coming out.

Do you realize how close you came to death? You had like 4x the legal amount of alcohol in your system. I honestly hope you get in legal trouble cause it may save your life.

Ok Dad rant overAnswer #2: Not legal advice, but you're lucky you're not dead.

There are people who drink that much and don't walk away from it.

Be happy you're alive here.


Title: (US/VA) False sexual harassment and now what?

Question:
Hello LA!

I was suspended one week pending internal investigation in reference to sexual harrassment complaints from 90% of women in the company. I text my boss and tell him they're full of shit and the reply is: I have to protect the girls".

One week goes by and company says I was targeted and I did nothing of the sorts and did not break any company policies or laws and there are personality conflicts. If there's another complaint against me, I'm out the door. Oh and all the complaints are from women, the company specifically went out their way to mention this ten times. State is Virginia and we are a federally contracted company. This was at my employee review and I lost my promotion because of these false claims.

I believe I'm being discriminated against because I'm a male and there is now a hostile work environment/bullying and even slander. How do I proceed?

Answer:
 So — just so I understand your claim — you’re convinced that a large number of women at your company hold such animus against you, for reasons that are unclear to you. And in order to frustrate your promotion and possibly cause you to leave the job, these women have conspired in a plan to fabricate instances of sexually harassing behavior by you against each of them?

And as a result, you believe that you are the victim of a hostile work environment by virtue of your gender, and are looking for advice or resources to assist you?

Is the above a fair summary of your position?Answer #2: It sounds like your employer determined you did not commit sexual harassment, but you are a jerk. There is nothing in that ruling for you to fight against.

If you tried suing either your employer or your coworkers, since this was after their filing a sexual harassment complaint your doing so would likely count as retaliation for their filing that complaint (even though the complaint was found to be without merit).

I suggest your best course of action is to (1) find a new job, and (2) stop being a jerk.


Title: I let someone into my apartment building, they accidentally hit the fire sprinkler, now I am being fined $1,000

Question: When I was moving out of my apartment I sold a garment rack to someone on craigslist. I let her in to come pick it up, and on her way out the top of it hit the fire sprinkler head. The alarm went off and the fire department came. When she realized they were coming and that she was in trouble she basically ran away crying. My building says they have me on surveillance letting her in and they are keeping $1,000 from my security deposit. Is there anything I can do? Goes without saying the girl from craigslist isn’t going to call me back. This seems like a lot to be charged for the fire department to come?

Answer: You didn't just let her in. She was your guest. You can request documentation indicating the cost.


Title: Verbally abusive mom is trying to stop me (20M) from leaving

Question:
I’m 20 years old and i live in Washington State. a few friends of mine are all planning on moving in together. My mom is really verbally abusive but, she’s always telling me that I need to get my shit together and be more responsible. I finally got some applications in for apartments and now she’s telling me I can’t leave. I have ADD and she’s saying that she’s going to file for adult guardianship for me because of my disability and stop me from leaving. She’s threatening to put down my dog if I leave, too. I was so close to leaving and actually making an adult decision and now I don’t know what to do. Can she actually get custody of me because I have ADD?
Topic:
Disability Issues

Answer:
 > Can she actually get custody of me because I have ADD?

No, that is not a valid reason to keep guardianship of you. You'd have to go to court and explain that she is crazy and doesn't want you to move out.

If you can't bring your dog with you, rehome him before you leave. Answer #2: She's full of crap re guardianship. Just get your dog somewhere safe, pack your stuff including your birth certificate and SS card, walk away, and don't look back.


Title: I'm 21F, and my 19M brother is in local county jail in Missouri.

Question:
My little brother was arrested at his girlfriend's house. She had a warrant out for her arrest, and my brother happened to be there when the cops arrived. They seized two ounces of dabs that my brother claimed as his, which averages to roughly $3,500-$4000 worth of drugs, along with several pieces of paraphernalia and a lot of money. He's facing a class C felony as of now. It's his first offense. He's never been in trouble before. They're charging him with distribution AND manufacturing, even though I know he wasn't the one that made the dabs, but he WAS selling them. I believe his arraignment was today, but I haven't talked to him since this morning. I spoke with a lawyer today. He told me that I needed at least 10% of his bond before the lawyer would even begin to work with him. So, I have to come up with $2,500. I'm considering a bank loan, but I don't have anything for collateral other than my car, but I still owe too much on the loan for them to accept it. My sister owns two cars, two motorcycles, and a house, but I doubt she'd be willing to co-sign my loan with her things. She has three younger children to worry about, and my brother isn't even her biological brother. Our parents aren't able to help out considering their own situation.

My main question: Do I let him go with a public defender, or do I try to come up with the money for an actual lawyer? My friend said either way, a lawyer isn't going to be able to help much and I'll be out a lot of money and it would be pointless. I just don't know what to do. ANY and all advice would be so helpful for us. Thank you.
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer:
 > Do I let him go with a public defender, or do I try to come up with the money for an actual lawyer?

