Title: My friend and her fiancé were denied a lease renewal last year and forced to leave their apartment with less than six weeks’ notice. They just found out it was to make the place an airbnb. Is this legal? (KY)

Question: They had been good tenants and lived there over three years with no late payments or damage to the unit. According to the lease agreement, there was a presumption of yearly renewal unless they contacted the company by a specific date to say they’d like to move, and otherwise their lease would roll over. They were told they would have to leave about one month before the deadline. Having to find a new home on short notice put them in significant financial hardship. They were not told that the move was to make the unit an airbnb, but were (I believe) told it was because the owner’s family member had an emergency and needed a place to stay. The cleaning lady for the airbnb contacted my friend’s fiancé today on Facebook because some of his mail had been going there. Is any part of this illegal, or is it just really shitty? I can get more specific details from my friend if needed.  This is in Kentucky.

Answer:
 They have no right to perpetually live on someone else's property. The one year lease gives them one year of stability. But nothing guaranteed beyond that.Answer #2:
>They were told they would have to leave about one month before the deadline.

30 days notice of ending a lease is pretty standard, and is written in most contracts. They have a right to renew the lease each year, but it's not indefinite and your landlord can end the lease whenever its over.

>They were not told that the move was to make the unit an airbnb, but were (I believe) told it was because the owner’s family member had an emergency and needed a place to stay.

Not their business or problem.

>Is any part of this illegal, or is it just really shitty?

Depends on what the lease says, but most likely nothing illegal about ending the lease at the date you already agreed to.Answer #3: It's not illegal and it isn't shitty. It's not your property. If you were told at least a month in advance it should be legal.

"If the landlord wishes to end a fixed-term lease but does not have legal cause to evict the tenant, then the landlord must simply wait until the end of the tenancy before expecting the tenant to move. The landlord is not required to give the tenant written notice to move unless the terms of the lease or rental agreement specifically require the landlord to do so."


Title: UC Engineering school knowingly places students at risk mentally and emotionally

Question:
I am a UC chemical engineering student. I just finished my junior year and I finally have the chance to reflect on the mess that was my winter quarter. During my winter quarter I took a lab class that was rated at 3 units. The class work load was much higher than 3 units. Average weekly time spent on the labs were ~35 hours, and near the final project ~50 hours. Other classmates similarly had that issue. The labs required matlab skills that exceeded what our previous matlab classes taught us. The instructor was constantly disorganized and dismissive of the classes needs.

I used all available TA's, tutors, and even paid tutors to get through this class. I was getting 3-5 hours of sleep a night, which I think led to me getting panic attacks. I have no history of anxiety issues, so this was super surprising. I eventually saw a doctor for it. They proscribed anti-depressants and tranquilizers. I wanted to know if it was just me experiencing this so I asked around. I found out that lots of people were going through depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances (such as sleep paralysis) which they attributed to this lab class.

The grades for our labs where highly varied and not consistent. A group of us compared our labs and found ~15% difference in grading among TA's and readers. That is substantial when you are teetering between passing and failing in this class. I got a hold of the lead TA (we will call him X) to find out what was happening behind the scenes. X was in charge of doing the grading analytics and was kind enough to confirm our suspicions that there was little to no quality control for the grading. X also shared his concerns with the class. He had been approached by students confiding in him about committing self-harm and struggling with suicidal feelings. He then told me about a meeting that the instructor had with all of his TA's in which the instructor in a semi-flippant tone said he was "worried that someone might commit suicide". This instructor on some level believed he was putting people at risk. This instructor has also joked in his grad classes that he forces his undergrad students to work out graduate level problems.

I immediately wrote a letter to the ChemE Chair to notify him that we are not okay. His response was that he knew that winter quarter was especially hard for the students and they were in discussions currently to change it, but there was nothing he could do for the current class. I spoke with the instructor of the course, who was extremely dismissive and basically blamed the students for not being better prepared. It was explained to me that students from past years have tried and failed with petitions to get this instructor to change his ways.

 I went further and spoke to the Vice Dean of the Engineering department, who said that he "heard me" but couldn't do anything for the students. I reached out to the grading committee at the school to get their help to fix grades that were unfairly given. They refused to go above the instructors decision.

I feel helpless. I feel like I spent months dealing with basically the UC in house HR and like all HRs just tell you in the nicest way to give up. Are they right? Am I and others fucked? Or is there any legal recourse I can take? I don't want people to go through this again.

TLTR: A UC instructor is knowingly giving students work far beyond their ability and risking their mental health. There is evidence that the grading was unfair and inconsistent. The school is basically going to do nothing even though this is a problem that they have been aware of.

Answer:
 You are joking right? You want to sue because engineering is hard?

Answer #2: Inconsistent grading is one thing. Talk to the dean, drop the class, write a letter. There are avenues to deal with shitty profs.

Mental health? I mean, you do realize there's a Wikipedia page for Cornell's suicide gorge? You are paying for a service you don't like, so stop paying or transfer or get a shrink. They aren't required to make a program palatable for everyone.


Title: WI Temporary restraining order hearing. Need evidence. All evidence was sent to DA waiting to hear from DA. What do I do at Temporary hearing today.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: So it sounds to me like your daughter had sex and you're massively over reacting. He was 17 when it happened. He's not an adult... This is probably something much better settled out of court if you value your relationship with your daughter at all. Why are you only blaming him? She was a willful participant and the difference between 15 and 17 is much less drastic than you're making it out to be


Title: Someone has tried to make large purchases at my business 6 times now. Can my business share personal information about victims and with law enforcement without consent?

Question:
I am in PA, someone also in PA is attempting to make large purchases on our site that keep triggering our systems.  Each purchase is the same shipping and IP address but different billing address, name, and person. This happens from time to time, one or two and we immediately refund then forget about it.  This customer has attempted 6 times now in a week and keeps opening us up to liability and chargebacks.

The customer happens to also live in PA,  I want to report it.  Though I am unsure if I can share the victims info (address and name) with law enforcement or if I even should. We have a privacy policy but it's not like the victims consented or read it because they have never been to our website.

Answer: If your privacy policy prevents you from reporting fraudulent activity to the police, then you need to amend the policy.


Title: My dad has cancer and my mom is worried about his half of the house.

Question: My dad had a family before he met my mom and has two daughters. My mom and him got married, she bought a house but my dad hasn’t put any money towards it or has legal recognition for the house. I know very little of how this work, but my mom keeps asking me: “If your dad passes away, does that mean his daughters can come after the house since we’re married and share responsibility”

Answer:
 Jurisdiction matters. Whether he has a will matters. What his will _says_ might matter.

Your mother would be well served by a conversation with an estate planning attorney. It's very likely the house is their marital home, and in most jurisdictions she'd be first in line to inherit his interest in it, whatever that interest turns out to be, but that's not true universally.


Title: In the film Starsky and Hutch, the bad guy introduced a new drug "New Coke" but was arrested at the end. To my knowledge, a "new" drug on the market is technically not illegal until officially determined to be a narcotic and declared illegal by the authorities. Would this be the case here?

Answer:
 Most countries, including the US, have very broad "analogues" restrictions that categorize a chemical that is substantially similar to a scheduled drug into the same category. For example, most "research chemicals" are not explicitly scheduled, but under the Federal Analogues Act they would mostly fall into schedules II, III, and IV depending on whether they're analogues of an opiate or a benzodiazepine.

If "New Coke" has similar biological effects to cocaine, and is chemically similar to cocaine or is prepared from similar precursors, then it's probably legally in the same category as cocaine (schedule II).


Title: Single individual dying within the next few months; can I draft a holographic will that is enforceable in Arizona?

Question:
My entire net worth is  in stocks, bonds in a single financial account with a a single financial broker, and the rest in a single bank account. I have no house, no car, no pets, no spouse and no kids. I want to divide my wealth equally among 5 people to be paid as soon as possible when I die.

&#x200B;

From some basic research it seems I can draft, in my own handwriting, a simple holographic will that states that I want my entire net worth to be divided equally among the five people, with no reservations attached. The amounts in question are small, less than 50k per person, so I don really want to get a lawyer involved. Will this simple holographic will suffice to accomplish my goals?  Thank you for your help!

Answer: You can write you own will but with $250k ish in assets, a $500-$1,000 bill from a lawyer is well worth making sure all laws are properly followed and your wishes are followed.


Title: Would my therapist have to report my sexual assault?

Question: I just started seeing a therapist about a month ago, and I've been debating telling him about being sexually assaulted. When I was 14, I was drugged and raped by two guys at a party. I didn't know them well but they aren't total strangers so theoretically I could report them. I'm 17 now. I'm not willing to report this for various reasons, but I'd like to talk to him about it at least. If I don't give him any names or anything he could identify them with, would he still have to report this given that I was a minor when it happened (and still am)? This is in BC, Canada.

Answer:
 Research shows that mandated reporters are only required to report suspected child abuse or neglect by parents in BC, under the CFCSA, which rape by two random people unrelated to the family unit would not fall under. This [without research being done] also applies to where I live in Ontario, with the Ontario variant of the CFCSA [CYFSA,] and I'm sure some other provinces as well. Many victims more often than not do not want to report their sexual assault / rape, due to horror stories relating to the police stonewalling them and such- and the general philosophy of therapists here in Canada is to only report something when the client is at risk to themselves or others.

This is unlike some states in the US, where rape or criminal acts are required to be reported by mandated reporters for the safety of the victim.

Non-legal aside, having friends and etc who've experienced sexual assault / rape themselves, you should definitely talk to your therapist about this.


