Title: [Quebec] I have a notion to sue my old primary school for neglect and prejudice. I was psychologically distressed, as well as several other students, by experiences there.

Question:
I apologize in advance if this is too long for you to read all the way, I just want the reader to get every detail of my story. I'm an eighteen year-old man who was, on numerous occasions, bullied by other students and ignored by the staff, all mainly for being an English-speaker (context: I live in Quebec, Canada, a primarily french province).

 In kindergarten, I was literally loathed by my inexperienced teacher for doing things a five year-old would normally do that would naturally annoy any teacher. She hated me so much that at a parent-teacher interview, she couldn't keep it together in-front of my mom.

 In grade 1, I went to greet a new student (he had a small case of special needs) who immediately hit me in the face, but when I went crying for help from the homeroom teacher, she did almost nothing about it, from what I remember anyways.

 In grade two, what I call "The big, bad year", the teacher loathed me as well. Frequently, I'd run late for class, and I would never remember to pick up my "Carte d'Abcence", my absence card. The performance of the office staff was so poor that they never bothered to teach me about the imperativeness of picking up my absence card when late. As a result, the teacher would yell at me every time I walked in late, and then one morning, I was so terrified to walk into class that I crawled underneath the bench across the hall from my class until a teacher found me, she probably wondered why, but I only remember being in trouble for it.To make me fell better, I had to ask my mom to accompany me down the hall every morning for the next month, and taping a picture of her onto my desk.

 In the same year, it was my homeroom teacher's birthday, and I was not aware of it, (context: In French Canadian culture, women would sometimes make contact with each others cheeks and make kiss noises) so when I noticed all these teachers kissing my homeroom teacher on the cheek, I immediately concluded that my homeroom teacher was a lesbian. When I told a classmate what I was thinking, he interpreted that I was starting a nasty rumor about our teacher, so he informed the teacher almost immediately. When she brought me outside of the classroom, she first asked me calmly what I thought the definition of a lesbian was, and I told her in french "when a girl loves another girl", and then she was furious and yelled at me for a bit, then later she yelled at and scolded the entire class even though they still had no knowledge of this rumor I started, so the teacher inadvertently told the entire class about what I did. This teacher turned the seven year-old me into a scapegoat that day.

 Then, one day, without my knowledge until I was beginning my second year of secondary school, I learn from my parents that the elementary school had seriously, and unlawfully, recommended that I get tested for ASPERGER'S SYNDROME, what is now considered minor-autism! Sure, I admit that at the time I was gullible, miserable, and dogmatic for a 5-6-7 year-old, but COME ON! This is apparently the direct reason why my parents finally decided to pull me out of that school in the fourth grade, but I think the school recommended that I get tested long before Grade 4.

 One day in around 2013-ish, I was snooping in my personal file at home and I uncovered some of my student reports regarding me from kindergarten to grade 3 (a four year span). I learned that my kindergarten teacher had been constantly reporting that I "cry too much in class". She also recommended that I have a linguist accompany me in most of my classes, implying that I have a language disability, as in, that I don't function properly with regard to language. The truth is that I was simply an anglophone in a francophone school; you do the math. (Are teachers even legally allowed to make these recommendations, including the Aspergers case?).

 Throughout those years, I was constantly bullied by french-speaking classmates, even to the point where I would get tricked to stand still for a moment, unbeknownst to me that they intend to kick me in the stomach. I remember once getting beat up and in that moment getting my eyes literally force-fed with SAND. No one found out about this because I justly believed that no one cared for me as a result of previous run-ins with the same bullies. The neglect I received from the teachers and playground supervisors there made me accept myself not as a victim, but as a loser. It is a miracle that I made even a tiny handful of bilingual/semi-bilingual friends. I never made friends with a francophone because I couldn't. The only people who really cared for my safety was my older brother who attended the school, and my two parents.

 My experience there turned me into a bully as well, which I believe is a psychological response to everything that happened to me at the school.

 After I left the school, they had finally imposed a no-bullying policy, which I hear hasn't helped with other English-speaking students who have attended the school.