Public Defenders are, in fact, actual lawyers.


Title: (California) Out-of-state private car seller not following through after I sent money

Question:
Hi,

I am in a bit of a predicament. After exchanging many e-mails, text messages, and phone calls with an out-of-state private car seller (Washington State), we agreed on a film price of $9,000 for the car. I agreed I would handle the shipping costs. I sent the seller a cashier's check, which he deposited a couple days after receiving. Now, I have not heard from the seller and his phone is turned off. Needless to say, I am quite worried about this. I tried messaging, e-mailing, calling -- nothing. I found him on Facebook and messaged him this morning, so I will wait to see on that.

As a last case scenario, how might I take steps in small claims court to get my money back, since the private seller is out-of-state?

EDIT: Heard back from the seller and all is good now. Thanks all.

Answer: You would have to sue the seller in the state/city where seller is located. Sending money before getting vehicle looking like a very expensive mistake.


Title: My dad just left my disabled mom and I need some help on the basic implications and actions we can take [Nevada].

Question:
Hi /r/legaladvice,

My mom has MS, and hasn't been able to work or take care of herself for many years. My dad has been her main caregiver and financial support in addition to the social security disability she receives. A few days ago my dad told her he doesn't love her anymore, packed his things, and left. She lives in Nevada, and I live across the country, so I'm trying to do triage remotely, because I can't afford to go out there.

I have some ideas of things to do in this situation, thanks to reading posts on here before, but I wanted to run our plans by you guys, so I don't tell my mom the wrong thing and get her in legal trouble later. I don't want to make a terrible situation any worse.

* Our first concern is that he keeps coming back to the house unannounced and saying he needs to get his things. His name and hers are on the house. This is very upsetting for my mother, and since our dad doesn't seem to be in a stable state of mind, we'd rather she and my brothers pack up anything he wants and leave it outside for him to pick up. My inclination is that since he abandoned her, she should be able to change the locks. **Can she, or does she have to endure him showing up unannounced until a legal separation or divorce is finalized/set in motion?**

* Second is that they have a joint checking and joint savings account. She received a lump sum back payment from the government for years that they hadn't paid her disability. She's afraid he has been dipping into that and is still spending that money that she feels belongs to her. I agree and think we need to protect what little she has left ASAP. It would be enough to give her a decent emergency fund.
**Since it's a joint account, can she take out that money and put it into another account? Will this cause her problems later on in separation or divorce proceedings?** Since she has a hard time dealing with these things, I'm going to have her add me to a new joint account, so that I can confirm that bills are being paid, etc.

* Another problem is that she cannot afford a lawyer to start legal separation or divorce proceedings. **I know specific recommendations are not allowed, but are there general services for people like her that are poor but need legal help?** Can someone point us in the right direction? Can we do this ourselves, even though I know that's probably a terrible idea?

* In relation to the above question, would a social worker be useful in our situation? Are there government services that would provide a caretaker or at least a healthcare advocate to go to the doctor with her?

* Having MS, she has a lot of medical issues and medications that cost tens of thousands of dollars. My dad isn't being completely hostile and saying he "still wants to meet his obligations" to take care of her. We don't really know what he means, but he works for the State and has good insurance. My understanding is that if they get a complete divorce, she won't be on his insurance anymore and will be on Medicaid, which would require her to pay 20% of her multithousand dollar lifelong prescriptions. That would be impossible. **In Nevada, is it possible for them to just maintain a legal separation so that she can stay on the good insurance? If they only get a legal separation, can we still get it legally mandated that he send her money every month so that she and my brothers don't end up on the street?** We don't want to rely on his "goodwill."

* Is there anything else we should be doing immediately and in the medium term?

Thanks in advance r/legaladvice! This is a terrible situation for my whole family, but I happen to feel a little more prepared because of what I've learned here in the past.

Answer:
 1) No she can't just change the locks since as you said his name is on the house.

2) Legally yes she can take that money out and put it into another account but please note that may not prevent your father from going after it in the divorce.  Don't try to hide the money, if she does move it to another account, as the courts may decide some of that money isn't hers as she received the money while they were married so it's a joint asset.

3) Most states and large cities have organizations that offer some sort of low income legal assistance but I don't know specifics for Nevada.

4) Again, I don't know specifics for Nevada.

5) Yes they could stay listed as separated for years so she can stay on his medical insurance. It is possible to get awarded alimony during the divorce proceedings so that your father would have to give her some money while they await to finalize the divorce.


Title: I bought a car that I now think has been in a serious accident. Can I unwind this deal?