Title: [NY] Passenger in car suing for medical bills after an accident, driver was an unlicensed taxi.

Question:
Posting for a friend, we'll call him Fred, who after being unable to find work for a while began driving basically as an unlicensed cab. He's not an uber, but gets calls from people he knows and drives them mostly to and from work.

Fred was involved in an accident where he did not have a stop sign, but the other vehicle did and failed to stop, resulting in the other vehicle ramming Fred's car on the passenger side door. The passenger in Fred's car was taken by ambulance to the hospital after she complained of neck and back pain (likely whiplash). The passenger did not give a statement to police, and the police report said both vehicles were at fault.

The passenger was not actually injured, but she had no insurance and racked up a few grand for the ambulance ride and hospital stay. She was calling Fred constantly asking him to pay it, but he could not afford to do so. Now, his insurance sent him a letter that she has filed a lawsuit against Fred and the other driver. Fred has been assigned an attorney by his insurance company.

Should he tell his attorney that he was working as a driver, even though the attorney is being paid by the insurance company? Fred is afraid that his insurance company will find out he was driving people around for pay and he will end up having to pay the medical bills and court fees out of pocket.

TLDR: Friend drives people around for pay, gets into an accident, his passenger sues for medical bills, his attorney is provided by the insurance company but should he tell them he was driving for pay? Could he end up having to pay the medical bills rather than his insurance covering it?

Answer:
 He isnt going to like this, but if he was acting as a livery driver, his insurance will not cover her injuries, but he also must be honest. He can not claim this was just a friend he was driving. There is a lawsuit in play now, and lying under oath is perjury.

If the other vehicle ran a stop sign, they are most likely responsible. Police reports do not determine civil fault. But the fact he was using his car as a commercial vehicle can matter here, and his insurance company can refuse to cover damages he is ordered to pay because he did not carry the appropriate insurance.

He needs to contact an attorney to defend him when his insurance drops the claim (and using their lawyer to defend him.)Answer #2: >Should he tell his attorney that he was working as a driver, even though  the attorney is being paid by the insurance company? Fred is afraid  that his insurance company will find out he was driving people around  for pay and he will end up having to pay the medical bills and court  fees out of pocket.

The insurance company will most likely discover that Fred was acting as a livery driver.  And if so, the insurance company will probably hold Fred liable for any legal expenses that the insurance company spent to defend him.  So then Fred will be in an even worse position than he is in now.


Title: [IN] Help...addict sister is trying to get power of attorney for elderly parents

Question:
Both of my parents are mentally impaired. My mother remembers faces but can't remember what she did an hour ago. My sister is an alcoholic and doesn't work. She's been living off of our aunt.

My mother and sister have always been co-dependent and my father is tired of trying to fight them. Now he just agrees with whatever they say.

They have been in assisted living and I am their financial power of attorney. For various stupid reasons, they want to move and my sister has convinced them that their best option is to move in with her and my aunt.

My sister is telling me I shouldn't have p.o.a. anymore. I know that if she gets her hands on their money, it will disappear immediately. They have under $100k, but they need it for medical bills and whatnot. Is there anything I can do to prevent her from getting poa and stealing it? I know if she tells my mother to sign anything, she'll do it.

Answer:
 NAL. If they are in assisted living, is there anyone at their facility that could assist?

Alternatively, you could contact adult protective services where you are.Answer #2: ANAL.

>Both of my parents are mentally impaired.

Is this your opinion or has a doctor officially diagnosed them as being mentally impaired? If doctor diagnosed she will have to take you to court. If it's your opinion your parents are still considered legally competent and can switch it to her. Answer #3: If your parents are impaired you should look into getting a conservatorship over them.  This is like a POA, but backed by a court so it will supercede any POA your parents sign.  This process starts with a petition you will submit to the probate court of the county your parents live in.  Google "conservatorship in Indiana".  It might also be called "guardian of the estate", this is exactly the same.

Edit: a word


Title: The company I work for has loss leaders they refuse to sell and coupons they refuse to honor (USA, VA)

Question:
Fact situation one:

(1) We have items on sale for a super low price.

(2) We have those items in our warehouse.

(3) We refuse to sell those items to customers since we have "sold out of what we allotted for the sale". It was not published anywhere public that the quantities were limited. TV, Web and Radio campaigns continue to advertise the items. It's just a bait and switch.

Fact situation two:

(1) We have a coupon which states a class of item is X% off even if it's already on sale.

(2) For certain items, without any way for a consumer to guess which ones, we refuse to honor the coupon.

In both cases we are talking about millions in sales we are sidestepping. In both cases I have emails from management telling me to do this.

This sounds really illegal. Is it? Where could I report it? Do I have any whistle-blower protection?

Answer: [Here](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?000+cod+59.1-200) is the portion of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act that lists the prohibited practices. Take a look at it and, if you think that these practices may violate one of the subsections, contact the [Attorney General's office](http://www.ag.virginia.gov/Consumer%20Protection/index.html). Luckily, we now have an attorney general that actually cares about consumer protection!


Title: Filing an Unlicensed practice of law complaint

Question:
There was a huge bit of drama when one friend accused another of sexual assault.

Long story short, a law school grad who has never taken the bar, began explaining the legal definitions and arguing the case. She privately called herself an attorney to me. Online she implied that she was a lawyer.

She argued the case and convinced many people on facebook that intent is not an important aspect of criminal law. (The accuser said that the assault was an accident.)

I am preparing an unlicensed practice of law complaint because i think this lady is causing public harm by hokding herself out as an attorney. My understanding is that this is a felony in Florida. But everyone ive talked to seems to think it is no big deal.

From FL statutes..
454.23 Penalties.—Any person not licensed or otherwise authorized to practice law in this state who practices law in this state or holds himself or herself out to the public as qualified to practice law in this state, or who willfully pretends to be, or willfully takes or uses any name, title, addition, or description implying that he or she is qualified, or recognized by law as qualified, to practice law in this state, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Am i way off base for wanting to make a complaint to the Florida Bar?

Answer:
 Yes. You are way off base.

This person did not take money, offer to appear in court, or apparently even establish anything approaching an attorney client relationship. The state won't care that a law grad called themselves an attorney, particularly in the absence of any of the above.Answer #2: You can make a complaint. Honestly, someone calling themselves an attorney and having bad opinions on the internet isn't going to be a priority - they tend to go after people who illegally represent people or give advice in the context of a client-attorney relationship who aren't licensed, first - but you never know.

It's not uncommon for 1Ls to think a little too highly of themselves, unfortunately.


Title: Texted a girl sexually on an 18+ ONLY app (skout) next day her father calls and says she is a minor and wants $4700 tonight for counseling and compensation or he's going fIle charges. Help!!!

Question: I messaged this girl on the app a couple days ago saying hey. She replied and said "message me your number and I'll text you" Keep in mind to use the Skout adult app you need to sign an agreement that you're at least 18. I was an idiot and gave out my number. She texted me next day and we sexted about 10 minutes. I received only one nude pic and it looked like just some random vagina. I sent a few things and she stopped texting. Today her "dad" calls me and says she is actually a minor and he's willing to not press charges if I'm willing to "help him out" by Western unioning him almost $5000. I'm really scared, I'm 25, live in DFW and never been in any trouble my whole life. I also have a great career. She supposedly lives in SC somewhere. Is he bluffing or not, that is what I'm faced with. IF he isn't and he does press charges will I be okay since she lied when signing up for the site? The last thing I want to do is go to court. :, (

Answer:
 You are currently in the midst of one of the most common scams on the internet. So common, in fact, that this is the second question today about this very scam.

There is no girl. There is no dad. There are no police. There is no counseling. There is only the scammer, who probably doesn't even live in this country.

If you haven't already done so: Block anyone who has contacted you. Do not engage in any communications with any of them ever again. Delete the account you created on the app. Delete the e-mail account that you used to sign up with it. Then delete the app. Wipe your phone clean of anything related to this. And place appropriate privacy guards on your social media sites.

Then be thankful that you narrowly avoided getting suckered for any money.

But don't take my word for it. Here is just a sample of posts and articles about this exact scam, or variations on it:

http://www.thedailyscam.com/underage-girl-sext-scam/

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/--urgent-------underage-sexting-scam--can-my-frien-2317988.html

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/news/local/dating-scam-tricks-men-thinking-theyve-been-talkin/nhf3q/

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130724200617AATDXM1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299895/James-Arnt-Aune-death-Blackmailer-university-professor-leapt-death-pleads-guilty.html
Answer #2: It is a scam. Block the number and ignore it.

If the police show up, get a lawyer.
Answer #3: Man these scammers aren't even trying anymore. Once upon a time they'd lead you on for weeks before hitting you with the whammy. Answer #4: Well that's extorion.


Title: [TX] seatbelts in a classic car.

Question: If a classic car came from the factory with no seatbelts, am i required to install seatbelts?

Answer:
 In most states, you're required to have whatever safety equipment was included at manufacture.Answer #2: It doesn't look like it. This is from the [Texas Transportation Code](http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/TN/htm/TN.545.htm):

Sec. 545.413 (1)(C)  Safety Belt Offenses - A person commits an offense if the person is occupying a seat that is equipped with a safety belt.

Sec. 545.413 (2)(c) A passenger vehicle or a seat in a passenger vehicle is considered to be equipped with a safety belt if the vehicle is required under Section 547.601 to be equipped with safety belts.

