Title: Employer Shut Down Without Notice

Question:
My employer, Zirtual, shut down yesterday without notice. Employees received an email at 4:30am ET telling us this. I want to know what my rights are, and what laws there are that could be affecting the situation. I'll list some details below, but there isn't much that I know about the situation.

1. Our head of HR resigned on Friday. On Facebook she said this was because she didn't want to be a part of any illegal activities.

2. We were given no prior notice. In fact, about a month before, there was talk of raises.

3. It looks like clients aren't getting refunds.

4. We don't know if we are getting paychecks and if they would include accrued vacation time.

5. I'm waiting on confirmation from a former HR person from Zirtual, but out benefits may have ended in July. I went to the doctor last Thursday and got medicine using my insurance through them.

6. They revoked access to email and our Google Drive. Important documents that clients used are now just gone and we have no idea if we will ever get access again.

7. We were given Chromebooks as employees. They are technically company policy. They've told us to keep them until further notice.

Edit: I'm in Ohio, company was located in Vegas

Answer:
 [News article](http://www.businessinsider.com/zirtual-suddenly-laid-off-400-employees-via-email-2015-8) if anybody is interested. Also looks like this was [discussed yesterday](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3gh05x/fiancees_company_zirtual_shut_down_with_zero/).Answer #2: Your location is going to matter here.  Did you have an employment contract?Answer #3: Location is very important here. In the US generally you have the right to be paid for time you worked, and you may qualify for unemployment. Not sure what else you were looking for though. Do you have more specific questions?Answer #4: What's your question?

It sounds like the company doesn't have enough money to pay its debts.  It's likely to go bankrupt.  You should definitely start looking for another job.

Few things to think about:

1.  There are priorities for paying claims in bankruptcies.  Claims for past wages come pretty far up the list -- above the claims that former customers may have.  That should include claims for accrued vacation IF the company would have paid that out had you been terminated.

2.  You should contact your insurance company to find out about health insurance.

3.  You can hold onto the chromebook, but it's still company property.  At some point, either the company or a bankruptcy trustee will want it back.


Title: If I called off the engagement, does she get to keep the ring?

Question:
Title. Chicago Suburbs, Illinois.
Backstory for those that want it: Mid-March was the end of a 6.5 year relationship between me and my fiancee. At the time of the breakup the feelings seemed to be mutual and I told her I wanted her to keep the ring. I didn't know at the moment of breakup that she already had plans to move in with another guy. The same guy she had been Skyping with for the previous couple of months for online gaming (WoW). A guy that I just found out she apparently got married to this week.
The red flag that I should have noticed while we were together was that it was not a group Skype, just him, while she was also in a separate Ventrilo server for raid. She has no shame/remorse for any of her actions.
I have no proof of physical cheating. The breakup and calling off of the engagement was after about a week of extended fighting, but at the time I did not suspect cheating.
The engagement was not on a holiday/birthday/etc. If you have other questions about the legality of possession of the ring please let me know.

Answer:
 Cop here just wanted to chime in here.

If you told her that she could keep it and have now changed your mind I would tell you that you nothing criminal has occurred and it may be difficult for you to win a civil case.

Still may be worth a try if its a family heirloom or something like that.

Did you ask her for it back yet?


Title: FB friend found a loaded gun in her rental car. Any recourse? (GA)

Question: No one was hurt and the police were called. There were children in the car, though. Any thoughts?

Answer:
 She should complain to the rental car company and ask for the rental to be free because they didn't do a proper inspection and as a result her kid could have shot her other kid.

She might also ask for a $500 or $1000 credit towards her next rental.

That's about all she's gonna get here.  It would help if she has a copy of the police report or such documentation showing that she's not making this up.


Title: A traffic ticket question

Question:
Three weeks ago I received a traffic ticket for speeding. On said ticket presented to me it states I was traveling at 96mph in a 60mph zone. The ticket also states that I (the subject) is 6'8" 298lbs, and blond. I am in fact 5'4" and 130 lbs and bald (shaven head to disguise my baldness). I'm not disputing that I was possibly over the speed limit, but I highly doubt I was traveling at 96mph. My court date is on Monday, do I just accept the charges, or should I dispute the ticket due to the irregularities printed on the ticket?
Stat of South Carolina btw.

Answer: Clerical errors do not invalidate a ticket.


Title: I'm paying child support and I recently found out through a DNA test (not court ordered yet) the child is not mine. Where do I go from here?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 > I was marked as an absentee father so she could continue receiving benefits from the state, which I did not agree with but love can make you do stupid things and we did need the extra income.

Wait, are you saying that while you were together you lied and said you were not part of the kid's life in order to gain additional benefits you weren't entitled to?Answer #2: How old is the child? You can generally file for paternity and eliminate child support. However, that will also eliminate any right you have to see the child. So the mother could decide that you will never see/talk to the child again.


Title: [WA] Treehouse and attractive nuisance question

Question:
We just finished building a treehouse in our front yard. The base is about 12 feet off the ground and the ladder (the only way to get to it) is removed when we are not home or are not supervising. FWIW, there are 34” railings surrounding the base of the treehouse to reduce the risk.

The ladder is VERY heavy, so it is unreasonable to expect a child to move it, and my question is whether we can do something to enable the kids to close down the treehouse when they’re done using it and before the adults have a chance to remove the ladder so that we don’t have an attractive nuisance (I recognize that relying on kids to be responsible is risky in and of itself; I’m just thinking through options.)

The low-tech idea I am thinking through is to get a 24” plank (the ladder is 24” wide) to snap on top of the rails of the (which would also cover the stairs) so that there is no easy way to climb the ladder. Would that be enough to avoid an attractive nuisance claim?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Kudos to you for recognizing the potential risk to children posed by your awesome sounding treehouse.

So you pretty much hit the nail on the head re: disabling the ladder. The law expects you to act like a reasonably prudent person and make a reasonable attempt to nullify the risk. The risk here is the height of the structure, and disabling the ladder's use would be a pretty solid way to avoid it. What you're describing sounds like a solid option, so long as the board couldn't easily be unsnapped off and useable again. You'd want to make sure there was a locking mechanism of sorts to prevent that.

Alternatively, you could add a hinge to the board and have it close on top of the ladder, then have a lock/shackle on the other side to secure it.Answer #2: I would think installing an [access ladder security door](http://www.brockmfg.com/uploads/photos/600/LadSecDoorGB02_3272.jpg) should be enough to deter any kids other than your own from accessing it. Answer #3: while I cant speak to the attractive nuisance claim. I would suggest that if your trying to prevent the ladder from being usable in a low tech way. also put a way to where the device can be locked to the ladder. think of it like a locking gate for the fence around a swimming pool. A fence is much of a deterrent if they can just open the gate and come on in. The same would apply to your method.


Title: Can my mother or I seize ownership of a home we have been paying the mortgage on?

Question:
Basically my father bought this house long ago and without going too far into detail he’s become what some would call a deadbeat drug addict. Self employed just does security camera work for a few shady business owners. Spends all his money on his pills and nothing more. Anyhow he hasn’t been contributing to his own house payment for about 8-10 years give or take. My mom can’t handle the house payment on her own and I help but when my father and I get into conflict he levies his ability as homeowner to kick me off the property. My mother and I were wondering if we could possibly prove that we have been paying the payments for a very long time and prove his incompetence, then maybe one of us could take ownership so we wouldn’t have to worry about fighting over territory and we could just make him leave instead.
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 What is it about having a full-time job that suggests that your father might be incompetent? Addiction generally isn't enough on its own. Addiction _does_ mean he's making bad choices, but he has a right to do so.

If your parents are married, then the venue for resolving ownership of the house is a divorce court. She can argue that she should receive an increased share of marital assets (possibly out of the value of the house, even) because he has been dissipating assets to support his addiction, but it's not guaranteed that that argument will go anywhere. It's reasonably likely that the house would end up being split, like most other marital assets, and probably sold unless they can work out an acceptable compromise.

If they _aren't_ married, then it'll depend on who actually owns the house - that is, whose names are on the deed. If it's just him, then she's a tenant, and her payments amount to rent. If she also owns the place, she can sue for partition if he won't agree to sell, and she can argue that she should receive an increased amount of the equity based on the history of very unequal payments. She'd absolutely need an attorney for this.


Title: Uber kicked me out with my service dog and did nothing to rectify the situation

Question:
Los Angeles - I had my car in the shop and Uber'd to and from the mechanic shop. well to my job anyway. no problem there. Nice afternoon on my way home, i walked about a mile to mechanic before my feet started hurting and i called an uber. A guy in a bmw pulls up and take one look at my dog and says no way. I say its a service animal, its the law. He looks at it for a minute and makes an obvious excuse of "im alergic to dogs"
He takes off and i ended up having to walk 3 miles in the heat and got horrible blisters on my feet. Uber has nothing on their website about service animals and when I emailed them all they said was, we know it is the law and hope your next ride is better. seriously. thats it. I dont have any damagers per se but I am often treated like this with my service animal, is there anything i can do?

Answer: If a person has a medical reason not to be around a dog they can deny you service, but Uber should have provided another ride. Maybe you should settle for a free ride or a discount next time you use the service?Answer #2: Just to clarify:  this is a service dog, not an emotional support dog?


Title: Australian dog laws

Question: I'm from new south wales, australia. Hi guys long story short my dog was involved in a fight wirh another dog he has grown up with that have had a rivalry for a long time. He is the most kind and caring dog and would NEVER harm a person. The rangers are coming to collect him for euthanasia in a few days and I have honestly never felt so helpless and devastated. My plan is to take him to another property and tell the rangers he ran away, they will have no evidence or proof of anything otherwise. Legally, how viable is this and how much trouble am I getting myself in to? Thank you so much in advance quick replies would be greatly appreciated as time is of the essence.