Question:
I bought a car from a private seller in Phoenix, Arizona. The title is clean and the car fax report shows no accidents. While driving the car home I went to honk the horn and learned that there was no horn. On further checking, there is no airbag either. I've also discovered that the entire car has been painted.

The seller is not taking my calls. What can I do?

Answer: nothing. used car sales are as is. you should've taken a closer look before you bought the car


Title: [SC] Work liability, harassment, even a twist at the end. We need some help with this!

Question:
Dear /r/LegalAdvice:  Sorry, but this is not short.
Location:  South Carolina, USA

I am having a problem at work.  Actually, it’s not just me.  I work in a large chain grocery store (GS).  I have friends in multiple departments and we chat and have come across the same person as a problem.

Story:

There’s a person that comes into our store almost daily.  He, his brother and father come in, but he usually walks by himself for hours on end around the store.  My first encounter with this guy (we’ll call him Rob) was he came up to me in my first week and started talking to me.  Because he’s a customer, I can’t tell him to leave me alone when I’m restocking shelves.  He starts telling me that I’m doing it wrong.  I looked at him, then said “excuse me?”  He proceeded to take all the products off the shelf while I’m adamantly telling (almost yelling at him) to not touch the products unless he intended to buy them.  Rob asked why he couldn’t but I could.  I told him that I was an employee of GS, therefore I’m allowed to move the products to rotate the stock.  I then said that because he was just a customer, he can’t handle the food coming out of the boxes while I’m putting them on the shelves.  He gets upset and starts trying to tell me how to do my job.

A few minutes later, a vendor needed to get behind my float, so I said “Let me put this box down and I’ll move the float.” (She agreed to wait)  I heard “I’ll do it!” and turned around to see Rob grabbing my float to move it.  Customers aren’t allowed to do that.  I firmly explained to him about how that’s a liability for him to do.  He then tried to take a 20lb box of bacon off and I had to again lecture him about how he can’t do it because he’s not an employee.  He griped and complained.  I then just started to ignore him and help the other customers.  Rob then started following me around the store for another 20 minutes.  My immediate supervisor (Meat Man he’s called) told him to leave me alone, so he did.

Rob came to my department a few days later to find if Meat Man was working, which he wasn’t.  He then starts asking me (multiple times) if he’s bothering me, to which I said yes.

Rob:  Why do I bother you?  I talk to everyone here!

Me:  I don’t like being watched while I’m working.  I can’t concentrate, which makes me ineffective at work.  I need to put the items on the shelves as quickly and efficiently as possible.  You need to please leave me alone.

Rob:  Meat Man’s rules don’t apply when he’s not here!

Me:  Yes they do!  I need to do my work!

After him getting mad at me for me needing to do my work, he left.
The next few times I had to deal with him, Meat Man came to my rescue, telling him to leave me alone to do my work.  To which he did.

He came in a few times more, tried "helping," tried moving boxes off the float and the float a few more times, but would sulk and leave when I told him no and to stop because he's not an employee.

The other day, though, things started to get worse.  I’m leaning over putting stuff at the back of the shelves, and he’s coming back telling me that I’m not fast enough, I’m not doing it right, etc.  This time he crossed the line when he realized I was ignoring him, he started patting [read: hitting and pushing] my back multiple times.  I had to put my hand in between my head and the shelf because I couldn’t get away from him.  I told my coworker and left for a cigarette.  Some of the other department friends I have were out and started telling stories of their own.  Most of him telling them they were bad at their jobs, running off customers from different departments, how he tries to “help them” even though he’s not an employee (and all he’s doing it getting in the way of us actually working).

The latest encounter, he grabbed my shoulder while I was trying to help a customer.  Grabbed and turned me.  I did the shoulder knock to get out of his grip.  He told me that Meat Man was late (he was scheduled to come in later that day) and insisted that I call him immediately and tell him.  Multiple times.  I left.  I went to my coworker and said I was done (a few times, trying to cool off), told him what happened, and went out for a cigarette.  He called Meat Man and told him.  Meat Man came in early to tell him to never bother me again, never talk to me, never touch me.  He said if he were to do anything even while he was gone, he’d have him kicked out of the store.

Meat Man then told me that if he ever did anything again to bother me/talk to me/touch me/etc. to go to upper management and that they have to take care of it.

Meat Man made upper management aware of the situation, and told him that if he did bother any of us, that they would take care of it.  Coming from the management who yells and curses at employees on the clock in front of customers, I don’t trust them.
New development:  He’s now trying to go into employee only areas.  He claims he’s allowed, even tough we aren’t allowed to go into other departments.

Here’s the thing (which is going to explain just why my story seems a bit... off...): Rob is a middle-age white male who’s mentally handicapped.  Yes, I know that makes a difference.  He and his MH brother are under the care of his father while his normal sister and mother sit in jail for fraud (another long story).