Sec. 547.601. A motor vehicle required by Chapter 548 to be inspected shall be equipped with front safety belts *if safety belt anchorages were part of the manufacturer's original equipment on the vehicle.*


Title: Wendy’s frosty keytags

Question:
At the beginning of the year I purchased some frosty key tags from Wendy’s. At the time they said that I could get multiplied every time I visit if I had multiple key tags.
They honored that many times in the past. However they decided that now they only will allow one jr frosty no matter the number of key tags. Naturally I feel kinda like it sucks.

The wording on the keytag is: “one free Jr. Frosty per transaction per visit per keytag. Valid only at participating locations. Offer expires 12/31/2019. Wendys.com/adoption”

The way I read that is if I have 10 key tags and I roll threw with 3 friends and ask for 4 free frostys I can get them. Yesterday I was told I can only get one.

They still claim they are participating, but that the tickets only allow one per a visit.

Is there any legal precinct that applies to the 9th circuit about the wording of x per y per z per w?

Thank you if you have anything that helps me and my friends crusade to restore the one frosty per a keytag each visit!

Answer: If you made 9 different transactions you might have a case, but one per transaction seems to be pretty clear.  That the employees were wrong before doesn’t really change that.


Title: Looking like I will need to take associate to small claims court; looking for advice on what I should be prepared with to make this an 'air-tight,' open and shut, slam dunk case (in my favor) in small claims court.

Question:
.Just for the record, I am not u/chad311, he is letting me write this on his reddit account but I am logged in and will be able to read and respond to any comments/questions.  Location is Idaho, USA.

I do direct sales of children's books.  I recruited a girl -- who I will call Lauren -- that I met in the town I live in, and she started to sell books as well.  Being my recruit, her sales helped me to reach certain goals.

The company that makes the books we sell lets you 'take out consignment,' which means they let you order a whole lot of books (like to sale at a school book fair or something) without having to pay for them right away.  They give you 6 months to pay off the 'consignment' books you ordered, they also will let you mail the books back -- granted you pay the shipping.

Alright so here we go: Lauren and I decided to go in together on a large consignment order, and when the books arrived she took her half of the books and was supposed to pay me for them as she sold them.  This was all by verbal agreement, but we do have Facebook messenger conversations talking about it all.  She hasn't paid me back, though, and she has revealed herself to be very irresponsible and dishonest.  It was a mistake to do business like this with a friend/neighbor, and it was a huge mistake to just let her 'owe me' and 'pay me back' as she went.  Lesson learned -- but I would like to recover the money if possible.  Basically, she owes me either $300 or the equivalent in books -- which I would gladly take back -- but she can't or won't pay me back either way.

Also, at the time of ordering all these books, we decided to sign up for a few of the local events in our small town where you can pay to set up a booth and sell whatever (think farmer's market type things and military appreciation events at the park).  We (I) signed up for a couple of these events, and we even decided to join the Chamber of Commerce to get a better price on signing up for these events that we (I) signed up for and paid for.  She worked at the booths we signed up for -- either while I was also there or we took turns manning the booth -- but she has never paid me back for her share of the fees to join the COM or to have a booth at the events.

To conclude, she owes me around $400.  I have an itemized list and know down to the penny how much money (or books, as I've offered to accept, if she can just give me back all the books) she owes me.  We never wrote out anything and signed any contracts or anything like that, but we do have a lot of conversation on social media messages about our plans regarding all of the events and all of the books we ordered.

What would the thresshold of evidence be to win in small claims court?  Our conversation on FB messenger are plain and simple and obviously talking about our plans to sell the books we ordered, at events we signed up for, etc.  However, I have gone back and re-read our conversations and there isn't any type of 'silver bullet' statement of where she says something like "I will pay you back the $400 I owe you," indeed there is nothing that rock solid.

Any insight or pointers on where to read and prepare for this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Answer:
 There is no such thing as an "airtight slam dunk" case.  For one, we only have your side of the story.  Lauren also has a side.

You have evidence in your favor, obviously.  Gather all of that, file the suit, and see what happens.  I'll offer that you would be smart to reach out to her via **written** document - not Facebook, text message, Whatsapp, Snapchat, or whatever else you kids are doing these days.  Write down **on paper** what she owes you, item by item, set a reasonable deadline(30 days is good) and mail that to her.


Title: Clean Water Action “internship” Scam (NJ)

Question:
Hello Reddit. I’m a college student in NJ and this summer, I took an internship in Montclair NJ that consisted of canvassing (begging)for money for this nonprofit Clean Water Action. There’s a bit of a story  and some math, but overall I need to know what course of action I should take since I know I didn’t get paid nearly enough.

Story: so there’s 10 days of training (m-f for 2 weeks) and the goal every night is to raise up to 190$. In the employee handbook, it says you keep 52% of what you raise or minimum wage— whichever is the higher amount. Each day there would be some training and then we’d drive to a neighborhood and beg for money door to door. I did everything they asked of me and never made the goal. On day 6 they told me that the “goal” I needed to reach was really more of a minimum and if I couldn’t reach it by day 7 I was out. Day 7 I was out and thank god, this seriously was not an internship by any means. It was a scam.

Math: So the official hours were from 2-10 Monday through Friday even though they always expect us early and have us leave late.

One and a half weeks is 7 Days of work = 56 hrs.

Since I didn’t hit the minimum of fundraising goal, I had to get paid minimum wage.

56 hrs x$8.60 = 481.60$ before taxes.

They paid me $346. Even after taxes that really shouldn’t be legal.

Side note: please please please do not give to this organization, or work for them. It is basically multi-level marketing disguised as a fun nonprofit.

Answer: You should also be paid for training.  If they don’t pay you, contact your attorney general’s wage and labor division.Answer #2: I worked for those assholes (or somtvery similar) years ago in the form of environment Oregon. It was absolutely hellish. File a wage claim and get a new job.


Title: Ballet School Sex Scandal

Question:
Throwaway for reasons that should be obvious

Location KY, some involved are across state lines in IN

The co-owners and main teachers of my child’s ballet school were arrested for sexual assault of a minor, a 17 year old student and junior teacher of the school. The alleged assault did not occur at the school. The school is closed for the foreseeable future. Many parents and some unrelated teachers are in contact through social media and discussing next steps. I have many questions.

1. Payments were collected automatically through a web service called Square Space. The contract with the school states that parents must provide 30 day written notice of leaving in order to be removed from automatic payments. Since the school is closed, are parents still required to make the July payments since there is less than 30 day notice? There is currently no one to provide notice to. My thinking is that parents should not pay July payments, but is this correct? Should we dispute June’s payment since services were not rendered?

2. Several of the non-related teachers have expressed interest in continuing the school in some shape or form. What could we maintain as a community and what would need to change? Name? The studio space is leased through another corporation. Would it be possible to assume the lease to maintain the location? What would that involve?

3. How can parents get their children’s photos removed from associated social media sites? Pictures were originally posted with permission, but now people unassociated with the school are leaving obscene comments on photos of children as young as 2 who were in no way victimized except through association with the school. The Facebook page has been removed as has Instagram, however Google Maps and a few other review sites still have photos up. What can we do to protect our children from this association?

Thank you for your time and responses. This is a very upsetting and confusing situation. All of us have been severely impacted, including the children. We greatly appreciate your advice.

Answer:
 1. I'd absolutely not make payments. If they want to fight the issue out, they've gotta make the case that "being closed for kiddy diddling" isn't a material breach on their part of the contract terms. I'd love to see that argument.
2. Hard to say without details. This is a Tomorrow problem.
3. Remarkably little, unfortunately. You can send takedown requests, but that's really going to only get you so far.


Title: PhD candidate, feel like I'm getting screwed by my department

Question:
Hi all, thanks in advance for taking the time to read this. I just completed my third year in a PhD program, and I feel like I'm being screwed by my department. A good friend of mine who is not a lawyer advised that I should seek legal advice, as I may have a case for violation of the ADA/discrimination. Before I launch into the story of what happened, this is in NJ at a public state university that receives both federal and state funding. At the school I serve both a student and employee role (I teach for the department), and we have a graduate student union that has participated in arbitration for our salaries, if that's relevant.

Somewhere around the end of February, my PI decided he was not satisfied with the progress I was making in my program. I pointed out that a major contributing factor was a massive breach of contract by him and the university, as he was forcing me to teach 30-40 hours a week, despite my contract stating I should only be teaching a maximum of 15 hours a week. He dismissed my claim, even though I had evidence to the contrary, claimed he also had issues with my attitude, and decided to escalate this to the department head. Prior to this, I had never received any official notification from the department of unsatisfactory performance or anything, and had completed all of the laid out academic requirements for my degree.

We participated in an arbitration meeting with the department head, and agreed upon changes that we would try to make to rectify the situation, and a month passed without further incident, and receiving positive feedback about my work from my boss. Around the third week of March, we scheduled a follow up meeting with the department head, myself, my boss, and the program coordinator to reevaluate where things stood between my PI and I.

The week before this meeting happened, I disclosed to my PI that I had been dealing with significant mental health issues for a long time and that I had gone to see a mental health professional, who diagnosed me with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. In the opinion of my mental health professional, these had both been through on by three years spent in an abysmal work environment with my PI. At first, my professor seemed to be empathetic, telling me that I could take all the time I needed to get better and he was very glad to hear that I was getting help. He did not, however, notify me of anyone at the university I should talk to, or any further steps I needed to take after disclosing a mental health diagnosis.