Answer: In addition to this, stop taking drugs as it will impair your judgement in this situation and will almost certainly make you look like an irresponsible dog owner.


Title: Boss buying condo so kid can switch school districts, wants me to rent

Question:
See title. Basically my boss approached me asking if I would be willing to rent a condo he is looking to buy so that his kid can go to a different school district. He would be renting the condo to me at his mortgage rate. My fiance and I have been wanting to move into the area since we both currently commute about an hour, and the condo is conveniently 20 mins away from BOTH our respective jobs. It would be a significant upgrade from the kind of apartments we could currently afford. Location is IL, burb by Chicago.

My questions are:

1. What would our liability be in regards to his kids school district change?
2. I want to propose a rent-to-own situation since both of our credit scores are low. How would we create such an agreement, and how do those agreements work?
3. If he does not agree to a rent to own, what kind of lease should we put together? I don't want to rent without something down in writing. I may be able to write the lease myself.

Thank you for your time. This is an awesome sub that I read daily.

Edit: thank you for all the good answers. I'll talk to my fiancé and we may not be going through with this. I apologize if I came off as rude in any of my replies, but now I understand clearly what is at stake here. You guys are great.

Answer:
 So, if this WASN'T your boss, I'd say get a standard lease, follow the terms, and ignore the shenanigans with the school district.

But, it is your boss. So if this goes tits up, you'll be fired.


Title: [NY] Ice blew off a Budget rental truck and smashed my windshield in on the highway

Question:
I was driving on the highway and a Budget rental truck was about 50 feet ahead of me.  There was about a foot of snow on top. A huge pile of ice blew off the top while we were on the highway and smashed my windshield. I sped up to the driver who acknowledged me but then refused to pull over. I have the license plate and a picture of the driver. Is there anything I can do here? either with budget or the driver? '

EDIT: I contacted insurance and they are going to cover it 100% with no deductible so that is a relief.
Honestly when this happened to me it scared me near to death. After I was finished being scared I was basically just furious. The truth of this matter is that insurance will cover it. Honestly I just wanted an apology from Budget and some justice to the negligent driver. Now that my steam has cooled I'm ready to put it behind me as a shitty day. I appreciate all the responses.

Answer: Call your insurance and give them all the info they should handle everything.


Title: Hypothetical: I ship you a device (unsolicited) with a printed agreement attached to it stating that if you use the device I can bill you or you can return it at no cost.

Question: Could I do that? What if the recipient is already affiliated with me in some way, ie they are participating in other business transactions with me?

Answer:
 You can absolutely do that.

It will have no legal weight.


Title: Is it possible to refuse giving access to my phone when the law says I shouldn't give out the information thats on it? Particularly internationally?

Question:
Basically I work for a specific agency that holds some sensitive data, ones that I have to keep private due to the HIPAA act along with other privacy acts as it contains personal and identifying info. As far as I know showing anyone this info is illegal, my phone MUST have password (fingerprint accepted) locks, remote wipe and if the password fails 15 times it auto wipes itself.

My question is, can I ever be forced to give access to my phone? Can I refuse? How would I deal with this sort of situation, in particular internationally where the laws probably may enforce me to give it up? Can I get in trouble legally for following the law?

Thanks so much!

Answer: Saying the information is protected by certain laws does not mean it will not be searched. If you refuse to unlock your phone you could be denied entry into another country if you are not a citizen, and you would have no recourse legally. You should not bring this with you when traveling


Title: (U.S. - Iowa) My car got into an accident. Pretty much totaled out. Not at fault and other party's insurance will be able to pay. However what my dad thinks they will pay is insufficient and is rambling about getting a lawyer and getting what he thinks is sufficient money. Is this reasonable?

Question:
So like I said, my car has been pretty much totaled out.  It was a 95 Toyota Avalon with 187K miles.  I paid $2000 for the car 3 years ago.  It is now worth $1200 from what the insurance company may say and pay us.  The only problem is that we have sunk a good amount of money into the car for repairs.

This includes new tires, brakes, a muffler, and a number of miscellaneous repairs that add up to around $2500 - $3000.  My dad sees this money and is hellbent on getting this money back.  He says that he can get a lawyer to sue the insurance company and get like $4,000 with like a third in payment to the lawyer.  Is my dad being crazy or is this possible?
Topic:
Insurance

Answer: Yes, your dad is crazy. You're entitled to the value of the car before the accident. What you sunk into a POS is irrelevant.


Title: (California) Will be testifying against ex in domestic violence trial. Does anyone know where I can find a list of potential questions for this?

Question:
I'm testifying against my ex in a few weeks in a DV trial. I can't find a single resource online with questions that I may be asked, from either the defense or the state. I am meeting with the DA next week, but I'm hoping someone might have a list of questions like this, or might know how they'll try to create a defense. I've seen things about the defendant not "willfully" hurting the victim, as well as them being in fear of their own safety.

I'm nervous and feel like practicing these questions will help me when I have to take the stand.

Thanks!

Answer: This is what your meeting with the DA is for. He/She will prep you for the trial by going over what you're going to be asked, how you should answer, and anything else you need to know. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to to feel comfortable.


Title: Boston, MA. Landlady gets a new smaller fridge for us. What can I do?

Question:
So I just moved into a new apartment with my two roommates and the previous tenants really did a number on this fridge. It was dinged up on the outside and it was filthy on the inside. When we first looked around in May I didn't think to look inside and I don't know if it would have been the same but I know that it was a decent sized fridge and it was what we were paying for in the rent.
The landlady decides to buy a new fridge for us though after we reported to her that it was not in good shape and didn't even seem to keep a cool temperature. She buys a new fridge for us and It is pretty tiny. I am a head taller than it and I stand at 6"0. The bottom line is, can we and should we get a reduction on our rent or try to do something since the bigger fridge is what was there when agreed on our price.

TL;DR Landlady swapped older bigger fridge for newer smaller fridge. What can we do?

Answer: there are no requirements for a rental to provide a fridge, they only need to provide a fridge hookup.  so unless a certain size fridge was guaranteed in your lease, there's probably not much you can do about it.


Title: If I'm taking intermittent FMLA, can my employer require me to bring a doctor's note for every individual missed work day? (Tennessee)

Question:
I've already been approved for intermittent FMLA for severe endometriosis and PCS; my specialist filled out the forms required by my employer and specified that the leave would be intermittent and unpredictable. That was about 3 months ago. Since then, I've taken 2 full days of FMLA and 5 half/less than half days. My last half day I took was Wednesday. When I returned on Thursday morning, my administrator called me into his office and asked about my FMLA usage and my "lack of notice beforehand". I told him that since the symptoms and their occurrence are not predictable, the 1-2 hour notice I've been giving them was all the notice that *I* even had. He didn't outright say that he thought I was using the days "fraudulently", but he said that he was going to need me to bring in a doctor's note for every individual missed day/portion of a day from now on. I told him that was unreasonable because I can't just *go* to a specialist (expensive) 100 miles away every time my symptoms flare up, plus there's nothing my doctor can actually do to help during those times. He said he doesn't need me to get treatment every time, just that I need to bring in documentation from my doctor that I was, indeed, just sick during the specific time I took off. I wasn't able to get ahold of my doctor, but his nurse did call me back yesterday and said that she doesn't believe he'll be able to confirm or deny for any specific day or time because without examining me or physically seeing me, there's no way to confirm. But she also said she doesn't think that's legal, and she'd have him call me back on Monday and discuss the legality/process.

Before I talk to him on Monday, does anyone else have any information about this? Can my employer require me to bring in a doctor's note for every single missed work day/half day I'm taking under FMLA? Thanks!

Answer:
 I had intermittent leave and my work required my doctor fill out the paperwork initially explaining how often I had flare ups/got sick and for how long. (Ex. 1-2 days a month for the whole work day.) The way my work did it though was this form I had to turn in and my supervisor would sign explaining I had a flare up/was sick and the hours I was missing and whether or not I was using my FMLA or PTO. And it'd be faxed to our employee relations dept. A doctors note every time seems excessive and unnecessary if you were already approved for FMLA.
(Btw they never asked for my diagnosis and they never questioned me if I was sick. They're not allowed to do that. I am in Texas and don't know how different Tennessee is. You might want to talk to your HR or if you have an employee relations dept.)


Title: [New York] Shady apartment billing charges, do not have control of heat.

Question:
I live on the top floor of a separate, two unit building in New York, and have been getting shady and inconsistently named bills from the landlord. Additionally, we have absolutely zero control of heat. It's usually 67-70 degrees in here, and we have our thermostat turned down into the low 60s at all times.

We contacted the landlord and he says that the "House Meter Bill" includes the shared area (the stairwell with two light bulbs) AND for heat, since the apartment unit shares a water boiler. The utilities for the shared area is under his name, and he splits that bill in half and adds it to our rent charges.

**We have monthly charges from National Grid for electricity and gas that are not listed here. They are approximately $80 a month and have remained consistent each month.**

These charges are for the shared area (2 light bulbs, and water boiler, which I think controls the heat?)

2/1/2017	Charge National Grid Electric and Gas Bill 12/15 to 01/17	$114.29

1/1/2017	Charge Utility Bill from National Grid - December 2016	$74.50

12/1/2016	Charge House Meter Bill from National Grid - November 2016	$52.03

11/1/2016	Charge House Meter Bill from National Grid - October 2016	$33.98

10/1/2016	Charge 9/16 - 9/21 - Final Bill from National Grid	$15.57

10/1/2016	Charge  House Meter Bill from National Grid - September 2016	$21.70

---

My questions are:

Is it legal for the landlord to force us to split the shared water boiler and electricity bill, especially when we have ZERO control of heat? There are two thermostats, and ours is set to "off" because it's uncontrollably hot. $114.29 this month, and we haven't touched our thermostat at all. It gets so hot up here that we sometimes have to open windows in 10 degree weather. Our house was empty for more than half of the month as well. Do I have to pay this?