TLDR:  Mentally handicapped man harassing multiple people (including myself) at my place of employment, and I can’t seem to make him stop.

What should my next steps be?
Should I call APS on him because he’s being left on his own for hours at GS (like literally dropped off)?

Try to go over management and go to corporate and get them involved?

We’re thinking about getting a TRO on him to get him to not be able to come into our store because of how much of a nuisance he is, but would it be possible to get a TRO against him even though he is mentally disabled?

IMO, he’s a liability, but that’s why I came to you.

Thanks in advance.
/u/GroceryClerkTA

*Edit:  Formatting, sorry it's my first time.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: You should ban him from the store.  It doesn't require legal intervention.  Just a rule that says "we are sorry but you are doing something that causes liability, and you are no longer allowed in the store."


Title: [Sweden] My friend were drunk one night and supposedly sent some nude pictures from a girls phone to his own. Now he's reported to the police. Need help!

Question:
Hello,

My friend borrowed a girls phone at a party (since his phone was out of battery) to make a phone call to another friend. When he was done, he was very drunk and supposedly went through her phone to find some rather interesting nude pictures, which he then sent to his phone.

Recently the woman found out what'd been done and filed a report to the police against him trying to charge him for whatever this categorizes as.

My friend have told the girl a thousand times how sorry he is and that he was very drunk and didn't know what he was doing. Trust me, this guy would never do such things he's the kindest one I know. Just a dumb mistake. Now he's very scared that this might cause him to get marked somehow and get trouble getting jobs or whatever in the future (he's a very disciplined and ambitious man who work hard and study hard at the same time).

Do we have any lawyers/people with knowledge of what consequences this might end up having?

All help is appreciated!

Edit: Thanks for the responses even though this sub mostly contains of US/Canada citizens who couldnt care less about Sweden.

Answer:
 > this guy would never do such things

But he did, though.


Title: [CO] Boyfriend got first DUI and has yet to be "processed" after 30 hours and counting

Question:
Hey everyone, hoping I could get some guidance on this situation. My boyfriend was charged with a DUI very early yesterday morning (basically right after midnight). He has now been in jail for 30 hours. His bail is posted and has been since he got there, but they are still saying I can't pay it and get him out. They are saying they are "still waiting for his prints to process through the system". I'm not saying they are lying, but everything I've read says it usually doesn't take more than a couple hours, but can "take up to 24 hours", which we have exceeded. Even everyone I talked to at the detention center seems to think the amount of time is abnormal, but they also act as if there is nothing to do. Also I'm not sure if this is relevant but it's looking like the prints aren't going to process before his arraignment, so even after that I won't be able to pay his bail and get him out. Here are my main questions:

&#x200B;

\- Is there anything I can do to expedite the process?

\- Is there any point in time where I can start saying the amount of time he has been detained is unfair or illegal? I've seen some stuff around if it takes to long it's unconstitutional but nothing concrete.

\- I have been waiting to get a lawyer because I don't feel comfortable picking one for him. Should I find someone if this continues? Can they help?

&#x200B;

The bottom line is they told him he would get out early yesterday afternoon, he ended up having to stay the night, and at this rate I'm so scared he will have to stay another night and also bothered by the lack of ANY control, like what if this is going on five days from now?? Can no one do anything still? I also can only talk to him twice a week (which they didn't ever tell me when I used up my first one) so I'm trying to figure this all out before I talk to him again so if we need to make decisions on getting a lawyer or something we can talk about it then.

&#x200B;

Sorry for any ignorance, I don't have much experience with the legal system and damn is it confusing and difficult. Thanks in advance for the help.
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 *I also can only talk to him twice a week (which they didn't ever tell me when I used up my first one)*

What do  you mean, you can only talk to him twice a week? He's just been arrested and bailed posted and pending processing time, he isn't going to be there a week unless you are leaving something out.

Last night was Friday night, they may just be super busy.


Title: (UT) I think my employer is doing some very illegal things.

Question:
The company that I work for is in an industry that you are encouraged (if not **obligated**) to work more than the 40 hours a week (I don't want to say what kind of company unless it is absolutely relevant). When you surpass the 40 hour limit they immediately switch you to an independent contractor so that they will not have to pay overtime.

Alongside of the overtime when they pay the "independent contractors" when they pay you they tell you that the taxes are already taken out of the paycheck, and yet we still need to pay taxes on our pay checks anyways.

There are more things but these are the biggest that I can see. I have heard that there is a whistle blower program that will make any tips anonymous but will also pay you for coming forward. Any advice is appreciated.
Topic:
Business Law

Answer: You could  do [this](https://laborcommission.utah.gov/divisions/IndustrialAccidents/WorkersComp/employee%20misclassification.html).  This will be an absolute nightmare for your employer, so you better have a new job before you do this.