Around this time, I also applied for a summer internship on the suggestion of my therapist, who thought that this internship would be beneficial for my mental health. During the follow up meeting mentioned above, I informed my professor, the department head, and the department coordinator about my application for the internship, and mentioned that I was doing so as part of my attempt to improve his mental health status, and that this course of action was recommended by his therapist. The department head was furious that I wanted to take an internship, however my boss did not raise any objections.

The rest of March and most of April went by, and I had continued to receive very positive feedback from my boss regarding my disposition and the progress I was making on my work. Around the third week of April, I was offered and accepted the internship and informed my PI that he would accept it, as I was not under contract or paid by the university during the summer months. My PI pointedly ignored me for a week, before I forced a conversation after my contract for the 2018-2019 academic year was randomly withdrawn without and notification as to why. This led to a conversation wherein my PI ultimately removed me from his lab, suggesting that it was disrespectful and selfish for my brother to have taken the internship, and claimed that despite giving nothing but positive feedback in our weekly discussions for the last two months, that nothing had changed. The conversation ended after I questioned him about my mental health and my efforts to get better, and he threw it back in my face, effectively saying I was a drain on his mental health.

That same day (a Monday) I had a meeting with the department head and the department coordinator, who said that I needed to find a new advisor and pressured me to make a decision right then, despite only having found out about my dismissal from my lab two hours earlier. At this time I also confirmed that they were aware of my mental health diagnosis, and they confirmed that they did indeed know. I asked for some time to make a decision, and they told me that I needed to make a decision by Wednesday, citing department deadlines.

Unhappy with the way this was all being handled, I instead went to the dean of the graduate school with my complaints about the way I was being treated. I explained everything that had happened up to this point to him, including the mental health diagnosis and the breach of contract. He told me that all proceedings in this matter would be halted until he had a chance to speak with the department. Thursday went by with nothing happening, and then Friday, even though the department said I simply had to find a new advisor that same week, I was issued a notice of dismissal from the program entirely. When I questioned the dean, I found out that the department justified my dismissal through several statements that were outright lies about things I said or did, and I have documented evidence refuting them. I immediately initiated the process to appeal the decision after this.

My question then is this: the university seems to be dragging their feet with the appeal process, as I submitted the appeal over a month ago and there still has not been a decision made. From several conversations I have had, I am not entirely optimistic of a positive outcome. I was considering contacting a lawyer, but I am unsure if that would be worth it, or if I would even have a case. Thank you to anyone who decides to read all this, and who may have any advice.

Answer:
 >"Around the third week of April, I was offered and accepted the internship and informed my PI that he would accept it, [...] This led to a conversation wherein my PI ultimately removed me from his lab, suggesting that it was disrespectful and selfish for my brother to have taken the internship,"

So... Are you writing on behalf of your brother and doing a poor job of it, or is there something really strange going on here? Why does your PI care about your brother accepting an internship?

As for the rest of it, a month isn't long enough to know what's going on. The board that reads appeals probably only meets quarterly, so they may not have even seen it yet. Bottom line, expect to not be going back next semester, if they reverse the decision at all.


Title: Was fired from my salary job last week, this morning I see they have deposited to full paychecks into my account. What is the legal course of action?

Answer: Call HR and ask what’s going on.  Depending on how the pay periods align with check distribution it’s possible they owed you a full check.  I don’t get my direct deposit until a full week after the pay period ends, and people getting manual checks don’t get it for another few days after that.  However if they actually overpaid you then you will need to repay it.  Better to know that know rather than later.Answer #2: What did payroll say when you called them to inquire?


Title: Selling 3D Models of Theme Park Rides (no branding) Is it legal??

Question:
Hello, first time here. So I make 3D models (in cad and then 3D printed) of theme park rides. Originally this was for educational purposes, but lately I have been receiving many requests for selling them to people who may not have the resources to print the model or the patience to. Every time I've said "no, I don't sell the physical models and the files I give away for free." However, lately I've been wondering to "what's the legality of selling them IF I wanted to?" (even though they take a lot of time to make). So here's the rundown.

I love theme parks. That's a given. *\[see username\]* r/rollercoasters

I've been making these models WITHOUT the branding of their respective companies or parks that they're located at. (with the exception of a few)

Each model is NOT a rip of a file from that company. I pool data and images and model them myself to be as (realistically cause it's FDM 3D printing) accurate as I can. If you know your stuff you can easily figure out what ride it is and who it's from, BUT the model does not explicitly say that.

Let's take the ride model I'm most known for: The Zamperla Giant Discovery Model (on [Thingiverse](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2552883))

Zamperla is an Italian rides manufacturer. They've actually been pretty nice about sending brochures with some dimensions in the past, but let's not detract too much.

The model is of a 147ft giant pendulum ride that has been installed at countless theme parks.

On Thingiverse I only have the logo and the name so it can be searchable by what's it's know as, but as I mentioned before, the model does not have any actual physical branding on the model file itself.

If I wanted to sell the model, this is how I plan on presenting it:

"TinyRides: Giant Pendulum" (I originally was just going to keep the "Giant Discovery" name, but that's likely copyrighted)

"Giant pendulum ride seen at many parks that swings up to 147ft at 70mph."

The model and packaging would be free of any branding such as "Zamperla" or "Giant Discovery".

The pendulum style ride is not something that Zamperla has a monopoly over nor invented, there are many different companies who make similar rides.

So the main question:

With the set up, it's a model that is CLEARLY a model of a Giant Discovery ride from Zamperla (that was the intent, to be accurate), but is a model I personally CAD'd up (modeled in software), but used the dimensions and photos from publicly accessible sites (even on [Zamperla's own website](https://www.zamperla.com/products/giant-discovery/) they have the height and footprint listed), would Zamperla have any grounds to sue me? Or since the model does not associate with them directly and is not branded as "Zamperla", would I be in the clear and well within my rights to sell them? These are publicly visible structures (from outside the park of course, but have to pay to ride the ride), but does copyright or patent law include something like this? Would this fall into the category of how some people or companies make and sell models of landmarks like the Las Vegas sign or the Eiffel Tower? If it's legal to do so, can I do it with other rides?

TLDR: I make desk sized ride models of theme park rides for free, but I'm getting requests to sell them. Models are trying to be direct replicas of a company's design on a ride that has existed for a long time (pendulum ride), BUT are free of branding of the company and I personally CAD them up (no ripping files) by looking at photos and publicly accessible data. Can I legally sell them and can this apply to other rides or other things? Aka, technically selling my own model of someone else's design.

I need help navigating this kind of situation cause the last thing I want is a summons in the mail.

Answer:
 Interesting question.  I only have leads for you, not an answer.
 There are a few things involved here.

> "TinyRides: Giant Pendulum" (I originally was just going to keep the "Giant Discovery" name, but that's likely copyrighted)

Actually names are trademarked, not copyrighted.  It's a trademark infringement in the US if your use of their name would lead the reasonable consumer to believe that Zamperla made it, or licensed it to you, or was otherwise affiliated with the product.  Not using their company name or ride name was a good instinct.

> With the set up, it's a model that is CLEARLY a model of a Giant Discovery ride from Zamperla (that was the intent, to be accurate), but is a model I personally CAD'd up (modeled in software)

At first this sounds like this is a [derivative work](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work), just as if you had used your own paints and canvas and paintbrushes to paint a copy of, say, *American Gothic*.  However, my area is software and not rollercoasters, and things like [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/8l1j3b/are_roller_coaster_layouts_copyrighted/) have a bunch of people (non-attorneys, mind) claiming that you can't copyright a roller coaster's *layout* design.  Granted, there's a lot more to a roller coaster than the layout of the track.  There is such a thing as copyright of architecture, but in the US I believe that's limited to buildings.

Sorry for the non-answer.Answer #2: While I don't think rollercoaster designs can be copyrighted it may be worth consulting a copyright attorney.Answer #3: This REALLY sounds like something you should clear with an attorney before you start selling stuff.


Title: Is my expat boss entitled to financial protection?

Question:
Background:

I work in the U.S. for a French company. My boss, who is French, was recently brought to the U.S. to manage my team as a multiyear expat assignment. A few months into being here, his family followed and they are now all here in the U.S. His wife (who is not employed) is now pregnant. They just found out that their French insurance would not cover the delivery here in the U.S. When he approached the company to see if they would cover it they basically told him that he's S.O.L. and that he would need to pay for it himself. Because of this, it is now highly likely that he and his family, who just got here a few months ago, will have to move back to France, have the baby there, wait a couple of months, and then move back to the U.S. Obviously this is a nightmare of a scenario.

My question:

Does my boss have a legal right to force the company to pay for his wife's delivery?

It just seems crazy to me that he's doing the company a favor by moving his entire family half way across the world to work on a project only to be told that they won't pay for his wife's delivery. If he were in France, he wouldn't pay a dime.

Thanks in advance!

Answer:
 > Does my boss have a legal right to force the company to pay for his wife's delivery?

No, of course not.  Why in the world would you think they did?


Title: Girlfriend's(31f) daughter(10f) called/texted us that her dad is drunk

Question:
Girlfriend's daughter (GD) stays with us in our house 50% of the time.  Her father (35m) lives with his mother 18 minutes away.

A few days a week, I drop GD off at her father's house on my way to work (summer break so no school, and he only works part time in the evenings).  Today I dropped her off like any other day and went to work.  An hour later I got a call from girlfriend letting me know that GD has been calling and texting her feeling very uncomfortable about the way her father is acting.