 I was permanently traumatized by my experience over at that school. I am eighteen years-old and I am still psychologically distressed by what happened to me there over ten years ago. After contemplating suicide, I was diagnosed with depression (I'm not so depressed now) when I was fifteen and had multiple sessions with a child-psychologist who helped a-ton, but my memories at the school are still haunting me and I have a strong sense of having to do what's right and hold the school responsible for the psychological damage they caused me and several other English-speakers like me who went/go to the school and got hurt.

 So, filing a lawsuit on behalf of the children from this school who have suffered like I did, against the School for neglect and discrimination; is it even doable? If so, can I make them stop being assholes to children? Am I even using the right words to describe this notion of mine? What would you recommend, /r/legaladvice?

Sincerely,
 Jake.
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer: You may want to forget about a lawsuit and focus on getting some help instead.


Title: Employer Canceled insurance early and now I have ~a $1,5000 bill. What are my legal options?

Question:
I live in Ohio. On December 31, 2016 I emailed my benefits liaison and asked her to cancel my insurance on January 15th, 2017. I was planning on joining my wife's insurance as it was a better option for us. I filled out my cancellation of services form on January 7th 2017 and turned it into my liaison.

I chose January 15th because I had an appointment on December 27th with a Nephrologist and needed imaging done on January 5th.

Apparently my liaison cancelled my insurance as of 12/31/2016 without my permission and without notification of doing so.

My wife's insurance will not cover the imaging as it was an out of network for them.

I now owe ~$1,500 to the hospital because my insurance was cancelled on a date before my wishes and I was never notified.

Is my employer legally at fault for this and should be liable for the cost of the visit or was there something I have done wrong in the process of switching?

Thanks for the help.

Edit: A mistake on dates.

Answer: Had you paid your premium for your employer's health insurance for January?Answer #2: My employer (in Ohio) has a policy that you can only change your benefits during open enrollment unless you have a life event. So if I have been married for a few years, I can only cancel my ongoing policy during open enrollment in November, and it will end at 11:59:59 12/31/2017. I cannot decide that I no longer want it on any other date.


Title: Im worried my ex girlfriend will claim "I have stuff left at my ex bf's place" to steal my property. What do I do to prepare? What can I do?

Question:
I'm living in the United States, just for reference. My girlfriend and I broke up, and she moved out of the apartment I lease from a friend. She isn't on any paperwork. She took everything that was hers except dishes, we had a "handshake" agreement that I could keep them.

We've since gotten into more fight (dumb I know, I just am angry. My heart is shattered) and she's now saying she will just come into the apartment (she hasn't given me back her key) and take her dishes, and then hinting that some of my items are also hers. I don't my things stolen. What do I do ?

Answer: Change the lock.


Title: My friend failed a drug test for pot at her new job and is afraid they are going to fire her before she begins work. Does she have any options here?

Question: (US, CT) She had already signed with the company and turned down other offers.  They called her up to move her start date at least two weeks until some third party decides her fate. What options does she have?

Answer:
 Start looking for another job. Stop using pot while looking for another job.Answer #2: Location matters a little- that's why you get asked multiple times when you post to give one.

In most states, the answer is "she can ask nicely and pray to the marijuana gods that they overlook it."  Because the company (in most states) is perfectly within its rights to not hire her (or fire her) because she uses illegal drugs.


Title: Can my Employeer ban outside good from the work place?

Question:
I work for a company that takes care of at risk kids, in a 24 hour facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Because the kids' food is paid for by the government they do not have a lot of variety of foods they get served to them because of this employees are encouraged to eat outside food, out of the view of these kids.

Lunch is provided to staff by they company, is free and it is the same food that the kids eat. While the food is not bad, it is also not the best tasting, or healthiest.

But eating outside of view of the kids is not a big deal they have recently explained that now we are flat out not allowed to bring/eat outside food. This includes home cooked meals and small snacks. This is a problem for me I work out a lot and have a specific thing about liking to know what I'm putting in my body.

Now they have specified that medical needs can be accommodated for which is fine but my problem isn't a medical need and will not be accommodated for.

My thing is, is my boss allowed to ban me from bring my own food?