Title: Put in my two week notice a week ago to be told to leave right then and there. Manager told me that they would pay me the two weeks to not be at work because of a non-compete agreement. Call HR today to find I am not getting paid for the two weeks.

Question: [Oregon] My ex-manager is trying to pass it off that the date of my notice was the end of my two weeks. Idk where to go besides trying to hash it out with HR, but am thinking I should go file unemployment to have something on file before I start my new job in two weeks. I am just shocked, and am not even sure what to do...

Answer:
 Two weeks notice is a courtesy. The employer is not obligated to keep you on for those two weeks. Answer #2: You should file for unemployment. I think Oregon has a one week waiting period, so you will get something for one week.

I'd be inclined to give a heads up to any friends you might have still employed there that this is what the company does so they don't make the same mistake as you.

Answer #3: Call your new job and tell them you can start now. Answer #4: The other respondents are right, they can go ahead and terminate your employment on that very day, and you can walk over and file for unemployment.

Unless - in your second sentence, do you mean to say that after giving notice, the manager had you sign a new noncompete agreement, in exchange for a promise to pay you for two weeks despite your absence?  If so, they have to pay you for the two weeks.


Title: My Friend is transferring colleges and just had his dream choice that he already comitted to pull a key $11k per year scholarship

Question: So here's the facts: My friend lives in Washington State, and is transferring to Arizona State University as an incoming junior. He was promised by ASU a substantial scholarship, which included an $11,000 per year scholarship that was contingent on him majoring in political science. Not a problem for him, he already is a poly sci major. So, he accepts the admission offer, and is in the process of picking out housing and courses. Suddenly, just today, ASU calls him and says they "made a mistake" because they didn't realize he was an undergrad; they thought he was a graduate student. So they just yanked this major scholarship that was going to make ASU affordable for him. Is there any way to hold ASU to their scholarship offer? Thank you very much in advance.

Answer: Not if he didn't qualify for the scholarship in the first place.  He can't force them to violate the scholarship terms.  Did he review all the scholarship docs they sent him regarding eligibility?


Title: My ex wife is withholdingnmy sons ssn so i cannot claim him on my tax return

Question:
I was ordered to pay child support, $540 a month and was told that since she is disabled and cannot work, that I will claim my son every year on my tax returns to lower my obligation since I am 100% responsible for him.

Do I have any recourse? I cannot afford a lawyer is there any way I can get his ssn?

Answer: Get a copy of past returns where you claimed him, his ssn will be on those.


Title: Forced to make purchases (UK)

Question:
Basically I was caught shoplifting something small (stupid decision, should have known better). I was caught and the assistant manager decided to not go to the police. When I went to actually pay for the item he insisted on adding on a box of wipes they currently had on offer at the till (you know the little things places often try to get you to buy as well). I'm guessing he had a sales quota to meet or something. When I asked what he was doing he started going off on how it made up for the time taken and refused to actually address if he had any authority to do so. This seems a lot like duress, but I don't know any technicalities. I'm not that bothered but he was kind of an arse and figure his superiors should know if there are illegal sales tactics employed

Thanks

Answer:
 >his superiors should know if there are illegal sales tactics employed

If you want to complain to his superiors, they might develop an interest in also prosecuting you for shoplifting.

Hope that the risk of self-incriminating is worth whatever satisfaction you get from complaining that it cost an entire box of wipes to escape a shoplifting charge.


Title: (Massachusetts) Uncle died, can not find will anywhere. But we just found a locked safe.

Question:
I have no idea if it is his safe, or something he might have inherited from a recently deceased cousin.

He passed away on Jan 1st and I have been turning his entire house upside down trying to locate a will, or at least the name of his attorney with no success.  I contacted an attorney yesterday to start the process of proceeding as though no will exists since no one has ever actually seen it in person.  I will be meeting attorney in person on Monday the 9th.

This was my mother's brother, she is his only sibling.  His wife passed away in 2012.  He has a step daughter, but no biological children or other siblings.  His parents are also deceased.  It sounds like my mother is the next of kin, but due to her age (76), I am trying to handle everything and would plan to be appointed to do so legally.

He lived in Massachusetts.  My mother and I live in Connecticut.  I returned home yesterday, but will be going back to Mass. tomorrow (Friday) until at least Tuesday.  The safe in the basement seems to be the last possible place that this will, if it exists, could be located.

My question is, how difficult might it be to go about bringing the safe to a locksmith to try to get it opened?  Will I need to provide any legal paperwork?  It would be a shame to spend weeks trying to get legal paperwork taken care of only to find the will in the safe which would have helped to avoid a lot of that in the first place...

Naturally I will discuss this directly with a locksmith when I can, but I wanted see if there is anything I should prepare for ahead of time, if possible.  Thank you.