According to her he was sleeping when she got home and woke him up to say hi and he started asking her why she was talking like that and why she was speaking in another language? He had trouble walking, was talking to their dog for an uncomfortable amount of time like it was a person, tried to put GD down for a nap(she's 10, and it was 8am), during the nap process he stumbled and lightly bumped her head on the headboard?, talked about making breakfast but needing to drive to get milk, then went to his bedroom and passed out?

She is a very intelligent little girl and knew something was wrong and way off.  She sent her mother a picture of the alcohol that was in the trash can, presuming from the night before/this morning.

Since I was closest to her father's house, I left work immediately and picked her up.  She was visibly shaken, crying, and uncomfortable about the entire situation.  She is obviously worried that her actions will upset her father and I can sense some guilt in her decision to leave even though she knows that she made the right decision.

Her grandmother whom lives with them there, left for work shortly after I dropped GD off, and was apparently unaware of the situation..

We are now back home, and she is in much better spirits, but that can be severely impacting to a little girl.

We tried to call our lawyer and ask him what we should do, but he is tied up in courts until the afternoon.

We are unsure about the best way to go about making sure this never happens again.

I want him to be caught in the act being as drunk as he sounds, but girlfriend wants to talk to legal counsel before we call DCFS or police or get pointed in the right direction.

Girlfriend and I have lived together for 5 years in case that matters.

Thoughts?

Answer:
 You have no standing at all here and you need to follow whatever your gf wants in this matter.

Has it occurred to either of you that rather than being drunk he might be in fact ill? Has anyone contacted the grandmother?


Title: [Oregon] I am facing HUGE issues trying to transfer my vehicle into my name through the DMV.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If the guy your parents bought it from never registered it in his name, he had no ability to sell you the vehicle.  They could sue him for the return of the money, which could compel him to register the vehicle properly if he isn't wanting to lose the money from the sale.

Then, once he's the registered, you have to submit the original bill of sale (not a photocopy, too easy to forge).

If your parents do not have any of his information, you should contact the DMV directly and see what they say you need to do.  As you could probably guess, it isn't easy to register a vehicle without the previous owner's permission, otherwise stealing cars would be simple.


Title: Owner of a franchise location I work at admitted via text that she does not pay workers for time spent working past scheduled hours. How do I go about this?

Question:
One day when I inquired the owner/my boss about my paycheck, she texted me that she does not pay me for time I work where I am unscheduled. Specifically, "If extra hours are not approved, you are not paid for them." For example, if I am scheduled for 6 hours and I work 6.5, I am not paid for the .5 This is a clock-in pay by the hour job.

This place is located in Florida. She owns one location of a nationwide franchise. I am 99% sure that what she is doing is illegal. Tomorrow is my last day there but I want to make sure she is unable to continue to underpay workers by alerting the right people. Who should I contact? Department of Labor? I am not sure where to start. Should I also alert the franchise company?

Edit: I forgot to mention that I have the text messages backed up to use as evidence.

Answer:
 You should speak to the department of labor and alert the franchise company. 100% illegal. Answer #2: I would absolutely alert the Franchise HQ/offices since Florida is terrible and doesn't have a department of labor.

Do you have a record of your over-scheduled work?


Title: [GA/FL] Mom's joint bank account seized

Question:
Posting for my mom, I can get more info where needed.

Mom lives in Georgia, brother lives in Florida.

Long story short my mom has a joint bank account with my brother. He hasn't had access to it or has been active on it for over eight years and my mom has used it and not gotten a new account for simplicities sake.

My brother is being sued for student loans not being payed. Mom finds out Saturday her account has been frozen and she can't access funds, she has no idea why, calls bank and they inform her an attorney out of Miami has frozen her account and that's all the info she has gotten. Come Monday she contacts the attorney telling how my brother isn't on the account at all, attorney's secretary States of she provides pay stubs and can account for money in the account then it should be enough for the account to be unfrozen. Secretary also states they shouldn't have even been able to freeze it since my mom gets paid by the state of Georgia.
Attorney calls after his lunch break and pretty much asks my mom why brothers name is still on account and she explains, and says again he hasn't used it in 8 years. He says tough luck and didn't care even after my mom said she was never served papers from them saying they'll go after wages in the account. Still he didn't care, mom yells at him and he hangs up.
Today my mom found out they took $900 of the frozen $1000 she had, and the remaining $100 is still frozen. Still she was never served papers and never given information at all to fight in court.

Within 3 days her account was frozen and wages garnished without any notification. She owes fees to multiple places now due to payments and checks bouncing.

Is she screwed or was the attorney in the wrong, where did she go from here. She has no access to what little money she has to get an attorney, she tried a few free consultation places but told her she needed a civil case lawyer. Bank is working on getting her the case info but they said it takes multiple days to get documents.

Please any help appreciated

TLDR: mom screwed out of $1000 in her joint bank account that the other party never used, she was never served papers or given a chance to defend herself. What can she do?

Answer:
 > Long story short my mom has a joint bank account with my brother

> Come Monday she contacts the attorney telling how my brother isn't on the account at all

Which is it? One of those statements is not true.
Answer #2: It is a joint account. Doesn't matter where the money came from.

Your mother made an expensive mistake in "not getting a new account for simplicity's sake". Answer #3: They are not garnishing her wages, they are seizing an account to pay a judgement.  If it was garnishment,  the money would be taken directly from her paycheck.

And, the bank has no say in this.  They receive a court order and hand over the cash.  They are not allowed to inform the customer ahead of time.

Lastly, the judgement is not against your mother, so she would never have been served.  They took the account because, legally, your brother is the joint owner of the account and he apparently has an outstanding judgement they wanted paid.


Title: Child is turning 18 soon. I pay child support and am current on payments. Can I expect to stop making payments when he reaches 18? What if he attends college? Child in OK, case in CA.

Answer: What does the support order say?


Title: [South Carolina] Getting reporters to leave you alone?

Question:
Yes, this is related to the arrest that happened today.

My mom keeps getting calls from reporters, some coming up to the door of the house? Can we make them stop calling? Will she have to call the police everytime one shows up?

TLDR; Mom worked/works for a guy that was arrested. Reporters won't leave her alone.

Answer: Have you put up "no trespassing" signs?


Title: can you sue your girlfriend if she destroys your car?

Question: i haven't' have this happened to me yet but i've heard countless storys when people cheat on their girlfriends they end up destroying their cars. i'm wondering if it's even legal if your girlfriend ends up damaging your car or destroying it,

Answer: Yes you can someone who digs their keys into the side of your souped up 4 wheel drive.


Title: [Illinois] Mom want's to prove dad's ebay income through me during divorce. Advise needed.

Question: Long story short, my dad uses ebay and resells things on the side. My mom knew about this. It goes through other people's names and he didn't report this in divorce paper of his income and she is saying he might be getting money from her and this would help her. This is my problem because he used his paypal to send it to mine, and then i sent it to his bank account. Can I get in trouble? what do i do? Legally and ethically.

Answer:
 ...how old are you?

Practically if he's hiding money and she knows about it your cooperation isn't necessary, it just makes things easier. A forensic accountant will tear apart this scheme in about 20 minutes.Answer #2: Judges do not like it when divorcing parties hide their incomes. Divorce lawyers and judges see this all the time. Your dad is denying your mom rightful income they shared, and he lied to you to get your help to cover up the money he owes her.

If your mom has a divorce attorney, you need to tell her and the lawyer so they can proceed. Your dad did something both illegal and unethical. If you're a minor, you probably aren't going to be held responsible.

Ethically? You're falsifying your father's income so that he doesn't have to pay your mother, and that's pretty low. You lied about it. Come clean, and let the courts work on an equitable, fair settlement for them both.


Title: Swearing in of Police Officers

Question: I live in Michigan.  I'd just like to know the legality regarding swearing in a police officer.  Basically I'd like to know if there is any law requiring officers to be sworn in before they are allowed to be on active duty alone and unsupervised?  If an officer were to find himself on patrol, or performing his duties as an officer without first being sworn in, would that just be an ethical grey area(just possibly frowned upon but not necessarily "wrong" to do), or is there an actual law or laws regarding this?

Answer:
 With the exception of a witness swearing in during testimony*, such oaths are formalities.  The only reason that it is relevant for a witness is because after the swearing ceremony and until they are allowed to step down, what they say subjects them to penalties for perjury.

We don't have magic words in the American Legal system.  The key element for a police officer to be a lawful officer is that they were hired by that jurisdiction.  Whether they've sworn an oath is irrelevant, though nice.  BTW - even if they haven't been properly trained, as long as they were hired their arrests are still valid.

Edited to add: *as u/taterbizkit stated the actual oath isn't important during witness testimony...but from the point you are asked to give your oath until your testimony is finished you can be punished for lying.


Title: eBay ps4 scam or not?

Question: I listed my ps4 on a bid for $190. Someone messaged me about it and asked that I message him ASAP so that he could pay $350 for it. It sounds very suspicious to me.  I live in Georgia.

Answer:
 If you deal with him outside of eBay you will loose all protections. And yes its more than likely a scam.

Also report his account to eBay.


Title: As a sublandlord, do I have the right to periodically inspect my unit during the subtenant's stay, as long as I give 24 hours notice?

Question: I want to see the place once a month so I know there's no damage.

Answer: Did you put language to that effect in your sublease agreement?Answer #2: Maybe. You need to provide your location.


Title: CT received bill from dead attorney

Question: Received a bill dated 2/2017 from the estate of my old attorney that passed away 10/2015.  I have my receipts showing I paid him.   I'm not sure if they are saying that I had debt that had not yet been billed.  I don't want to seem cold hearted.  Do I owe this debt? It's been a long time and this is the first I'm hearing about this we bill.