Answer: You can bring in any food you want. But you can be legally fired if you get caught breaking the rules.Answer #2: Would your doctor not be able to help with this? I'm thinking that if you are serious about fitness then you need to limit certain nutrients and increase others. Could that not constitute medical need in order for you to stay healthy? You might try taking a weekly menu plan from your workplace to a nutritionist. There might be medical reasons that the food is not something you should be consuming regularly


Title: 70 year old mother being forced out of work due to scent/chemical sensitivity (Canada, Yukon)

Question:
My mother is working for the government and is experiencing reactions to scents worn by co\-workers.  The reaction is getting progressively worse to the point where she is missing multiple days each week but needs to work full time financially.

She went to see a doctor in relation to this and the doc gave her a letter stating she has multiple chemical sensitivity caused by scents in the work place.  Her boss has brought up that it is a scent free work place but none of the employees will adhere to this so the situation is at an impasse.

Lately her coworkers are getting annoyed by the constant mentions of them wearing scents and the rules being imposed on them so they have been increasing the amount of scents worn.  When it's mentioned to them they will state that "maybe she should just go home, it's not me with a sensitivity."   My mother claims one person has an aerosol spray to shoot into the air so the scent free work place is being ignored by 50&#37; of the office (the other half in the small office understand and comply).

Is there anything that can be done to enforce this or claim back lost wages/days taken due to medical issue caused by scents at work?  At this point she is staying home from work too much to survive financially.

Thanks for any and all advice.

Answer:
 This would be a hugely uphill battle in any case, as "multiple chemical sensitivity" is not recognized by the WHO, AMA, or any other organized, respected medical organization. She would react just as strongly to placebo, or perceived aroma as actual.

Perhaps it would be better to pursue a disability claim.


Title: [India/Pakistan][Property/Revenue] Family property is frozen due to shift in political borders.

Question:
I posted this previously on r/India. I know this subreddit is geared towards the American and Canadian legal systems - but it'd be interesting to hear some responses.

For some background, my family are dual citizens of Canada and Pakistan - hence our easy access to India despite being of Pakistani origin.

**ORIGINAL POST:**

This is a bit of a complex issue so I apologize beforehand.

My great-grandfather and grandfather had a number of plots and accompanying houses in India when the split (between Pakistan and India) occurred in 1947. Some were in the former's name and some in his son's. **Context: My family is Muslim, so they were inclined to move to Pakistan.**

When they decided to move after partition was announced, my grandfather realized there was perhaps little potential for him to maintain and visit these properties ever again. The civil service at that point was taking steps to ensure Muslims leaving behind property in India would be awarded property of similar value in Pakistan, and same vice-versa. But my family wasn't interested.

My grandfather had to act rather quickly and so handed both the ownerships deeds and keys of the properties to his wife's family before setting off for Lahore, who were Kashmiris who had decided to move into mainland India as opposed the other way. They took care of the properties when they could. When my dad got a bit older, and during periods where visas could be issued to anyone of Pakistani origin, he would visit himself, collect the keys, and check the property. Our relatives keep a chowkidaar (general caretaker) at each of the houses to make sure they're not raided and squatted on. It's a miracle they haven't been taken by force considering the tendency of land-grabbing in Pakistan and India.

However, this system is unsustainable. It is a bit unfair to ask distant relatives to routinely visit around, and my father himself is a bit old - to the point where I went alone last year to do my own first check.

Is there anyway to transfer the name in which the deed is given? The issue is the properties seem frozen in time because technically Pakistanis cannot own property in the country. They can't be nominally sold to someone like the relatives or my father either because in retrospect my grandfather isn't supposed to own it in the first place. Everything about the land and housing is legal, down to our property tax payments - it's just that they're from an era of a previous colonial administration and haven't been repossessed by the government of India since nothing has been done with them otherwise to alert them of the existence of the property.

My family is at a loss as to what to do exactly. My distant relatives would most likely be handling the logistics of any decision made. Can anyone point us in a direction as to what to do, and what government agencies/bodies to speak to? I understand it will probably be a bureaucratic nightmare but any information is better than none.

Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 >A place to ask simple legal questions.

Seems pretty far outside the scope of this sub, we deal with parking tickets and landlord disputes. But you might get lucky.

I have a friend who finally got his family property in Lebanon back, 25 years after it was taken. Good luck.


Title: [GA-AZ] Is it possible to revoke parental rights due to abandonment?