Answer:
 The locksmith will come to where you are at.  That is the nature of being a locksmith (people don't take locked doors to the locksmith much).  You should have a copy of the death certificate, but just explain the situation and ask them what they need.  They have probably seen this situation about a hundred times before.  Also, please update with what you find in the safe.  That's my favorite thing on reddit.Answer #2: > how difficult might it be to go about bringing the safe to a locksmith to try to get it opened?

That only depends on the weight of the safe. I wouldn't worry too much about needing to prove its your safe. There is no intent to deprieve her. The risk you take is other relatives claiming you hide the contents cause there was a will or something. Solution? Video its opening.

Also psssssssssst if its a safe you can buy at a big box store just drop it on its corner from a high place. Sure you are responsible for the value of the safe but could be equal to the cost of a locksmith.
Answer #3: I believe the laws of reddit state that you must open the safe and post pics

seriously though, listen to pottersquash


Title: Accused of a hit and run but I had no idea

Question: I just received an email from my auto insurance saying that someone filed a claim against me for having hit and run. However, I have no memory of this at all. Apparently, I was preparing to make a left turn but had gone up too far and decided to back up and hit the car behind me in the process. I did not feel anything whatsoever, the person behind me did not honk, and my bumper has no damages. I 100% was not aware this happened until I was just notified, and did not purposely try to run away from the scene. It did not seem like the driver behind me tried to get my attention or honk when this happened, as I did not notice anything abnormal. I am completely willing to pay for any damages -- I genuinely did not know this happened and am not sure how to get out of this situation with minimum repercussions. What can I do?

Answer:
 >I have no memory of this at all... I did not feel anything whatsoever... my bumper has no damages... I 100% was not aware this happened... I did not notice anything abnormal

That is your answer. It didn't happen. And the fact that there is zero evidence of it happening, like damage to your bumper, is evidence of that.

DO not do any of the following:

* Say that it "could" have happened
* Say you are willing to pay

Repeat after me: "I have no idea what he is talking about. Nothing like that happened and I take no responsibility whatsoever to pay for anything."Answer #2: So you were notified of an event that you have no memory of occurring... Which is what you tell your insurance company, that you didn't do it... Don't admit to it happening or suppose that it could have happened when talking to them. Dont offer to pay damages either. Sounds like someone is trying to scam you...


Title: Fair Housing Act: refusing to rent because of age and gender?

Question:
Hello, currently searching for an apartment (Chicago, IL) and the landlords are apparently refusing to rent to my roommate and I because they don't want to rent to "young males." We received this as the rationale from our realtor (by email) and expect that it was relayed directly from the landlord (via their realtor).

1. Is this a violation of the fair housing act?
2. Would the communication between the landlord and their realtor be discoverable?
3. Would we have any legal ground to stand on if we decided to pursue any legal action (obviously dependent on the first question)?

Answer: How many units does the LL have and does the LL live in one?


Title: Age Discrimination- Too Young?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: It's certainly age discrimination -- just not illegal age discrimination.


Title: Neighbor throwing pistachio shells on sidewalk. [CA]

Question:
Hi, for a while now one of my neighbors has been throwing pistachio shells all over his sidewalk. The reason for doing so is I think so people walking their dogs can't use the sidewalk (and in turn can't go to the bathroom on his lawn), as the shells are not comfortable for the dogs to walk on. The problem is that it causes people and their dogs to cross over into the street. Even though it is only about a 10-15 foot stretch where dogwalkers have to walk in the street, it's near one of the turns into our street, and people do tend to hit the turn going fast. I'm also worried that the shells may cause a child to slip and fall over.

Can the neighbor legally do this on a public sidewalk?

Answer: They may be interested if you can show them video of him putting them out 'wholesale' on multiple occasions.  But if he's just strolling and eating the nuts, he's no worse than your average squirrel...


Title: Ran from police, scared.

Question:
This just happened. I have a gsxr750 and I'm 17. Its not registered or insured, I don't have a license that can drive a motorcycle. I'm a good person almost all the time. I don't know why I ran. An officer pulled out behind me, put his lights on and I went for it. I got away from several officers, an officer on a motorcycle kept up with me even 140-160mph. I lost him I think. I wake up I'm laying on grass and I can't hear out of my left ear. I was wearing a helmet, I don't know where it is. I keep taking deep breaths and hoping for my head to clear but I'm in a fog. My nose might be broken, I have a cut over my left eye and on my head its making my blonde hair stained. I have some pain behind my left breast. My bike was okay, broken mirrors, broken lights, drive a lil to the left now. I'm afraid police will come to my door and arrest me. I've hidden my bike behind the house in a garage. I don't have health insurance so I can't afford to go to the hospital, I can breath alright I'll probably be fine. What do I do know?
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: OP is such a troll.