Answer: You will not seem cold-hearted. This is business, and the attorney or representative for the estate is getting paid to handle this. Write a letter back explaining that you have paid, enclose copes of your fee agreements, invoices, and receipts, and see what they say.


Title: My friend, without a license. Likes to drive my car, which is registered in my dads name. What happens if she gets into an accident, her fault or not?

Question:
I know, it’s such a dumb thing to let someone do. But whenever she declines she throws a bitch fit like a child. I almost always give into peer pressure. I’m just looking for people who know what they’re talking about so I can show her how stupid it is.
Topic:
Juvenile and Youth Law

Answer: You and your dad could be on the hook for negligence if she would get into an accident while driving the vehicle with your permission.  You should explain this to your friend, and if she doesn't listen, then find better friends.


Title: Aunt, looking to take guardianship of niece (12F) (ME)

Question:
Hi all, I apologize if this is not the best sub to post this to... I checked the other relevant subs (family law, and "custody") subs but this one seems much more active so I figured this is the best bet.

In a nutshell, here is the story: I am an aunt, to a delightful niece, who is currently 12. I'm not sure how she wound up so stable, grounded, intelligent and funny, but she is. Of course I'm biased, but I think she's great.

I wrote a very long and detailed explanation, but I think just details would be better, so here goes:

My niece is the daughter of my brother, and she has lived with my parents at their house since she was born in 2005. My brother has been only minimally involved in her life and was, in fact, in prison when she was born. My parents took guardianship of her once she was born\-\-she's never lived with my brother or even been alone with him. It was hoped that my brother, once he was released from prison, would turn his life around and become a responsible parent\-\-but it never happened. Instead, he bounced in and out of prison a few more times, and then moved out of state and committed a violent crime and was found guilty of such. He will be spending the rest of his life in prison, with no possibility of parole. In short, unless my niece goes to visit him, she will never see him again.

My brother has not had contact with my niece since 2007, save one letter sent to her after my dad died in 2012. Other than that, not a single letter, present, or phone call. He will be in prison, as I mentioned, for the rest of his life.

I should mention that my niece's biological mother signed away her parental rights soon after my niece was born. My brother, however, never did. However, my niece does see her "mother" several times a year. She's a nice enough lady, but she has mental issues which make her unfit to raise a child, and she knows it.

I want to take guardianship of my niece\-\-not now, but ideally before she's a sophomore in high school (for adjustment reasons\-\-I fear that getting guardianship of her and moving her out of state any later in high school would be detrimental academically). Part of this is so that my niece can finally have a "normal" family life, with two "normal aged" parents. My parents (and now, just my mom) are/amazing parents and give her everything they have\-\-as they've done with all of us kids (even my criminal brother included). But my widowed mother is old, and tired, and deserves to live the rest of her days in relative peace, without the day to day responsibilities of a teenager\-\-which is something she never planned for or expected. Besides, my husband and I make decent money and live in a nice neighborhood, in  an area with lots of schools, after school activities, and a great in\-state university system. (By contrast, my mom lives where I grew up, in a rural area without a lot of opportunities.) Financially, it makes sense, as well. I can pay for my nephew to go to college\-\-my mom, being a retiree, can't. And my retiree mother doesn't have health insurance she can use to cover my niece\-\-my mom is on Medicare and my niece on Medicaid, and that's fine, but she'll likely lose that once she's 18. However, if I take guardianship of my niece she'll have insurance until 26 (as of now). And overall, I can just  provide better for her than my mother can.

My mother agrees with this plan. My husband and my niece's mother do, as well. The only issue is my brother. As I mentioned earlier, he never gave up his parental rights. However, since then, he's been convicted of a triple murder, been involved in drug crimes, and not even had any contact (save that one letter in 2012) with my nephew in more than 10 years. I highly doubt my brother would be ok with me taking guardianship of his daughter (I haven't had any contact with him since 2007, either). Here's my question: Does he have to be ok with it? With all of the evidence I've provided in this post (and likely some I've forgotten to include) is it possible to get his parental rights revoked and forego his approval of this living arrangement?

I recognize that I will obviously need to contact a lawyer about this, and also that I have a few years in which to get this all sorted\-\-but I wanted to be a little bit more informed going in, and start laying the groundwork for this now.

Tl;dr (do I need this on here?): my brother is a convicted murderer and I need to revoke his parental rights. Is this possible/likely? How do I do it?

Answer:
 Is your mother now the child's court-appointed guardian, or is there some other kind of arrangement?

With your brother out of contact for so long, and with no possibility that he is going to be able to exercise parental rights, it is highly unlikely a judge is going to pay more than merely nominal attention to his approval or lack thereof. You, your mother, and the child's mother go to court and get the guardianship switched to you. It may or may not be advisable to terminate his parental rights, but yes, it would be possible to do so based on his inability to provide for his child. Incarceration can't be the only factor in a Maine termination case, but it is one factor, and coupled with his lack of interest and failure to foster a relationship with the child, a judge may well determine that it is in the child's best interests.

Do you and your husband intend to adopt the child? Termination of parental rights severs the legal relationship; the child legally has no parent if both biological parents have had their rights terminated.

FYI: Is this a nephew or a niece (you're switching back and forth)?


Title: VA- Found past line of credit on my house cannot sell

Question:
I am kind of stuck in a bad way. I purchased my house from a realtor 18 years ago. I got a conventional loan through a mortgage company and paid all the fees and such. It was sold promptly to Wells Fargo. I have refinanced without any hassles 3 times. The last one going to another company.

I found out last month when trying to sell from the buyers that there was a line of credit on my house. It was the previous owners 5 years prior to my purchase. The company that had the line of credit is gone. No one seems to be able to find anything on this 24 year old item. BUT its on the deed at the courthouse.

I have had the title company running their checks and I have gone through a few different searches. There has to be a way to get this off the deed. I had both a 'special warranty deed' and the regular deed listing us as owners. In all the refinancings there was fees for title searches and filings. No one ever had an issue.

*edit* The closing attorney from my purchase passed away and the title company had burnt down. No one can find the elusive title insurance policy number only that it was through "stewart Title company'. The fact that all of the refinances charged me for title searches and lenders insurance isn't helpful either. Of course my last company that refinanced me is gone too. Its amazing how hard it is to find the right place to hold responsible.

In the last refinance the mortgage and title company had written in the loan contract that they were to be the ONLY lien on the property and were sole lenders. No one ever said anything about this issue.

If anyone knows what to do or has a suggestion please let me know. I lost the buyer and sale over this.

Answer:
 This is what you go to your title insurance for as well as your lender.

Title insurance specifically covers you on this. Your lender is going to be **very** interested in removing a prior claim to their loan on the property. Answer #2: The company with the lien is long gone?  Sounds like you can initiate a quiet title action and have it essentially uncontested.  That shouldn't run you more than $1-2k to have a lawyer do it.

Technically, the title company, as others have posted, should be on the hook for this, but time is money, and you've already lost a sale.  It might make more sense to take immediate action and deal with the title company later.Answer #3: Did you buy title insurance when you purchased the house?Answer #4: You can try contacting the state Bureau of Insurance and see if they can help you track down your title insurance policy. Are you saying your title company went out of business?


Title: Married but separate housing

Question:
My partner and I got married mostly because we wanted the legal protections marriage gave us and we planned to buy a house. From my past experience with my ex, I knew that buying while married has significant advantages, especially when you both make a lower salary. However, over the course of my current relationship I have ended up out-earning him, and I now make in the low 6 figures while he is barely middle class. Which would be totally fine, except for when it comes to the house.

We want to continue keeping our finances totally separate, and with the house we would ideally both be paying equally into it and into house maintenance, taxes, etc, but that can't happen now due to the fact that any house/condo in our area is going to be too much for him to pay half of either the downpayment or the mortgage. The "solution" seems to be I just pay more for everything, but we are both feeling very uncomfortable about this. It breaks up the plan of keeping finances separate and if we break up, he walks away with 50%. Neither of us think this is ok. The reality is he can pay about 35% of the house down payment and mortgage.

Has anyone who had separate finances dealt with this situation before? In an ideal situation we would be single and my partner would be renting from me and I would write my will up so he got the house if anything happened to me, but we are married now. How would you write up a contract designating that he gets a percent of the house and how do you figure out what that percent is? Are there any emotional things we should think about? We're considering getting a divorce to be able to do this but I would like to know what my options are. Also we are in MA.

Answer:
 You need a post-nuptial agreement that will determine how you will separate assets upon divorce.

But in my personal experience, and to address your question of emotional considerations, keeping finances separate like this throughout the marriage is going to lead to a lot of resentment and you're already treating him more like a roommate and less like a husband. A marriage is 50-50, even if you both aren't able to bring in 50-50 of the income.


Title: Local business owner buys product from wife's employer, and has tried multiple times to get her fired

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 There's nothing illegal about PG pulling his account with your wives employer because your wife called him a name.

There's nothing illegal about your wives' employer disciplining or firing her for calling PG a name.

I think it's time that your wife realizes that there are consequences for her actions. Other than that, there's absolutely nothing illegal or against any law about the situation that you've described. Answer #2: >A bit more is exchanged, with admonishments toward PoolGuy from all around at threatening her livelihood because she called him a PG name in a private argument.

There is nothing private about that online argument.

And as you are about to discover, there are consequences for insulting people you do not know in a public forum.

>I'm livid. My wife called him a name. To someone else. And as a response, he literally tried to get her fired.

...