Question:
Throwaway here. Me and my wife, K, currently live in GA with her daughter, Jr. We've been married for 6 years. 7 years ago, Jr's Bio-Dad moved away to AZ, and has never seen his daughter since. Jr doesn't remember him, wouldn't even recognize him on the street. Bio-Dad has continued to pay child support but has refused to be in his daughter's life in any way.

Me and K are not in need of money. Our concern is, we want to show Jr the world. We want to take her overseas for vacations to broaden her horizons and let her meet some family she's never met before. Plus, as it is right now, I have no legal rights over Jr, so if something were to happen to K, we're worried that Bio-Dad could show up with a court order and take her from the only family she's ever known. So the question is, would it be possible to strip Bio-Dad of his parental rights on the grounds of abandonment? He's paid child support but again isn't involved in any other way, and has repeatedly stated that he won't be. Me, K, and Jr would all love for me to adopt her, but right now that's impossible. Is there anything we can do?

Answer:
 A step parent adoption would be the way to go.  Since he's been paying consistently, it might be more difficult if he doesn't agree, but not impossible.  You'll need to consult an attorney to do this.Answer #2: I would talk to a family law attorney, he currently has his parental rights and he's paying for child support. But maybe he himself might be open to you adopting his child so that his rights get stripped and he can stop paying child support.

But again, I would talk to a family law attorney to know exactly what your best bet is and possibly how to approach him about this.Answer #3: While abandonment is grounds for [involuntary termination of parental rights](http://www.divorcenet.com/states/georgia/termination_of_parental_rights_in_georgia) in Georgia, the fact that he has continued to pay child support and has objected to a voluntary relinquishment will make your case difficult.

It would at a minimum require you to her adopt her to even have a chance.

You would be best served by consulting a lawyer with experience in these cases who can give you a realistic idea on how the courts/judges in your area are likely to respond to a petition.

NALAnswer #4: Your best bet would probably be to talk to an attorney. Since he is paying child support, he may not qualify as having abandoned his child even if he doesn't see her. There are some states where lack of visiting a child in and of itself can count, but so far in my googling I haven't found anything that indicates this is true in GA without also having failed to pay child support.


Title: Coworker grabbing people's passwords to give self access to private information

Question:
Hey all!

I work in the IS department of an insurance company in **Idaho**. Yesterday after a chain of events, we found out that a coworker, also in the IS department, grabbed passwords of privileged users in the company by using his elevated access in the department, signed in as them in our billing and policy systems, and proceeded to create his own user. He was then able to access the system as himself as he saw fit. He gave himself superuser permissions, meaning he was able to see SSNs, DOBs, etc. of all of our clients. We have his IP address all over the place, so we know it was him.

I'm here to find out if this is explicitly illegal and hopefully documentation backing it up. This guy has been here 15 years, and the company is slow to do anything, really, about his behavior (he's done shady things in the past, but nothing as blatant as this).

I did, of course, Google things like "unauthorized account access," but I had trouble finding specific citations to pertinent laws.

Thank you so much for your help.
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer:
 Your insurance company will (or really, really should) have an ethics/compliance hotline and you should report it to them.  There's no percentage in it for you to push this up the normal org chart.

Usually the hotline will be anonymous.  So document that you reported it separately.


Title: Teen stealing from HS cafeteria

Question:
The principal at my son's HS (in Ohio) just called to let me know that my teen was caught stealing milk and chips from the HS cafeteria. This has been going on for several months... She called him into her office and he confessed.

She is still trying to decide on a punishment.

I am pissed as hell at him. And lost. I have stage 3 cancer and have been getting very aggressive treatment for 7 months so I have been very sick. He has been suffering from depression and sees a therapist.

Should I insist on being there when she meets with him? Should I bring his therapist? A lawyer? I don't know, redditors. Advise me.

Answer:
 Talk to the principal, explain your situation and that your son is acting out (what it seems to me), and offer to pay for all the stolen items and help him through this.

If the police get involved, you want a lawyer.

Wish you the best with your treatment and recovery!Answer #2: >Should I insist on being there when she meets with him?

If you want. The fact that she hasn't already involved the police leads me to believe that her punishment won't involve them. There won't be a need for the therapist, and the lawyer isn't necessary if it doesn't involve some form of legal trouble.