Title: Indiana - supposed to move in today but leasing office closed due to weather

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You can have them prorate the rent for today since the apartment was not ready but it's not their problem that the next day you would be available is Wednesday. Once the apartment is available, you are responsible for the rent.


Title: If a man successfully sues for custody when the mother wished to adopt out the child can the father then sue for child support?

Question:
Sorry, I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

I trying to was looking up fathers rights when the mother wished to adopt out a child and found that it is [much harder for men to gain parental rights if the mother wants to adopt out the child](http://family.findlaw.com/paternity/parental-rights-unmarried-fathers-and-adoption.html) and was wondering if the father did succeed he would then be able to sue for child support from the mother.

On a related note, if a lesbian couple decided to have a child via IVF then the relationship ended and the biological mother decided to adopt out the child would the other mother be able to sue for custody and child support?

I'm from New Zealand but I'm most interested in US law but any developed western democracy would be interesting too.

Thanks.

**EDIT: it seems that the site I used is not necessarily sound according to several posters. I am however still interested in the second part of my question regarding parental rights for a lesbian couple in these circumstances.**

**EDIT 2: I was accused of coming here with some opion to convince people rather than a legall question so in case others think I'm doing that I'm posting my reply here too.**

What I have learned from this post:

- The website is not necessarily accurate (not well sourced)
- I misunderstood what was there
- In at least Canada (so likely I would assume most western democracies) that it should not affect child support. thus answering the first part of my question.

Leaving only the second part of the question about parental rights for the circumstances with a lesbian couple.

I came here with a legal question to ask because I am not an expert, not a opinion to change and I have had, at least partly, that question answered. I did not know what the answer would be.

Also, another possible reason for using neutral language is because you are trying to be neutral.

Answer:
 IANAL.

Child support is owed by a non-custodial parent to a custodial parent. Gender is irrelevant. That's the law in Canada, in the United States, and I'm sure the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand as well.

>I trying to was looking up fathers rights when the mother wished to adopt out a child and found that it is much harder for men to gain parental rights if the mother wants to adopt out the child

That's not what the article says. All it says is that a father who doesn't act quickly to establish paternity risks being unable to prevent the mother from adopting the child out.


Title: [NC] Girlfriend accidentally opened a letter addressed to a previous tenant of our apartment

Question:
(Not sure which flair to use btw)

So it's pretty simple. The letter has our address on it but the name is not ours. GF opened it without realizing it wasn't one of our names.

The letter contained a check from a college. We found the previous tenant on facebook and messaged them informing of them of the situation and to get them their check.

How much trouble are we in?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Accidents happen. You weren't being malicious. It was mailed to that house. Nothing will happen.


Title: [CA] Am I committing academic fraud

Question:
Ok, so here's the situation. When I was 13, I got a neuropsychological evaluation done, which found I did have ADHD. I was having problems with my school and wanted a 2nd opinion (although the school's counselors ended up coming to the same conclusion). When I started at college, I went to the disability resource center and using report got several accommodations. The only one specifically for ADHD was 1.5 time on all tests (which I didn't ask for, but was offered and I would have been foolish not to take it). Now I'm trying to become a pilot, and the FAA does not like ADHD. I got another neuropsychological report done, which found I didn't have ADHD. (I know this sounds like medical fraud, but I swear all of this was above board. The group that did the first eval has a great reputation and the doctor that did the 2nd one was recommended by the aviation medical examiner who deferred my application for a medical certificate).

Anyway, to my question. I got the 2nd eval done a couple months ago but it only just occurred to me tonight (as I'm struggling with some incompetent people at the DRC) - I haven't given anyone at my school the new eval. Am I committing fraud? Should I turn it now or just continue with the status quo.

Answer:
 >I got the 2nd eval done a couple months ago but it only just occurred to me tonight (as I'm struggling with some incompetent people at the DRC) - I haven't given anyone at my school the new eval. Am I committing fraud?

You did not commit fraud for as long as you believed you had ADHD.

Now you know you do not have ADHD any longer.

Continuing to claim you have ADHD with the college while telling the FAA you do not have ADHD is a clear case of fraud.

You need to let the college know that you no longer need the accommodations for ADHD since you have been given a clean bill of health.


Title: Exposing a pedophile

Question:
A friend recently approached me about helping to expose a rapist who victimized her as a child.  The statute of limitations prevents her from pressing charges so she has decided that she wants to publicly out him and possibly contact other victims of his rape.

So far we have made one video of an admission.

What do I have to worry about as far as libel and such?  Once the videos have been compiled I was going to post them to reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Answer:
 Police officer who investigates crimes against children here.

You aren't Batman.  Don't try to be Batman.

This is a lawsuit and legal nightmare waiting to happen.

I would stop now before you make a terrible decision that you'll wind up regretting.

Where are you, how old is the victim, and how long ago did it happen?Answer #2: Under no circumstances should your friend proceed without speaking to an attorney.