>I end up posting a negative review on his business' facebook page, essentially recounting what happened, and warning people that the owner of this company is the sort of person who does these things to people he has a disagreement with.

>I kept my review PG, and demonstrably factual.

>But, after a half hour or an hour, I decided it wasn't worth it, and I took the review down.

Pot, meet kettle.

Your escalation by attacking him on his own business page removes any ethical argument you might want to make about him threatening your wife's job... since you tried to harm his business too.

Also, depending on how carefully you worded your "review", you might have opened yourself to civil action for libel.


Title: New Jersey- Employer is threatening me with fines for wage claim

Question:
Background: I worked at a daycare center for three weeks. During the first week of my employment, I worked 41 hours. In the second week, I worked 38. When I was paid for the two-week pay period, I was paid for 79 hours. I was *not* paid any overtime pay for the first week of work.

Due to other issues in communication with this company, I elected to file a wage claim against my former employer. When filing the claim, I entered the information regarding the total number of hours I worked and what my estimated gross paycheck should have been. I also wrote a note stating that I was not paid overtime pay for an hour of my work.

Today, my former boss emailed me stating that I claimed I was not paid at all for the two-week period. This is not the case. I only stated the hours I worked and what I should have been paid- trusting the claim investigators to compare that information to payroll records. He is now claiming that he may make me pay for half of any fines he may have to pay because I "falsified my claim."

I have already contacted the wage claim office via phone and email clarifying the details of my claim.

&#x200B;

Can my former employer make me pay for half of any fines he accrues because he did not pay me overtime?

Answer:
 Ummm...no.....

If he gets stuck paying fines it's because he was found guilty of wrongdoing. He cannot pass these fines along to the victim of said wrongdoing.

I would suggest sending his email along to the wage claim office so they can add employee intimidation to the list.


Title: Just Received an Ultimatum

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 This scenario happens more often than you would think. The 'probation' period is an attempt to create the basis required to fire her for cause, which is ordinarily very difficult. I hate this approach to dealing with employees, its dishonest, and it reflects a lack of management, not poor employee performance.

My recommendation is to consult an employment lawyer. I wouldn't recommend accepting the probation, I would be seeking to negotiate a reasonable notice period, or pay in lieu of notice, and begin looking for a new job.Answer #2: > It was explained that her attitude has been an issue for over six years and now they want her to take severance for two months, or go on probation.

Without a detailed record of complaints or write-ups in the past, there are no grounds to place the employee on probation. If they do so, she can argue for constructive dismissal. If she chooses to accept the severance, she can also argue for greater reimbursement.

Statutory minimum in NL is 3-4 weeks, however common law usually awards far greater based on a number of factors: age, length of service, position, future employ-ability, etc.

In either case, she is being taken advantage of and it would be in your best interest to consult an employment lawyer.Answer #3: Which part of Canada are we talking about?


Title: [FL] Question about "Emotional Support" Pets

Question: Is it me, or does it seem that people are now trying to get their pets registered as an "Emotional Support" pet just to get past laws that apply to people with just "pets"? What constitutes a pet an emotional support pet, and what keeps anyone from being able to register animals as such? It seems like a crock of sh*t to me.

Answer: This is one area of law that is rather easy to abuse.  There are individuals out there that are genuinely helped (and need) an ESA.  However, the whole ESA thing is soured in a lot of peoples minds because it is abused so often.


Title: Can someone press charges against me if they suffered injuries from leaving their arm in my moving vehicle?

Question:
A few nights ago I got into a huge argument with my SO in public about financial bullshit.  We stormed off into the parking lot and I got into my car and locked the doors while she was screaming at me through my window.  I was about to leave when I realize I had her phone with me and she was ranting on about how she needed her phone to get a ride home.  So I rolled the window down slightly and told her to just get into the car so we could go home as we had both been drinking.  I will also mention that we live together and have for the past 8 months or so.  She refused to get in the car so I threaten to leave.  Her response to this was to stick her arm inside my car and cling to the side of my vehicle as I'm backing out of the parking space. I didn't intend to continue driving with her stuck to the side of my car. My intention was to keep her phone with me so she would eventually get back into the car with me and we could go home together.

As I'm halfway out of my parking space I notice a security guard at my passenger window telling me to stop. I didn't even notice him in the heat of the moment and apparently I almost hit him backing out.  I stop my car and try to roll the window down that has her arm in it so he can come to the driver side and talk to me, but instead accidentally roll it up which resulted in her screaming and crying in agony.  I didn't mean to close the window on her arm, it was 100% without a doubt an accident.  The security guard comes to my window and tells me he saw everything, that I could have ripped her arm off and that she can definitely press charges if she decides to.  He asks if we have ever had any calls in the past for domestic violence or if police have ever been called.  I have never been in a situation like that, but she has with previous exes.   He tells me to give her the phone and sends me on my way.

I stayed at a friends house that night, but she went home and told our roommate/my best friend everything that happened and showed her the mark on her arm.  My best friend told me everything she said, which she was definitely bending the truth, for example making it seem as if I shut the window on her arm and dragged her around the parking lot.  Like i said it happened few nights ago, but this morning she shows me a picture of her arm with a cut and a huge bruise along with the text argument we were having.  I showed my best friend the pictures and she said that when she saw her arm in person there was a small mark, but definitely no cut.  I know a bruise can develop over the course of a few days, but I'm afraid making she inflicted a cut upon herself to make me look bad.

I know this does look very bad for me, but she is definitely the kind of person who is constantly playing the victim and I'm so sick of her antics.  She has since moved out and the argument this morning occurred because I asked for her key seeing as though it's the second of the month and she hasn't given me rent money.  That is understandable because she will no longer be living here.

My question is what do I do if she decides to press charges?  Should I just take the blame or do I have a possible argument?  I really would like to cut ties and never see her again, but if she presses charges against me she might be in my life longer than I'd like her to be.  Also the security guard was encouraging her to press charges and letting her know that he saw everything and could essentially vouch for her.  Also, I am a 24 year old female if that makes any difference and I live in Nevada.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I am very naive when it comes to legal matters as I have never been in any kind of trouble with the law.  Nothing has happened so far, but I'd like to be prepared in the event that she decides to take me to court.

Answer:
 >she is definitely the kind of person who is constantly playing the victim

...

>which resulted in her screaming

...

>My intention was to keep her phone with me so she would eventually get back into the car with me

Maybe she's not so much playing the victim and is, in fact, the victim? Because it seems to me that she's absolutely in an abusive relationship. You're going to steal her phone to manipulate her into going with you? And you think you're being reasonable?

>if she presses charges against me she might be in my life longer than I'd like her to be

Most people with criminal charges don't stick around their victims all that much, so I'm not sure what your train of thought was there.

Anyways. Yes. She could file a police report and they might press charges. If that happens, you need a lawyer.


Title: Housekeeping staff removed personal items from hotel room, despite still being checked in. Claim they didn't see anything in the room.

Question:
Hi, I have been travelling to Canada (through a group tour from Japan) and we checked into a hotel. We arrived at the hotel on the 16th of July, went to our room, left our bags of souvenirs and some other small stuff in the room and left for sightseeing. This was at around 8am.

&#x200B;

We came back late at night, went to our rooms and it seemed the housekeeping staff cleaned up. But our bags of souvenirs and all the other stuff (phone chargers, accessories, bags full of souvenirs etc.) was gone aswell. The same thing happened to 2 other families in the group (5 people in total). We asked the housekeeping manager about it, and it seems the housekeeping staff thought we already checked out and forgot our stuff, so they removed them. The manager contacted the housekeeping staff (3 different people) and they either responded with "I threw it away" or "There was nothing". The manager also said she couldn't do anything without her boss, who would come in at 8am the following day. Problem was: we had to leave by 5:30am. So we left without any of our stuff that was taken from the rooms.

Since then we returned to Japan and 5 days passed, but no word from any of the hotel staff on this issue.

How can they just take our personal items? Why do they just throw it away? And clearly they lied when they said "There was nothing there", the 2 other families also got the same reply for their stolen items.
What can we do from here on out? I'll keep trying to contact the hotel, but I'm expecting they won't be of help at all.

Answer: Can you file a police report online? Also, you should contact the tour company and the corporate office of whatever hotel you were staying at. They definitely didn’t throw anything in the trash. If things were in the trash they could have retrieved them.Answer #2: Police report for stolen belongings.Answer #3: A police report is the correct legal way to peruse it but I would absolutely try the social media route as well. Find the hotel and their specific location, as well as their main chain’s social media and make some 1 star reviews and complain about exactly what happened. It’d be great if you could get the other families to do it, as well as continuing to contact the manager of the branch. At this point you may not be able to get your stuff back but they may financially compensate you? I’m sorry this happened, best of luck :/


Title: My mother is stalking me, and no one will do anything about this... (NJ)

Question:
I moved from FL to NJ to be with my long distance boyfriend (now husband) and to flee an abusive relationship with my mother in 2009. I've kept in touch with my mother, and she further abused me emotionally and financially. I cut her off recently... Then she came up here, demanding that I move back to Florida with her, and will not leave until I do. She has a job, but has taken time off that she accumulated.

It has been over a week now. She is staying in a hotel that's literally across the street from my complex. She spies on me through her window, she comes to my door at all hours. My building has a locked door that only allows people to be buzzed in but she gets my neighbors to do it. I've instructed my neighbors not to allow her in, but they either don't care or "want to help" settle things with my mother. She has been leaving passive-aggressive messages in my mailbox. A few days ago, she called a cab and tried to force me in to take me to the airport with her. It's a nightmare... She also sabotaged me at my job by complaining that I stole from her, leading me to getting fired.