Edited for relevancy

Answer:
 [Here is a Nolo article about this situation](http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/question-what-if-our-landlord-tricked-28042.html).

[And here is a link to the section mentioned in the Nolo article](http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/public-service-law/pbs-sect-52.html).

Edit: You may want to look into filing a complaint with the utility. Per the law, you should only be paying for what is consumed within your walls, as well as should have access to control the temperature within your unit.


Title: I am pregnant, dealing with health hazards from roommates (Ontario, Canada)

Question:
I moved into an apartment with 2 other room mates in September of 2018, in Ontario, Canada. In October, I found out I was pregnant.

Im looking to get out of this lease.

Here are my issues:

- One room mate has 2 cats. She doesn't clean the litter box, which is in the common area. (This is a risk for toxoplasmosis, a parasite found in cat feces that can cause birth defects) I have asked that this litter be moved to a non-common area, to no avail.

-Both room mates smoke tobacco in the living room. I have told them that it is not healthy for my unborn child to be exposed to this. They have not stopped.

Additional info:

- We are all on the same lease

- I got permission to transfer my lease about a month ago. However, this place smells so awful, nobody who I showed the place wanted to stay. I don't blame them.

- The lease is for 1 year as of September 2018.

I've tried my best to transfer the lease, and deal with the tobacco smoke. However, it is causing me emotional distress as I keep thinking about the effect on my unborn child.

Do I have any rights to end the tenancy?

Answer:
 The litter box in a common area isnt a risk for toxo as long as you dont touch it. The parasite is transmitted through touching infected poop and then touching your mouth or food. As long as you continue to not touch it, it'll be fine. Wash any fruits and veggies that are laying out just in case, but it's really not a big risk.
  Also, life advice: in the spirit of catching flies with honey, maybe ask them to vape when inside, or even offer to buy them each a vape to use in the apartment? Answer #2: You can ask the landlord to assign or sublet your tenancy. It’s up to you to find a replacement. This isn’t otherwise grounds for early termination or for legal action against your roommates.


Title: I'm a graduate student employee at a University. They owe me 2 months worth of back pay, I just had a bizarre meeting today where I think they tried to bribe me.

Question:
This is my first semester as a grad student, and I'm at a large state university in Pennsylvania. I tried to keep this short and it ended up very long, there's a TL;DR at the bottom for the basic facts.

My major offers a partnering program with local businesses. I applied, interviewed, and was offered a position at a local bank where I work 15 hours a week and get paid $2,200 a semester. Great.

When offered the position in March. I was asked if I wanted to be paid an hourly wage or a stipend. I ask for the hourly wage on the coordinator's suggestion, she mentions that stipends usually affect federal loans. I have the agreement in writing.

My first day at the bank, my supervisor there tells me that the University has asked for me to be paid by stipend. The bank has already sent the university a check for $2,200. I tell him that it's supposed to be paid by an hourly wage, and we call them, assuming it's a minor mistake.

What follows is a drawn out process over the last two months, in which the University struggles to find a way to pay me an hourly wage. I email various people 15 or 20 times, and my bank supervisor (a good guy) calls them on a weekly basis. Eventually I'm directed to an administrator in my department (UA), who is supposed to handle my case.

The University decides to hire me as an employee to pay me. I have to go through the protocol of applying for a position that I'm already working in, getting hired, and submitting documents. This takes weeks, with slow responses from the University.

There are several other red flags in this process. The job posting lists that my pay will be $20.50 an hour, while 15 hours a week, 15 weeks a semester, and $2,200 should be around $9.78. When I submit my I-9 documents, they tell me that the forms need to be submitted by my third day of work, and by this point I had been there for three weeks. By the time I'm hired and have access to a time card, I have worked 60 hours. When I ask how I'm supposed to account for all these hours, UA tells me to pad my time card to reflect the extra hours.

This is sketchy, but I do it because at this point I need money and log the fake makeup hours on top of my regular hours. Employees are paid on a bi-weekly schedule, and the first one arrives with no paycheck. I half-expected this, because I was barely processed in time. Regardless I'm pissed, and email the administrator asking him when I will be paid for the 105 hours of work I've done so far. UA apologizes, and asks to meet me in person to talk through it. This is today.

In the meeting, UA apologizes, blames the delay on staff slowness and processing times. He tells me that it's a hourly position but "in the spirit of a stipend." Also he knows that they calculated the wage wrong as a mistake (I have no idea how he was so off), but intended to just have me stop logging hours once my $20.50 hours caught up to the $2,200 check from the bank. Since I've already worked 105 hours, that has theoretically happened about a week ago. UA suggests that I take the stipend instead of the hourly wage, but I turn him down, saying I had confirmation that I would be paid hourly and accepted the position and arranged a living situation based on that assumption.

I stay irritated, and say it's unacceptable to work for 100 hours and not be paid. I argue with him, tell him I'm uncomfortable with being owed so much back pay, I'm uncomfortable with lying on my time card, and since I went through all the official channels I am legally a university student employee with worker's rights. I told him that if other jobs withheld pay and tried to get employees to lie on their time sheets they would go to the department of labor.

He starts being weird, and asking me what I want. I tell him that I want to receive all of my back payment immediately. He tells me that they can't do that until the set pay date of the 27th, but suggests that there's some unallocated scholarships for next semester that I could have. Ok, weird, but we discuss this a little, with him suggesting I could receive a scholarship (usually awarded for academic performance) on top of an hourly wage next semester.

He leaves the room for a bit to talk to someone about what to do, then returns and drafts an email to the head of finances for the department and someone in HR. In the email, he lays out his mistakes, and asks to confirm that I will be paid on the 27th, and that it will include payment for the hours I logged but were not paid for, and for the makeup hours I've been padding my time card with. He also suggests as compensation for my suffering that I continue to be paid $20.50 for the rest of the semester. This is about $4,600, over twice the usual stipend. The next semester I would be paid hourly with the regular $9.77 amount. He suggests that the extra money be taken from his department's funding, since he made the mistake. I agree that this would be a good way to make amends and he sends a copy of the email to me as well. Meeting ends.

This is all sketchy as hell, and as much as I'd like the extra money, I feel UA is making wild promises that he has no authority to do.  He seemed strange otherwise too, I think there's a good chance that the head of finances and HR won't go along with this weird business and will shut that nonsense down immediately.

What should I do? My main priority is to be paid ASAP. Financially I can make it to next Friday, but barely. I would prefer to go over UA's head to HR and get everything legal and sorted out, but I'm afraid I will lose the 60 hours when I wasn't officially an employee. Obviously doubling my salary would be great, but I have no faith that is legally possible or will actually happen. My bank supervisor has been supportive through this and has offered to cancel the check at the University and just hire me as a contractor, so that's another option. I have no idea how to handle how unexpectedly shady this has become.

TL;DR:

* I'm an intern, employed through a university, working at an external site.
* The site where I am working sent the university a check to pay me.
* There was some confusion in the university, and they took a long time to get me on the payroll.
* I have worked two months and 105 hours without getting paid
* My university administrator has asked me to do several sketchy things, like padding my time card and calculated my hourly payment wrong.
* When confronted about all the back pay I was owed, the university administrator offered me things that felt like bribes, like a scholarship and additional pay out of his personal department's finances.

Answer:
 I’d just take the offer.

Scholarships often go unallocated, so morally, I’d see it as money that wouldn’t go anywhere anyway.

University sounds like they messed up, and if you went even higher up it just sounds like a legal headache to pay you the correct amount. Bureaucracy can be weird.

From what it sounds, it sounds like they’re trying to make things right for you, but are confused on what you want. You want the money you’re entitled to, but are still questioning how admin is giving you the money. So, you’re confusing admin when you’re still raising questions even after they’re offering more money than you even asked for.


Title: I got a death threat walking home.

Question: (This is in NY, NY) Walking home a group of kids asked me for the time, so I took out my phone and told them. They asked to see the back of my phone, but I realized I messed up and put my phone back in my pocket. It was too late however, and they gathered around me, with 2 kids on both of my sides and the rest to the back of me. They said give me your phone or I'll shoot you. We can also punch your face with all of us here. At this point I told them sure over and over again. They said they were gonna walk me to the aide of the street, and I told them sure. While walking there I jumped to a popular private store (I jumped cause in order to get to the store you needed to go down stairs) and the kids went away. I'm home now, safe, thanks to my wonderful family and the people who worked at the store. I'm turning 14 and I walk this way to go to school and back. The other ways are kind of shady. What should I do?

Answer: Call the police.Answer #2: Report it to the police. That sounds like an attempted robbery. Answer #3: call the copsAnswer #4: Call the police and start walking a different way.Answer #5: In the future, also remember your life is worth more than your phone.  Your phone can be replaced.Answer #6: Call the police.Answer #7: Going forward, turn the GPS location on your phone on and download a findmyphone app. If it happens again, give it to them and call the police with their exact location in possession of stolen property.Answer #8: Call the cops about the attempted robbery. Ask your parents to get you a decoy phone. See if anyone you go to school with lives by you and wants to walk home with you.


Title: Accused of scratching their car [In CA]

Question:
I was parking my car at the mall and I came out, they were waiting for me with the mall police. They said there was an anonymous tip on their car with my license plate number but there was no contact information or what-so-ever.