Corey Feldman is keeping his abusers secret because the statute of limitations has passed and he'll be sued into the grave the minute he says a name.

I'm using it as an example to show you what will happen if she just starts naming a rapist without the ability to have him tried in court. Answer #3: >So far we have made one video of an admission.

What? Did you take a secret video of this person or what?


Title: If a school bus is stopped at a T intersection with its stop arm out, does traffic turning right (me) need to stop? No stop sign for me.

Question:
&#x200B;

https://preview.redd.it/brq8cbbrplk71.png?width=538&format=png&auto=webp&s=e8bb9a36f727009416ec49ca404b6d666036f943

Answer: No. I used to be a school bus driver. You would keep going, yielding to any pedestrians of course.Answer #2: According to your drawing, no


Title: NYC Anti-tip Bracket never Installed

Question:
The apartment my mom moved us in back in 06 is utter crap. The the super at the time never even bothered to properly clean and renovate the apartment.

My mother has already been to court and been told by the judge that they must 'inspect' the apartment by the 12th at max. The super already came by and took pictures and 2 months prior I had sent pictures of the rotting cabinets, the grime between a gap of the stove and the counter, and the counter and its eroded and rusted edges. Overall it is a complete mess.

I've also been dealing with a mice problem and today the last one (we caught five between the last 3 months) got trapped, but since the gel trap was old it got away.

I decided to do some cleaning behind the stove and found a "nest" (bunch of dust bunny stuck with all the nasty dirt and grime). I tried my best to clean it until I couldn't get anything more.

However I noticed that the gas stove did not have a "anti-tip bracket". There is even a sticker on it that points downwards to where it should be.

I used to work at BestBuy and whenever I helped sell ranges all the stoves came with an anti-tipping bracket and I was told it was because it is a mandatory item and enforced by the law.

Is this something that we can use to get the building company to get there stuff together? What legal action can be taken, if any? Any recommendations at all of what to due under these circumstances?

We live in Queens, New York. I'm a 20 yr old male that does not know much of these things. I tried searching online, but couldn't find anything helpful or just don't know how.

Answer:
 So you have an active mouse infestation, rotten cabinets, and a decrepit counter, but you think some bracket (that is not required by law btw), is what's going to get the judge fired up?

 Priorities, my friend!


Title: Can I be convicted of Medicaid fraud if I didn't intentionally lie?

Question:
I think I mistakenly must have put our income at 5k a year instead of a month and our whole family was put on Medicaid. I was new to the system, and just assumed it was correct, so I didn't knowingly lie about it. I also thought I gave permission for them to look at my taxes, so in 2015 I called and asked if there was anything I was supposed to do and they said no. It just renews.

I assumed they had access to my tax records to verify income so I assumed everything was fine. I don't recall receiving any letters from them. In 2016 I think I called too but didn't in 2017. I just assumed they would look at our tax records and let us know if there were any changes. So I got a call the other day from them saying they hadn't received any income reports at all and I had assumed all along they had my tax records, but they told me they didn't. They also told me the income guidelines for the adults to be on is only 700 a month! I was confused because I swear I had put 5k a month!

The only explanation I can think is that I accidentally entered 5k a year! And as a first timer to Medicaid I didn't know I was supposed to manually tell them income. I thought they could look up our taxes. So it sounds to me like all this time my husband and I should never have even been on Medicaid and I had no idea how this all was supposed to work.

So I reported all our income and they are dropping us now, But I'm totally freaking out now. I'm so scared that they'll accuse us of fraud, but it was an honest mistake. We would be willing to pay things back if it would mean no legal action. I seriously haven't been able to sleep since I got the call, even tho they haven't accused us of fraud yet. I'm totally freaking.

I keep thinking they're going to accuse us and they won't care about my reasoning. All I can think of is some big investigation, felony charges,  losing everything we have. Having to pay back everything. Omg. I can't stand not knowing what is going to happen.

Answer: I doubt that you will face criminal charges, but you may be forced to pay back those benefits.


Title: (NC). Mandatory 30 minute unpaid lunch break.

Question: Work for a major medical research center in NC and just was notified after a year that I wasn’t taking the “highly suggested”/mandatory 30 minute lunch break.  I always bring lunch from home, take a fiver or so and just go back to what I was doing.  The reason being that I show up at 745-8am, leave around 415 to beat the traffic both ways.  From my understanding, there isn’t anything saying I have to take 30 to be unpaid.  Either I keep status quo or take 30 to do jack shit and leave at 5 for zero reason.  If I have to stay late to get work done, fine, but this seems like a waste of everyone’s time.  There are no set hours otherwise, and has been agreed upon as such.

Answer: Your employer sets your hours absent a union contract that states otherwise.  If they tell you to do this and you refuse it would be perfectly legal to fire you.