I called the police station which is also ridiculously close to my building. However, the cop that got dispatched told me, "Look, she's your mom, okay? She's not a danger to you, trust me." He also told me she's not breaking any laws, even though I told him that she tried to force me into the cab. He **laughed** and said, "Maybe if you visited her more often, she wouldn't pull that stunt."

I feel sick to my stomach. I don't want to leave the apartment in fear that she will try to force me into another cab. She will not leave, it seems, and she is well off...so she has money to burn. Is there anything I can do, legally, to get her to leave me alone? It seems I won't be able to get a restrarining order here in NJ because she's never lived with me in this state, according to another officer I spoke to...
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 The cop you spoke to is wrong, the point at which your mother laid hands on you she was almost certainly breaking the law. Go back, hope you get someone else, and if you get the same response, escalate until you get to someone who will actually take a report about it. Cops have supervisors, too.

Physical assault with strong indications she'll do it again is also a pretty good basis for seeking a restraining order. Even the idiot at the desk likely isn't stupid enough to tell you violating a restraining order is a non-issue.Answer #2: Call the police again and file a harassment complaint.  If the officer refuses to take the complaint, get name and badge number and then call the station and ask for the supervisor on duty.  Explain you want to file a criminal harassment complaint and the dispatched officer is unwilling to take the complaint.

You will need the complaint filed before you can seek a no contact order from the court.

Next, contact a lawyer and find out the process for filing for slander.  That is what your mother did and it resulted in the loss of your job.  You have the right to seek restitution for the loss of your job due to her actions.

I am not a lawyer and the actual steps may be different for your state, but the overall idea is to file the complaint and to get the order of no contact.


Title: Parking permit for an apartment with a notarized letter?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: All a notary does is say "yes, the signature is real." Beyond that, a notary has no legal effect


Title: Confronting a stalker at his own front door

Question: Basically the way it sounds, there is a creep harassing my wife and I via text, we know who he is but I don’t think he knows I am aware. It’s gone on for about a year off and on and I’ve had enough, I’m going to go to his apartment tonight after work to confront him. I think most people fold when confronted but what steps can I take to assure I’m not in cuffs tonight? I don’t intent to get violent but how should I handle it if he does? Also I have no actual evidence at this point unless I rely on the privacy act and tap my or his phones text history, in the state Michigan

Answer:
 >I’m going to go to his apartment tonight after work to confront him.

DANGER Will Robinson DANGER.  This is a bad idea.

If you have proof or even the belief that this guy is stalking your wife and you, report him to the police.Answer #2: >  I think most people fold when confronted but what steps can I take to assure I’m not in cuffs tonight?

Oh, it's just one step.  Don't do what you're planning on doing.

If you have actual evidence it's him, go to the cops.  If you don't, then you'll be the one committing the crime.Answer #3: > what steps can I take to assure I’m not in cuffs tonight?

Don't go to his door and confront him.

If you have evidence that it's him, since you say you have texts, take them to the police.  Otherwise, you're just asking for trouble.


Title: Injured at work and already paid by worker's insurance for time missed due to injury. Broke and dislocated my finger and still feel pain sometimes as well as it not being the same. Can I take them to court for this?

Question:
Throaway account for legal reasons.

Anyways here's my story:

I work loss prevention for a major retailer. Back in October last year I was involved in an apprehension (arrest) of a thief in which I broke/dislocated my left ring finger during the scuffle. Went to the ER that night and they weren't able to fix it. Went to an orthopedic doctor a few days later (mind you my finger was still dislocated) who was able to pop it back into place but it was still broken. Otho Doc put me on light duty with no use of left hand. Still missed a few weeks due to pain.

Insurance company paid me for lost wages (about $1700) and sent me to physical therapy.

Here's the thing - I know that I can't settle with them because I still work for them. But I wanted to know if I could sue for pain and suffering? I still have pain in my finger when I need to grab or lift things. I still can't straighten it or make a closed fist completely, and when I do it hurts.

I know that I'd have to sort it out if it's worth it to leave my job and never work for this company again. Or sue them for a couple grand (maybe more?) and get a job somewhere else.

I just think it wasn't right that I had a dislocated and broke finger and they still wanted me to work on light duty when I was still in pain and couldn't perform any actions while working with my injury.

What can/should I do?

Answer: If your doctor authorized you for light duty and they had you working light duty where do you think they they did anything wrong? Workers comp is about all you will get from a workplace injury. You had your medical bills and lost wages covered right?  You haven't won the lawsuit lottery because you hurt your finger.


Title: Employer is deducting exorbitant amount of money from my final paycheck due to training/visa costs. Is this legal?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: This sub mainly deals with US law, with occasional UK, Canadian, and Australian stuff thrown in. More than likely there is no one here versed at all in the legal system of Thailand. Your best bet would be to contact a local labor attorney if possible.


Title: I'm Being Used as a Shipping Mule and Need Legal Advice (CA)

Question: I am writing this post from California. About 8 months ago I started chatting with someone I had met online. He is an engineer and went to Africa to work on a project. After being there for awhile he asked if he could send me some IPhones that would come in the mail to my house. Once I got them he asked if I could send them to him in Africa as he was going to be donating electronic devices to people in the community. There was no money involved as he prepaid for everything and I figured there was no risk and nothing that sounded particularly scammy. The second package I received from him was particularly big and cost a little over $1000 to mail. Again, it was paid for and I didn't have to pay for anything. The problem began within the next day or two when the woman from the post box store called me and told me the credit card that was used was fraudulent and the money was going to have to come out of her business account to pay for the package. I gave her his information so he could settle the matter with her but there was always a reason why it could never get resolved. She started calling me a couple times a day, when she realized she wasn't going to get anyplace with him, and demanding the money back from me. After 4 months of me going back and forth with "my friend," trying to get him to send her money,  he sent me 5 laptop computers. One of them would be to pawn so I could use the money to repay this woman and the other 4 would be to send to him. He would then plan on sending me more phones that I could also pawn to repay her the balance. I realize it was a stupid thing to get involved with, and don't need to be told how dumb I am. I realize now that I'm being used to send electronic devices that have most likely been stolen or bought with stolen credit cards and don't know if I could get into legal trouble. In the meantime, I feel morally responsible for getting the money back to this woman but I do not want to accept the telephones from him as I don't want to keep perpetuating this. Any advice would help.

Answer:
 Your post sounds very VERY familiar.  Are you sure that you or your son/daughter didn't post about this a couple of days ago?  (It looks like that post has since been deleted.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3pvb9n/i_believe_my_mother_has_gotten_herself_involved_a/

It is VERY unusual for a reshipping mule to be charged with a crime.  However, the civil issue that you describe regarding the "post box store" is a different problem.  YOU paid a "post box store" to ship something costing $1,000, and YOU used a stolen credit card to pay for it, so YOU owe $1,000 to the post box store, and they may well sue you in civil court to recover what you owe them.

Good general article about reshipping mules:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/10/shady-reshipping-centers-exposed-part-i/

Woman charged as reshipping mule:
http://blog.al.com/live/2011/07/chatom_ala_woman_admits_to_par.html

Answer #2: Yea, I highly doubt you have this guy's real info and even if you did, it's not going to help you now. Yes, you could find yourself in serious legal trouble here. Stop accepting items from him and pay the shipping lady immediately.


Title: Can I opt out? Intrusive "Character witness" Questioning and Signing Away of Rights needed in order to Serve Alcohol in my Town.

Question:
I've recently started a new restaurant job in a beachfront town in New Jersey. With the season picking up for the summer the ABC (Alcohol & Beverage Commission) stopped in to make sure all new hires had ABC cards (i.e. were registered/allowed to serve alcohol by the township police.) The application was obscenely long, scrutinizing and expensive in comparison to other townships that I've worked that require this sort of thing and it included two parts that really concerned me.

First was the list of questions that I needed two character witnesses to answer which seemed to range from needlessly intrusive to outright discriminatory

They are as follows (I've starred the one's that seem especially questionable to me):

\-Has the applicant ever been convicted of a crime or disorderly persons Offense?

\-Is the applicant an alcoholic?

\- Is the applicant a habitual drunk? \*\*\*

\-Is the applicant a narcotics user?

\-Does the applicant suffer from any physical defect or illness? \*\*\*

Has the applicant ever been confined to a mental institution? \*\*\*

\-Has the Applicant ever committed an act of domestic violence?

\-Has the applicant ever been a member of any organization which advocates the overthrow of the U.S. or the Sated of New Jersey? (Their typo not mine)\*\*\*

\-Is there any reason why the above person should NOT be issued an ABC Permit?

\------------------------------------------

The second part of the application that bothers me is the "release form" I need to sign and have notarized which reads:

"I AUTHORIZE the ------- police department to investigate my background. They may have unlimited access to any information including but not limited to a criminal history check"

Why should I have to submit to an unlimited police investigation in order to wait tables? Have you guys seen anything like this before? It seems really over-reaching and unnecessary to me and makes me want to find a job somewhere in a different town.

&#x200B;

I'm supposed to have the application submitted within 30 days and would like to know, Can I opt out of this request or does the PD have the right to demand this of me?

&#x200B;
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 Yes you can opt out, and you will probably be fired for not having the card you needAnswer #2: Does the applicant suffer from any physical defect or illness? ***

Has the applicant ever been confined to a mental institution? ***

Those two appear to me to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act

The police don't need your permission to investigate you so that part is kinda meaningless