I told them that that scratch could have already been there and my car is really old so there was no way of showing a scratch on my own car.

We exchanged drivers license and I only had an expired insurance policy but they asked for an updated one but I told them it was the same information (not sure if it is or not).

They called me and told me they want me to report to my insurance first. I told my dad just now and he said I shouldn't have given then any information because having my license plate alone with no witness is nothing. But now that I gave them my information, I was "assuming fault." By no means is my dad an expert in law, but I was wondering what my options were.

I don't want to report anything to the insurance because my insurance rate will go up. If they report to their insurance, what will happen to me if I just stop contacting them back?

Answer:
 >They called me and told me they want me to report to my insurance first.

Since you don't believe that you even did this, you have no duty to report it to your insurance company.  Ignore them until you receive a written letter from anyone making a claim against you for this alleged incident.  Then report it to your insurance company.  (You may never get a letter.)

>I told my dad just now and he said I shouldn't have given then any information because having my license plate alone with no witness is nothing.

Your dad is correct they have no proof with only an anonymous note.  You still must give your information when the police request it.

>But now that I gave them my information, I was "assuming fault."

Completely incorrect.

>I don't want to report anything to the insurance because my insurance rate will go up.

Rates only go up for accidents that are your fault.  You didn't do this and they have no proof that you did.  So you are not at fault.

>If they report to their insurance, what will happen to me if I just stop contacting them back?

Eventually you might be sued for the damage to their car.  Then again, maybe not.  If you get a written notice that they are making a claim against, you must report it to your insurance company.


Title: Just found out the previous owner signed an oil and gas lease on my property that's still in effect. What, if anything, do I need to do?

Question: A couple days ago I got a letter which I opened before realizing it was addressed to the previous owner of my house, it was a notification that the oil and gas lease for the property was being transferred from company A to company B. When I bought the house there was no mention of a lease, and I can't find anything in my paperwork. I found the lease on the county recorder's website and the amount  paid was only $10 so it seems like it may have been more of a formality, my lot is only 2.5 acres and surrounded by houses so I doubt they're going to show up and want to drop an oil well in my back yard. What makes me angry is that he signed the lease in 2012, I closed in 2013 and the house was vacant for at least a year. He would have to have done this this either very shortly before or even after he moved out so it's not likely to have just slipped his mind. It's a 10 year lease so there are 3.5 years left, and I'm not sure what if anything I need to do about this. Is there any potential fallout I should be aware of?

Answer:
 Do you have title insurance? Some jurisdictions have the title insurance companies disclaiming such leases. Others you don’t. Take a look at your title insurance documents. If it isn’t disclaimed then talk to the company about it. Of course, if the lease is up in a few years then you can breath a sigh of relief about that one. But you might want to have someone take a look and see if there are any other surprises. Answer #2: >I found the lease on the county recorder's website and the amount paid was only $10 so it seems like it may have been more of a formality

You're right in the sense that it's "a formality" but potentially very wrong about the possible amount.  It's common for deeds to say things like "for $100 and other valuable consideration" (the deed to the house itself probably has similar language, take a look) despite the actual value of the transaction being much higher.

Your path forward here is to talk to a real estate attorney.  IF your deed conveyed the mineral rights to you (which seems unlikely, to be honest, given that the previous owner had a lease in place then it seems likely he would have retained those rights) then it follows that whatever the lease payments are should be your property, and the previous owner has likely committed what's called "conversion."  But as I said, it's likely that he kept the mineral rights when he sold the house.

&#x200B;Answer #3: Were oil and miniral rights transferred to you in the purchase of the property?


Title: My history teacher asked for money from students for education website license, used it for homework.

Question:
A couple of weeks ago, my AP World History teacher asked all of the students in her classes to give her $4 in order to pay for an education website license (Albert.io). She stated that we could use the website to review for the upcoming AP exam. Many students were enthusiastic about using the website, and others were apprehensive about paying for this website when they probably wouldn't use it on their free will. There weren't any fliers sent home to parents about what the money was used for, and the students didn't give her any forms with the money. Fast forward to this past week, and she tells us that we will be using the website (that we paid for) to take tests for a grade and turn in long form corrections for each question we got wrong on the tests for a grade. Some students are upset that they were deceived on the intent of purchasing the website license, as the first homework assignment is taking up to 6 hours for them. Is there any law preventing this teacher from exacting the money from her students to use for homework? I would have thought that if she needed the funds she would have to ask the school for money, not her students. Thanks, I'm gonna go actually do the assignment now
Edit: this is in Nevada, United States

Answer:
 There is no law. Just bring your complaints to the principal. Tell your parents. Answer #2: I am not entirely sure what you are conveying, but this is my first thought:

Your teacher asked the class to contribute money to pay for a website so that the class could do homework and take tests. What makes you think that you would not have had the homework or the tests without the website? Having the website probably makes  grading easier, and may make it easier for the students to make corrections  and turn in their work.

Besides it being weird that the teacher has to get money from her students to start a website, I don't understand why you are upset. But since you are, the mature thing to do would be to talk to your teacher about it in private.Answer #3: If you are in a public school, then many states have laws stating that you cannot be charged for your education.  You can be charged for extras like field trips and such, as long as they are optional, but you cannot be charged for things that are integral to the curriculum like homework or tests.  These things should be paid for by the school.

I recommend you ask your parents to contact the principal and discuss this.


Title: Pulled over today

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > I'm super disgusted by his behavior and misinformation. What can I or should I do?

Move the fuck on and try to remove the chip on your shoulder.

You can complain to the police department if you really, really want to, but it's probably pointless.

He's also correct that your photo should look like you, and your name on the ID and name on the registration should match.Answer #2: >Then he proceeded to tell me that I need to get the name updated on the registration of my car because if someone reports it stolen, and my ID doesn't match the name on the registration, I could have problems.

God, what a dick that cop was, warning you ahead of time of what he already knows is going to be an issue for you.

You are legally required to be able to identify yourself with a valid form of ID, and that means you need to have a current photo and name on a current and valid ID.  That's not up for debate.Answer #3: I don't understand what you're upset about. Sounds to me like the police officer behaved respectfully and advised you of some possible legal consequences to transitioning genders and how to avoid them.


Title: [Texas] Now that Ethan Couch ("affluenza" teen) has been sentenced to 720 days in jail, how much time will he realistically spend behind bars?

Question:
Yesterday, [it was reported](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3585939/Affluenza-teen-Ethan-Couch-stay-jail-two-years-killing-four-drunk-car-crash-judge-rejects-appeal.html) that the "affluenza teen" who got nothing but probation for killing multiple people in a DUI crash and then famously violated his probation by drinking and fleeing to Mexico will now need to spend 180 days in jail x4 for each person he killed, for a total of 720 days. His appeal was denied and he's now going to be incarcerated.

Will he be in prison or jail? What is the real difference?

How much time will he realistically spend behind bars considering prisoners are sometimes released early due to good behavior or overcrowding or other reasons?

Answer:
 Defense has to make a case for sentencing concurrently in the next couple of weeks.

If they are successful in getting it to run concurrently, 180 days is not long enough to chain him to TDCJ.  so he would do the 180 in Tarrant County Jail. Any early release for good behavior would be up to admin staff.

If they are unsuccessful, he may well be chained up to TDCJ.  He can earn good time based on his line class but it can also be taken away for infractions. He would have to serve at least 1/4 of his sentence, but since he isn't there that long, he won't earn at that rate anyway.


Title: Girlfriend Misplaced Envelope with ID and 800$ at checkout of Walmart - woman took it and didn't turn it in. Officer reviews tapes and determine no crime committed.

Question:
Charleston, South Carolina

Girlfriend recently changed banks and while waiting for her direct deposit to switch over - got her paper check cashed and went to Wally world with me.  At the self checkout, while rifling through her purse to find her debit card she mistakenly pulled out various papers and the envelope from the bank containing her paycheck of 800$ cash and her Drivers License, placed it beside the register and somehow we got distracted, paid and left - forgetting she had pulled out said items.

It was only the next day she realized the envelope was missing.  We backtracked our course and eventually figured out it had to have been either stolen or dropped in Walmart, but loss prevention wouldn't let us look at the tape of us at the self-checkout unless we filed a police report.  We filed a police report, went back to Walmart and Loss Prevention and a manager reviewed the tape, confirmed that it showed my GF sit it down, then checkout and leave, and then a woman come behind us - look in the envelope - and leave with it.  She did not turn it into Walmart, or the police station.  After contacting Walmart and reviewing the tapes, the detective in charge of our case determined that no crime had been committed.

1.)  Can anyone help me understand how the officer determined this wasn't a crime?  I know it's not exactly stealing in the conventional sense, but if for example I left my laptop at Starbucks under a chair - is that suddenly free to the first person to find it?  Wouldn't the person need to act in good faith to return it to the owner or turn it into the police for a certain period before they could claim it as their own?  Is cash treated differently?

2.) Does the ID accompanying the cash have any bearing on the situation?

Just having a hard time wrapping my brain around the officers conclusion and any applicable laws.  Thanks in advance!

PS.  I've already had a long talk with her about carrying around that kind of cash and being more responsible with it and keeping track of it.

I also specifically don't *want* to get the woman who took the money in trouble, but we're moving in 3 months and while we aren't going to be totally screwed - that 800$ is a lot of money for us to lose.  It practically wipes out what little nest egg we had on top of our move money.  I'd like to recover it if at all possible.

Answer:
 I think the police officer is wrong b/c the property is mislaid (and with the ID there is a clear indicator of who it belongs to) but that being said I think your chance of recovery under the scenario where he finds a crime was committed is about the same as the irl one where he finds no crime was committed.Answer #2: Yes they did commit a crime.

However the police can't really do anything. The surveillance video of the person is probably grainy at best, and it'll take a stroke of dumb luck to run into them.

You can press the matter that they investigate it more, but you can't force them.

There's also a fair chance that the lady that took it is poor and blew it all anyway.


Title: Husband put in danger by an incompetent doctor

Question:
My husband and I recently moved to Louisiana from Texas. In Texas he saw a pain management doctor regularly for psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis and fibromyalgia and was prescribed Dilaudid 12mg once a day in the morning and Hydrocodone 10mg three times a day. He's been on the same medications for 6 years.
In Louisiana we needed to find a new pain doctor. Every doctor we called said they need a referral from our PCP. The earliest we could see a PCP was today (22nd). My husband will run out of his pain medicine on Monday. The doctor refused to refer him to a new pain doctor and told him to cut his Dilaudids in half and take Tylenol to compensate. Cutting an extended release pill in half is extremely dangerous and I brought this up but the doctor didn't seem to care at all and just said it'd be fine. Taking tylenol with hydrocodone is also dangerous because you risk ruining your liver by taking too much tylenol.
We were dismissed being told he would only receive his heart medication which the doctor failed to remember to write a prescription for as well.

The doctor is putting my husband in danger and refusing to refer him to a pain doctor even though he's not functioning without any and has a long medical history of diagnosis and treatment.
Can i please get r/legaladvice's opinions on this? Thank you

Answer:
 This sounds a ton like doctor shopping because that is a lot of pain medication and none of those diseases are ones that opioids are routinely prescribed for. In fact for fibromyalgia there is now evidence that use of this class of painkiller may be counter productive and worsen the symptoms. As for UC they aren't prescribed routinely because it doesn't treat the illness just masks it and the side effects can cause more damage to the GI tract. The only condition that you describe that opioids are prescribed for (on a last line of defense manner) is the arthritis, but again, its 'if everything else fails, start on low dose and keep them there' way. So your doctor isn't incompetent in an era where addiction is an epidemic to look at weening your husband off of some of these drugs.Answer #2: Generally speaking you cannot force a doctor to prescribe something or refer you elsewhere. You may consider an urgent care clinic.Answer #3: It should be copy pasta at this point, but medical malpractice questions are too specific for internet advice.

seek further assistance from another medical professional in the meantime (E.R, yell and get the boss of the guy you saw, whatever it takes to keep him okay in the meantime.)

Try a medical advice sub? Maybe they can help with practical advise or what to do to talk to the right hospital supervisor or worker.


Title: Identification Destroyed

Question: I attempted to enter a bar in Chicago, IL with a valid SC identification. The bar back said it was a fake, handed it to the bartender who subsequently bent and twisted it, broke the laminated coating (punctured from a court stapling paperwork to it) and eventually returned it to my boyfriend. They destroyed my ID and we are flying out of town in 48 hours. What recourse do we have???

Answer:
 File a police report for the illegal destruction of your ID.

Best case you have one of the IDs or documents mentioned here:
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification

Otherwise, you're stuck with the process at the bottom of the site and hope for the best.Answer #2: Definitely call the police or go to a station and make a report for destruction of property.

If you don't have alternate ID show up early and give TSA your broken ID and the report. There's a way they can verify you.

You technically could sue the bar for the cost of replacing the ID but that might not be worth the hassle.Answer #3: Not really legal advice, but I had to fly without my ID out of LAX one time and they accepted my birth control prescription and a check with my name on it. But they also searched my bags thoroughly and gave me a pat down. So don't fly with anything you don't want them to see. Now I keep a paper copy of my passport in my bag.Answer #4: In terms of flying without ID, TSA does have ways of verifying who you are without your license. I flew several months ago and managed to lose my drivers' license between the entrance to the airport and the security line.

I provided TSA literally every card in my wallet. Despite having my California Bar Card proving I'm a lawyer, it was my Costco card that did the trick because it had a picture on it.


Title: [AL] Maintenance has been stealing cash from our apartment.

Question:
About a month ago my roommate had a friend stay over and I had $260 in my drawer. I later found there was only $160. I assumed it was the friend but now I am not sure because a few weeks ago we noticed $60 missing from our drawer, and our door was locked. We assumed it was the maintenance because they live on site and just stand around outside all of the time and have keys to all the apartments. Today I accidentally left $40 on the table when I left to go see a movie. I was gone for 2 hours. When I came back the money was gone, meaning the maintenance guys must have been watching waiting for us to leave to come in and take our stuff.
Is there anything I can do about it? Theft aside, I thought it was illegal for them to enter our apartment without notice. Furthermore, we have never put in a request for maintenance so there was no reason for them to come in.
We have rental insurance but I'm not sure if they cover cash theft. Is there anything I can do to get our money back, or get the maintenance guys in trouble?

TL;DR: Maintenance is stealing cash from our apartment. I don't think I can prove it. What can I do?

Answer:
 Install security cams. Film will help.

Or. Get a fake stack of bills, insert a piece of paper that says *you are on camera* watch for lulz.

I don't think you can do anything but report it unless you have proof.


Title: [Raleigh, NC] There was a big Citrix layoff this morning... I emailed my manager yesterday that yesterday would be my last day. What does this mean for me?

Question: Apparently there are some pretty neat severance packages for those who got laid off. I'm assuming I do not get one. I did however have a conversation with my manager last thursday where we discussed what would happen if I quit vs what would happen if I got laid off (as a result of not meeting my quota, not as a result of mass layoff). I'm wondering if I can get any piece of this pie. Cheers.

Answer: If you quit before you were notified of the layoff, you're _probably_ out of luck. However, it's worth speaking to a labor attorney. Things like your manager discussing the idea of a layoff with you to encourage you to quit are usually meaningless, but you never know.


Title: [NC/FL] Cops told me to leave a concert, I said no so they arrested me.

Question:
So that's the short version.  I'm from Florida but was in North Carolina.  I was at a concert and the cops told me I had to leave.  I said no, so they arrested me.

The long version is this.

I was visiting my parents in NC and we went to a concert.  We were going to go and have fun and drink and had a ride arranged later.  We proceeded to get pretty drunk before it started raining.  They told everyone sitting in the lawn area they had to leave the area because of lightning.  When we were on the way back to our seats, I got separated from my group.  I went back to where we were sitting but our stuff was gone, including my lawn chair and my shoes.  I tried to call my parents but my phone was dead.

So here I was with no shoes, no cell phone, and no clue where any of my group was.  I decided that I would just go wait by the little kiosk thing where we were buying beer.  I figured someone in my group would be back there eventually to get some more drinks.  Well as I'm sitting on the grass by the building two police officers come up and tell me I'm getting kicked out.  I told them I'm not leaving because I didn't do anything wrong.  They said I could either leave or get arrested.  I have no shoes and no phone, presumably no ride, no way to call a taxi, and I can't just walk home.  It's important that I stay here and wait for someone, and I tell them this.  They say they don't care leave or get arrested.  I tell them I haven't done anything wrong and can't be kicked out or arrested if I literally have done nothing wrong.

Well I was wrong.  They arrested me.  My two charges are "Intoxicated and Disruptive" and "Second Degree Trespass."

Do I need a lawyer?  Should I just go to my court date and apologize?  What's the worst case scenario?  I'm confused on what to do.  If I'm screwed either way it seems pointless to pay a lawyer and some fines.  I'd rather just pay the fines if a lawyer isn't going to able to do anything.

Any advice is appreciated, sorry for the long post.

Answer:
 These are criminal charges.  So yes, you need a lawyer.

When you go to court, plead not guilty.  Your arraignment is not a time for explanations, so you should not try to apologize your way out of it.  If you absolutely cannot afford an attorney, also make a request for the appointment of a public defender at that time.

The worst case scenario is that you get convicted of both offenses, get a whole bunch of fines, serve some jail time, and have a permanent criminal record.


Title: Myself, my business, and my clients are being harassed by the business next door, can we sue?

Question:
I made a similar post a couple days ago but didn't get many replies, I'll try to make it shorter this time.

My commercial space is located in a basement - I'm in-between two other businesses. One is a recording studio, and the other is a yoga studio. I run a business in a basement where people come to be active and this involves running, throwing around sports equipment, and hitting things. Naturally, this can be somewhat loud. I've invested in soundproofing foam and padding, but this hardly helps since the wall between myself and the other businesses don't have sound insulation.

The noise coming from the recording studio is deafening to me and they are much louder than I am, however I don't complain since that's the nature of their business. The yoga studio next door does not hear them as much as I do and does not really complain about them. However, the yoga studio has been pestering me (the business in the middle) non-stop about soundproofing my space (more than I already have) when I have no obligation to do so (I'd have to tear down the entire wall between us and stuff it with insulation which will be costly). They want me to bear the entire burden of the cost and that's obviously not something I'm going to do especially since they haven't even tried soundproofing on their end already. The landlord isn't really doing anything to help even though they have verbally admitted to me that I have no obligation to reduce noise at all.

Now here's the problem. In the past few weeks, the yoga studio owners have done the following:

\- Gone from complaining to us about the noise to ignoring us when they see us and giving dirty looks

\- Tried to get us kicked out of our business by complaining to the landlord, 311, and other public resources

\- Written a 1 star review on google calling us "terrible neighbors," saying that we were in the business of "making as much noise as possible," and telling people to not visit our establishment

\- Posted videos on youtube complaining about the noise from our space

\- Barged into our business and started yelling (while we had clients in the establishment) about the noise, was told multiple times to leave and did not listen, and we ended up having the police come and he got a warning for trespassing (I have this on video)

\- Two hours after the trespassing situation, the other owner (it's a husband and a wife) stopped one of our clients while they were on their way in to complain about our business to them and told them that we were terrible people and it was a terrible business

I've had enough of this. My landlord doesn't seem to want to help since the yoga studio has been complaining non-stop which has made my landlord speak to ME about trying to accommodate THEM in someway (even though they have been harassing me and my other neighbor is literally 10 times louder than me!). My question is, can I sue the yoga studio owners in any way? Do I have a case for harassment or defamation of character? Is there any way to sue for damages and then lawyer fees? Their inaccurate review has caused my rating to drop significantly since we are a new business. I was thinking of sending a cease and desist letter but I don't think it will do anything since it seems like they are nuts. Thanks for any help.

Answer: This is a complicated business matter. You need a good attorney that handles commercial disputes. You may have a case if this is impacting your business but this is beyond the scope of this subreddit. I would contact an attorney specializing in commercial or business matters in your area and shell out for at least a consult. It seems to be in your best interest at this point. Answer #2: Lawyer up. Best answer. This is too complicated for Reddit.Answer #3: The first four points aren’t even close to being harassment in my opinion.


Title: Got kicked out of all my online classes Salt lake City utah

Question: So I was clowning in the chat since I couldn't find my mic an camera but then some coordinator couldn't find the funny in my jokes see I go check my classes and I'm removed from all of them is this allowed or is there something I can do

Answer: Can you be barred from participating in an online class for being disruptive or violating policy? Absolutely.


Title: How do we turn permanent guardianship of our daughter into her being a foster child?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If she's a foster child, she goes into the foster care system and may be temporarily or permanently removed from your care (probably just until a home study is done, but there are no guarantees).

Essentially, the state of Illinois becomes her guardian, and gets the final say.  They may have some major concerns about why you turned over guardianship, and you'd have to hope that her case worker and the legal system decided that staying with you was the best thing for her.Answer #2: You have permanent guardianship. Just keep that until you save up enough to do an adoption. Which, honestly, shouldn't be that expensive... But at any rate, the only practical difference between your powers now and the powers granted to an adopting parent is your child's name and birth certificate.


Title: Roommate wants to make me pay for half when he unequally uses more of the utilities.

Question:
A little background: my roommate and I share a room. The room is furnished so we verbally split the furniture and he ended up with the queen sized mattress and the desk while I got two dresser drawers. He has a mini-fridge, xbox, extension cord, headphone chargers, xbox remote control chargers, and a bunch of other electrical devices plugged in while I only have my electric toothbrush, phone charger, and Amazon Echo.  However, I was a last minute roommate change so I don’t actually have a legal addendum stating that he’s my roommate or that I’m resided in that specific room, although the apartment complex has the contract to which I’ve signed.

My roommate will not negotiate on me paying less for our utilities and insists that I pay equally half. I would be okay with that but since he has the bed, uses more electricity than me, never once cleaned our room nor our restroom the entire year while I’ve done it multiple times, I think it’s unfair for him to request that from me. So for the last two months I haven’t paid half of the utilities and so the late fee has incurred on the billing payment. I want to leave because I’m severely depressed living with him. I would be leaving for the last two months (since I’ve pre-paid solely the rent in the beginning of the year) because it’s a miserable, toxic situation. Given my documents not placing me correctly as his specific roommate, should I just suck it up, pay the fees and just trudge through for the last two months or be able to legally go my route without any repercussions?

Answer: It's seriously unlikely that this amount of money is worth fighting over. Answer #2: I think you are really over-estimating the amount of electricity any of these things use. The only thing you listed that would use a substantial amount of electicity is the mini fridge, which is probably around $5 a month. Pay the bill.Answer #3: Deal with it the last two months and then you never have to see or speak to this person again.Answer #4: Suck it up and PAY the bill if it's in your name or both, whatever the inequality of the bill is ($25? $50? A month) is going to be measly compared to hurting your credit score for not paying it. Find a new place to live, find a therapist for depression, but until then just pay the bill. A lawyer will be 50x the amount of money you're arguing over.


Title: [MD] Aunt's husband knowingly, but indirectly, sending money toward illegal activity rather than contributing to household

Question:
Early this year, my aunt got remarried out-of-state. She and her new spouse are Maryland residents, and were before the wedding as well. Immediately after the wedding, the new husband moved into my aunt’s home in MD. They had known each other for a while and had a short engagement, as he essentially rushed her into getting married. (At one point he'd disclosed to her that he had a medical condition he was supposedly going to die from in a couple of years. Since getting on her insurance and seeing a better doctor, that is apparently not actually the case.)

Before the wedding, he promised to help financially support the family with the house, bills, etc. and to buy my aunt a new car. He told her she would no longer have to work at her main job. Considering after her last marriage she was left to single-handedly support three children without child support, and was working several jobs to get by, this was a welcome offer.

Since moving in with my aunt’s family, the husband has been financially and emotionally unsupportive. He refuses to help pay for bills or the mortgage despite his rather large salary (over $100,000/year); he lives in the home full time and makes full use of the utilities, etc. When their cell phones were about to be shut off, he laughed in their faces because his wasn't and he (presumably) had his phone on a separate plan from everyone else. He has also stated that he considers my (college-aged) cousins who also live in the home as “roommates” rather than family.

Majorly concerning is that he isn’t paying into the bills for the house because he sends significant portions of money elsewhere every month.  He sends over $1000/month to a “community center” in Mexico to “help the kids” – but, when he and my aunt visited this community center during the summer, one of the employees there openly admitted that some of the money goes to drug cartels. He has continued to send money to the “community center” every month knowing that his money is going toward illegal activity rather than strictly toward its intended purpose. He also sends money to a prostitute in Florida that he considers to be “the closest thing he has to a daughter,” for reasons unknown to us.  I’ve learned from my cousin that this prostitute is apparently the daughter of a woman that the husband “lived with for a few years” in the past.  (I personally suspect it’s a daughter he had out of wedlock and he is paying her for her silence (he’s very religious and involved in the church), but I have no way to say that with certainty.)

Since the wedding the husband has also made multiple pleas to my aunt to refinance or sell the house (which is in her name only) and put it in his name to help pay off his credit card debt (at least $10,000).  Rightly, she has blatantly refused to do so every time, and has signed and notarized a will leaving everything to her oldest son.  He has also tried to get her to direct deposit her paycheck into his bank account, which she has also refused.

In addition, my aunt has been dealing with health issues due to an accident at her place of work that resulted in two brain aneurysms. She is having invasive surgery soon to manage them, and has not been able to go to work since the accident.  The husband has been completely emotionally unsupportive of her (refuses to take her to appointments or make proper arrangements to get her to them, etc.), blames her frequently for the messed up financial situation in their home, and yells at her for other things as well. The stress of all of this raises her blood pressure to unhealthy levels, which is certainly not good for her current health situation.

Unfortunately, from my understanding, divorce laws in Maryland are pretty unpleasant and the two did not sign a prenuptial agreement. Ideally I would love if there were a way to get my extended family out of this situation (and get the new husband out of the picture) with as little legal and financial harm to the family as possible. Any and all advice is appreciated.

My main questions:

* Is there a way to report the husband for knowingly sending money to drug cartels in Mexico, even if it is being done indirectly? Is there something to be said now that he knows fully well, from the community center employee, that his money does not in fact go to just “help the kids”? What would be the likely result(s) of reporting this behavior, if we can?

* Are there underhanded ways he could still be taking out money (equity?) against the house, even though the house is not in his name, that my family should watch out for? In a legal situation, does he have leverage to say he doesn’t have to pay into the mortgage, bills, etc. because he doesn’t legally own the house even though he lives there full-time and uses the utilities? (My cousin who still lives at home makes less than a quarter of what the husband does, and yet has been helping to pay the mortgage and some of the bills for the last several months; his name isn’t on the mortgage, either.)

* Is there a way to obtain an annulment or divorce in MD in this type of situation that would minimize the negative impact on my aunt’s family? The new husband has no ownership of the house in which they live (and quite frankly doesn’t deserve to, seeing as he refuses to contribute to it), but MD divorce laws tend to split everything (both debt and assets) equally if I understand correctly. Can false and unfulfilled promises of financial support to the family or intentional stress to my aunt when she has a serious medical condition that would be exacerbated by stress be grounds for separating and not having to follow through with a typical messy divorce proceeding?

Edit: List formatting.

Edit 2: tl;dr -- My aunt, a single mom, was rushed into marrying a guy she had known for a while with the promise of financial help. The new husband is now living in her home but not helping to pay bills, sending money to a Mexican "community center" that partially funds drug cartels, and is trying to get her to refinance/sell the house to pay off his own credit card debt. She has a serious work-related brain injury and the husband has not been emotionally supportive of her. Can she get out of this situation with as little financial/legal strain to her family as possible?

Answer:
 she could get an annulment based on Fraud or misrepresentation. i think he might be able to pull some underhanded stuff with the house. i had a neighbor whose house was mortgaged without his knowledge by a step child who wasn't on the title, the banks do not check shit out before handing out cash.

Most annulments take place after marriages of a very short duration -- a few weeks or months -- so there are usually no assets or debts to divide, or children for whom custody, visitation, and child support are a concern. his behaviors suggest to me he married your aunt fraudulently for financial not emotional reasons.


Title: Part time Employee leaving a company with "accidental" vacation time.

Question:
I'm a part time employee of a Tech company in California. Several years back, I was hired on as a full-time employee and as such I was given the normal benefits including the accrual of paid vacation time.

One year ago I started a side business that has since been growing and in order to devote time to it I negotiated a move from full-time employee to part-time employee. As a part time employee I was told verbally (but not in writing) that I was forfeiting accrual of paid vacation as I was now being paid hourly as opposed to by salary. They paid me out for the vacation time I had accrued up until that point and I was under the impression that I wouldn't accrue any more.

However, since my move to part-time, on the payroll system I have continued to accrue vacation time and it has now rolled up to the maximum. It's possible this was an HR oversight. I've looked over the document that I signed when moving to part-time (it's structured as an amendment to my original employment document) and it makes no mention of cutting my accrual of paid vacation time, just removal of health care benefits.

So business has been going well and I'm now leaving the company for good. Should I be getting paid out for the vacation time I've accrued on the system since my move to part-time? It's actually a sizable chunk of money so it's not something to lightly walk away from. I haven't decided how hard I want to fight for it if they decide they don't want to give it to me, but I'd like to know where I stand in my rights.

Thanks in advance for the help guys.

Answer: So you are asking should you knowingly steal because someone made an error, or do the right thing. I would say do the right thing, but I don't know what your moral compass is.


Title: Neighbor threatening to sue because dog scared his wife

Question:
This happened in Indiana.
One of our down the street neighbors was walking with his wife past our fence at night when our dogs started barking at them. His wife got scared and tripped and fell on her face. He was mad and started yelling at my dad that we should've had a light so they could see the dogs in our yard, and to see the sidewalk. My dad said that it's not our fault. The guy said that he was going to sue us and that he is going to contact his attorney when he gets home. This occurred before our towns noise ordinance too. Does he actually have a case?

Answer: Not really, no.  What if your dad had dropped a glass of ice tea on the porch and the sound of breaking glass caused here the same reaction.  People can sue anyone for anything, but your neighbor has little to stand on.  He was just angry.  Probably nothing will come from it.


Title: How to get a quick, easy divorce without lawyers or drama?

Question:
I want to keep this short.

I want to a get a quick, painless divorce in New Jersey. I want to put as little stress on my spouse as possible. Most of our relationship problems are my fault. My depression and anger issues have ruined everything, and we can barely stay in the same room without someone or both of us crying or yelling. I just want to sign papers, and just...disappear, maybe move back to my home state. I don't want alimony even though I may be eligible for it (I haven't held a job since 2010). I want to just make things easier for my spouse, for his sake, because he's put up with enough of my shit for fourteen years.

Is it possible to just sign divorce papers and be done with it? There's really no assets to split or fight over on either side, and I'm not interested. There are no children involved. And no, counseling has not and will not help so please no flood of comments asking for us to go...
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 If both parties are willing and there are few assets and no children, it can be done relatively painlessly.

You can google your local courthouse and call them to find out how to get started.


Title: Got this ad in the mail. Is this legal?? Missouri

Question:
UPDATE: It is a prank card by my sister... the website wouldn't initially load for me.
Har har....

http://m.imgur.com/MEP5zdt,EnkCmO6

I received this ad in the mail today. Isn't this child labor? Should I contact officials? There's no phone number on the card even though it says "give us a call". There's just some guy's personal email (not shown in pics).

Answer: It appears to be a joke....or some weird attempt to harvest emails.Answer #2: When joking is illegal only the illegals will tell jokes.


Title: My great aunt refuses to let me have ownership of my life insurance policy.

Question: My grandma recently passed away and she had a life insurance policy on me. She was the owner. She had my mother as the beneficiary but my mom passed away and my grandma never changed it. Now I am trying to get ownership transferred to me and the insurance people are saying my grandma’s sister has to sign off on it since she’s considered next of kin but she is refusing out of spite. What can I do? My grandma had no will. Also this is in Alabama.

Answer:
 The life insurance policy does NOT belong to you, and you have no rights to it.

It belonged to your grandmother (who paid the premium) then was inherited by your grandma's sister since your mother passed away before your grandmother.

She owns it and owes you nothing. She is not refusing out of spite - she is refusing since the policy is hers, not yours.


Title: Is it possible for a child to be born with no right to *any* citizenship?

Question:
Some countries have *jus soli*. Some say if your father had X citizenship then you are entitled to X citizenship. Some say if either one of your parents had X citizenship then you are entitled to X citizenship.

Is there some combination of circumstances whereby a newborn child isn't entitled to any citizenship? If so, do any international treaties come into effect when this happens?

Like for example say there's a Somalian father, and a Japanese mother, and the kid is born in Antarctica or in international waters? Or two mothers, one of whom is pregnant by IVF in France, and gives birth to the kid in Saudi Arabia?

Answer:
 [The UN takes a very dim view of statelessness.](https://www.unhcr.org/stateless-people.html) There's an effort to reduce and eventually eliminate people who have no citizenship.Answer #2: Most countries have *jus sanguinis* which means the children of citizens are granted citizenship at birth. For a child to be stateless at birth they need both parents to be either stateless themselves or only citizens of countries without jus sanguinus.

A stateless child would probably have to go through the same process to gain statehood that an adult would (or rather their parents would have to do it for them). Parents could potentially use safe-haven laws to get their child a citizenship they aren't entitled to legally.Answer #3: The opposite is also true... my wife and I are different nationalities, and our kids are born in the country we live. So by birth they have all 3 ... but we realized that due to “circumstances” they in fact have 4 citizenships via soil and blood, meeting each criteria.

Traveling is a complex process as each country requires different treatments... many times we enter a country on one passport and leave on another Answer #4: I've seen this happen but I don't know what the outcome is going to be as I am no longer in this position.  Basically a family had a child born in a country they don't have citizenship at, attempted to return home to be told their child was not entitled to citizenship in their country, the whole family was kicked out of that country for suspected child trafficking due to irregularities in their paperwork, and now everyone is homeless and they're being kicked between several different embassies.


Title: (TX) First time late on rent, apartment complex gives me notice that I have 2 days to vacate the apartment. WTF?

Question:
I pay my rent online and have it set up for auto-pay.  My apartment complex constantly has problems with the software they use.  This month for some reason, my rent didn't go through on the first and I've been traveling for work.  I get back today on the 8th and there was a notice on my door saying I have to pay rent, including late fees (for the entire month of June) and have 2 days to vacate the apartment complex.

I understand it is still my responsibility to get the rent in, no matter if there is a software issue.  I am willing to pay the late fees because this is my fault.  However, I find it pretty irrational that I would be evicted the first time my rent was late.  Are they just trying to scare me or do they have the legal right to do this?

I plan on going to my apartment office tomorrow to pay this off fully and clear the air.  However, if they do decide to follow through with evicting me, is there anything I can do?

Answer:
 > Are they just trying to scare me or do they have the legal right to do this?

Yes.  If you don't pay your bills, they can kick you out.

Usually, if you pay up, they cancel the eviction.


Title: Super simple employment verification question

Question:
Hi guys, I'm not really sure if I'm in the right sub but I couldn't think of a better one. This is in Hamilton County, Ohio. Anyway:

I'm filling out an employment verification request for a former employee and there's a whole section asking about Health insurance. Since we do not provide Insurance, should I just check "no" when it says "is the employee or their dependents enrolled in health insurance?"

Otherwise, even if they were enrolled somewhere else, I wouldn't know their policy number or anything like that.

Answer:
 Any time you answer more than the dates of employment and position title you open yourself up to potential liability.

I have seen a lot of crazy things asked on employment verification forms. I usually recommend that folks not answer anything more than dates/position.


Title: California-About to lie the crap out of my resume.

Question:
Disregarding ethics...

A few months ago I started a training program for an IT staffing agency.  The 2-3 month training program is designed to give a very elementary knowledge of the world of network engineering and they provide you with a fake resume.  Trainees get resumes from 6 to 10 years of fake experience along with certificates and qualifications that they do not possess.

This company then markets you to fortune 500 companies(this company will not work with small business) and they will do your interview for you.  This is often done through a skype interview where you lip sync while someone who knows their shit does all the talking.

Once you arrive at the company, you basically outsource any work that you do not understand to a team of qualified individuals at the IT staffing company and you present the finished result as if it were your own.  I would be making less than $25/hr while this company is charging $100+/hr for "my" services.

If i get found out, can I get in any type of legal trouble?

Answer:
 Are you serious? Yes, you can get in legal trouble. **Do not do this.**

If I were you, I would demand a full refund from these guys. If they balk, call the California attorney general's office or consider speaking with an attorney about a class action lawsuit. Do you know how many people have been through this "training"?

Edit: I may have misunderstood. Are you paying for the training? Are they paying you?


Title: I NEED HELP

Question:
I am in desperate need of help right now. I have been living at this house for a year now trying to make contact with the owner who hasnt responded and he came by today opened up and started yelling at me and my mom to get out. We have a form of a rental agreement and my heart is racing right now. I dont know what I am going to do if something happens. Please help!!! He is yelling at me and my mom and I dont know what to do!

Update: police are here and my mom is talking to them.

Answer:
 When you say "form of rental agreement" what do you mean?

Also, call the cops. If you're being evicted there's a process and he can't just kick you out. He needs to give you notice based on your state's guidelines.


Title: [Texas] A coworker of mine has huge outbursts of rage and I'm not sure who I should contact to report it.

Question:
EDIT: He was only ever physically violent to one person; a relative that also works with us. And, he quit today before the GM finally was going to fire him.

I work for a pizza chain (corportate store) as a driver. I already looked through my handbook and nothing is really covered except for driving-specific topics. I'm not sure that there is another handbook or not.

So, I have a coworker that, when he gets stressed? I guess or overwhelmed, he will explode at whoever he thinks deserves blame. This has caused one person to quit on Valentine's Day. Since then, he's blown up at a new manager we have (transfer from another location), an insider (my friend; she works on the makeline and stays in-store her whole shift), and today he blew up at me.

Not sure that it matters what happened but I will include in case. It had slowed down tonight around 8. My best friend's mother died and she was a second parent to me, so my manager allowed me to check out 2 hours early to be with them. He asked me why I was getting to leave and when I said I was going to be with her, he blew up at me how I was getting to leave and "slack off while we have to work hard to cover you." I was already in a poor mood and upset so I started to cry and he starts laughing at me and telling me to shut up and go home already.

I left and texted my manager who was out on a delivery. The assistant manager (whom he's blown up at previously like I mentioned) didn't really react? I don't think he knew what to do. I told the manager that wasn't present everything that happened and she said she's going to write him up, but I feel this 4th explosion at someone is seriously unacceptable. The GM has warned him but hasn't done anything to actually reprimand him.

Three people were present for this outburst (AM, two insiders). Who should I contact? Do I even have a good enough reason to bother higher ups? I've never had a problem like this before at any jobs.

Answer:
 Contact HR, they'll have procedures for this.

Honestly, it sounds like you may need to recalibrate your definitions of 'huge outbursts of rage'.  Just being a jerk doesn't qualify, though he certainly sounds like he's that.

Is this guy yelling incoherently, hitting/striking people or things?  Is he threatening to do so?  Is he entirely foul all the time?  Or does he just tend to shout first and ask questions later?

I have a couple acquaintances who grew up in very 'shouty' families, and they tend to just get loud and obnoxious at the drop of a hat.  It's not pleasant, but you just move on.


Title: My 5 year old was run over by a neighbor today!

Question:
I live in Virginia Beach, VA. My 5 year old son was walking across my neighbors driveway to ask their son to play. The neighbor backed out of their garage, hit my son. She stopped, got out, and saw his foot under the rear tire and him laying there screaming.. She then got back into the car and pulled off of his foot. His foot is crushed and he needs to go to an ortho specialist to determine the amount of damages to his foot. The neghbor has not offered any insurance info or anything. Im sure she is traumatized as well. What should be my plan of action?

Edit: We Rushed him to the hospital... He is home and comfortable, and we are treating him like a king.. I thought that would go without saying.
Topic:
Insurance

Answer:
 Go to the hospital, get your son checked out first.
Knock on their door and get insurance information.
If that doesn't work out call the police and let them know they will prob help you get the insurance info.Answer #2: This type of accident would be covered by your neighbor's bodily injury coverage, which is mandatory in most states, and covered under the scope of car insurance.  Your son's damages would be medical bills and costs plus pain and suffering.  If his foot never heals thereby causing him to need long-term care, that is included as well.  There is no rush to file a lawsuit.  I'd definitely interview 2-3 personal injury lawyers before signing any paperwork.    Answer #3: HIRE AN ATTORNEY. I got hit by a car in high school and I wouldn't have hired an attorney, but a friend's mom was an insurance attorney. She handled all the dealing with the hospital and insurance about billing and basically made everything really easy for me. If your son has any significant damage to his foot, hire an attorney ASAP.

Edit: I basically turned over all my bills to her, showed up in court, signed a piece of paper, and testified saying "Yep I get it, I'm settling" and that was it. It let me focus on recovering and getting back into school.


Title: Just found out I've been getting paid less than I thought

Question: Had my first review at my job \(been there 10 months\) and they gave me a 50 cent raise.  My boss says, "So now you'll be making $18 an hour!  And I said, "That's how much I already make" and she looked confused, browsed through some paperwork, and said, "Then I guess you'll be making $18.50 and hour.  I'll have to look into this and get back to you." When I started the job, I signed up for automatic deposit, and the only way to see my pay stub was this online thing they had set up but I could never get it to work right, so I just didn't worry about it.  So when all this happened, I insisted they fix the glitch so I could look at my pay stubs, and they did.  It shows they've been paying me $17.50 this entire time.  When I applied for the job, I asked them to match my previous employer at $18.50 an hour.  They offered me $18, which I accepted because my previous job had an hour commute and this job is within a few miles of home.  This is a small business and the owner's wife is out of town due to a death in the family, but I should be hearing something this week and I want to be prepared.  I've since received one paycheck that reflects $18 dollars an hour, but I'm now expecting $18.50 per hour and a reimbursement for the past 10 months.  Do I have any options?  My boss sounded perfectly nice about looking into everything, and I've continued to come to work as usual in hopes that they'll do the right thing.

Answer: Do you have your signed offer letter with 18/hr on it?


Title: (California) Girlfriend and I scared of stalker

Question:
I met my girlfriend in high school and we've been together for about a year now. Before she dated me she dated somebody else who had problems. They broke up because he physically abused her and cheated on her.

A while back, I want to say about four or five months ago, he began stalking her. Circumstance had it set that while they were dating, he activated some kind of software on her phone and was able to completely bug her. Anyone's voice or location could be visible/audible when in the vicinity of this phone. He used it to track her down and try god-knows-what. He hit her one time while I was at work. There was a police report and all this and that, and an emergency restraining order.

This is really only the spark-notes of it. There was a lot more going on. Most nights she stayed with me and most nights I went without sleep and jumping at every creek and bump in the night. Since then, however, (As far as we know) this bug as been disabled and we got her a new phone for the time being.

Recently, this phone broke and, after wiping her old phone clean (New iCloud account, all this Apple jargon that I can't decipher being an android man) she switched back to it. We're planning on moving here soon so getting these luxuries aren't primarily on our minds.

Now, since having been switched back to Phone A, this stalking continues. She lives with me now and we're planning to move out of state, so I feel like I have a better grasp on her safety. Still, these texts come and go of this stalker begging to see her, come drop off old memorabilia, just one last talk, etc etc. Through chance(?) he's ran into her while running errands, and threats of macing out of self defense were thrown around. He often texts me trying to get under my skin, but beyond that he's afraid of me and rightly so. My blood is boiling typing this out. Again the long nights of no sleep and investigating every minor sound and dog bark continue. I feel like I'm driving myself nuts. I always keep an ear out for any movement, vibration, whatever in this house. Thankfully she stays with good friends or my mother while I'm at work.

I should also note that this stalker is 17. He turns 18 here soon I believe but for the time being this stalker is a minor.

I'm scared and angry. What do we do?

Throwaway, because hey. This stalker scrambles for our social media at every chance.

EDIT - The sun's coming up. I'll keep an eye on this thread but I'm going to try and rest. I'll check back on this thread and respond as I can throughout the day. Thank you for reading this far and bearing with me. I should also note that this stalker is 17. He turns 18 here soon I believe but for the time being this stalker is a minor.

Answer:
 1. "the spark notes of it" - when I was a kid we had cliff notes. Now I feel old.

2. Police. Report it. And possibly an injunction.


Title: Would any of this even have been worth reporting back when it was happening a decade+ ago? TW: pseudo-sexual abuse

Question:
So, when I was underage, my stepdad got super creepy. I never really did anything about it and I can't decide how much I regret that. If I had reported any the following to someone, would it have actually been actionable? Or is being a creep in a difficult to prove way pretty much legal?

- Sexual harassment. I'm pretty sure that saying sexual things to a minor in person or making sexual comments about her body is fully legal. It is the kind of thing you could file an EEOC complaint about your boss for but not get someone arrested for, I assume.

- Repeatedly walking in on a teen girl while she is unclothed, despite being asked to knock. I know there might be laws against peeping on someone  for sexual gratification, but how do you even prove that when it is inside a house owned by the offender, and they arguably have a right to enter that room? If it is something that happens multiple times a week, does the offender begin to lose credibility when claiming that it is accidental?

- Possible indecent exposure? Basically he used to wear short shorts and sit in his recliner with his legs spread as wide as possible, so his genitals were hanging out of his shorts. This was in a place I couldn't avoid seeing it when I walked into the main room of the house. Again, how does one prove this is being done for sexual gratification? Is it another case of, "Once is an accident, once a week is a pattern?" Or is it really hard to overcome that standard of reasonable doubt, regardless?

- "Accidental" sexual assault. Again, how would it be proven in a "he said, she said," case, where he is saying that he meant to pat her on the shoulder and accidentally touched her breast?

Is this the kind of case where keeping a journal to document everything and establish a pattern becomes helpful? Like if I had been able to point to a list of things like, "Monday evening, came home from work and offered to do my chores for a look at my breasts. I told him to stop, and he said it was just a joke. Two hours later, came up behind me while I was watching dishes and rested his hand on my butt, claimed he was reaching for my back so I would know he was there and wouldn't accidentally step back into him. Tuesday morning, walks into my bedroom without knocking while I am getting dressed for school, claims he wanted to make sure I was out of bed. I ask him to knock next time, remind him same thing happened when he walked into my room without knocking at the same time last Thursday. Friday, open door to exit my room after getting dressed and find him naked across the hall with the door wide open, claims he forgot to close door before showering." If a pattern is established, are there even charges to press here? If my mom could corroborate a little of it (the habit
of hanging out of his shorts) does that improve the odds of it being taken seriously? How likely is it even that a DA in a conservative county in the early 2000's thinks that he could convince a jury this is criminal and not accidental, if there are laws being broken? Does anything change if there is another young child in the home while this is happening? Did I do myself an injustice by trying to handle it all on my own, or would the outcome have likely been the same, with me fucked in the head but never actually molested, and him living happily ever after?

Answer:
 CPS would have been very interested. If you told a guidance counselor what had been going on, they’d be mandated to report to CPS.

I’m sorry this happened to you. I wish you healing. It’s not too late to talk about it. Tell your mom what happened, even file a police report. They may prosecute now.