Title: Got charged for the first time with a DWI and resisting arrest in Texas. A little overwhelmed.

Question:
Hi r/legaladvice!  Never been in real trouble before, minor traffic violations aside. I was allegedly driving intoxicated Friday a few hours from where I live.  I tapped another motorist at a fairly high rate of speed but the relative speed difference was minimal. Only damage to his tailgate and not my car, which was a rental BTW (that's probably an important detail).

Officers show up but i had removed myself from the vehicle and the keys as well as locking it. The police later said that they believe I threw the keys (I think i had a mild concussion so the details are not clear to me).  I am still working on getting the narrative police report but the details from this point are a little fuzzy. The other motorist was given my information and left.  The rental was towed and I was placed under arrest. I was allegedly not very agreeable and they beat me up pretty good with handcuffs on. I'm not necessarily crying police brutality or anything but it was an unnecessary amount of force with the marks to prove it. My face is extremely road rashed and I have purple bruises on my arms chest and knees from being grabbed and thrown to the ground, the skin off of my big right toe is almost completely missing and the nail has been crushed. I documented these injuries with photos as soon as I was released. I initially refused blood testing but eventually gave them a breathalyzer which they claim read a .20 although the bail summary says I refused all testing.

I am a multi unit manager for a large retail company so travelling is a huge part of my work. My first steps so far beginning tomorrow morning are to lawyer up, get the petition filed for a hearing to stay the suspension on my license and begin a plan of attack to make it out of this without losing my job, my license or my freedom. My arraignment is scheduled for August 25th.

I know my situation isn't unique but if anyone out there has any guidance I would sure appreciate it.

EDIT: meant to say my situation ISN'T unique. I am not a special snowflake.

EDIT 2: no invitations for counsel on this sub.

EDIT 3: autocorrect on mobile making me appear illiterate.
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 Your situation isn't that unique. You were driving drunk, caused an accident, got arrested, and are now charged with DUI and resisting.

You're on the right track -- get an attorney and follow his advice.


Title: [FL] Girlfriend got caught shoplifting, may get deported, help.

Question:
My girlfriend is 17, and was caught shoplifting a couple months back, she turns 18 in February, and her pretrial hasn’t started yet. She has a lawyer, that told her she should take a plea bargain and get probation. She was caught with merchandise totaling over $500 dollars and a magnet (a device used to shoplift). So she has two felonies. Her lawyer has advised her to take the plea bargain and the judge or whoever will drop one of the felony charges. She’s concerned she could get deported, because her green card expires in 2020, and her mom doesn’t make enough to extend her stay, as well as she will turn 18 under probation, and is unsure whether she can still apply for citizenship, or if she’ll have to apply herself.
What can she do? (She has said to not just say get an immigration lawyer either) (her mom is also not a citizen yet).
Topic:
Immigration

Answer: Can her mother afford a consultation for a second opinion?


Title: I won a $2900 judgement but can't collect... if someone want to collect it - it's yours to keep.. (Denver, CO)

Question: Basically, I ignorantly rented my home to scam artists.  I won about $2900 and had them evicted.  In order to collect the judgement I guess I'd have to garnish wages and I don't really want to go through the hassle.  On the other hand, it really irritates me that they were able to destroy my house and live there rent-free with zero repercussions... so - if somebody has the know-how to collect this judgement for me, I'd sleep more soundly at night knowing that they had to pay.

Answer: Hire a collections attorney. They will buy the judgment from you for cash now or take a % of that recovered.


Title: (WA) Kid who made a hit list at my son's school is being allowed to return tomorrow.

Question: On 2/3 a boy at my son's middle school was found with a "Scarlet" list or hit list, listing the names of several students he wanted to kill. The boy was immediately suspended, but I found out today that he was going to be allowed to return to school tomorrow. I called the school to voice my concerns, but was told by three different school officials that they have procedures in place for this type of thing and that the boy had met all the requirements for returning to school. I am not satisfied. He is returning after less than three weeks. I feel his presence at school endangers the other students. Is there any legal action I can take?

Answer:
 Let's be honest here. If he'd been suspended twice as long, you would have said "he is returning after barely a month". You don't have some kind of minor disagreement with the school's disciplinary policies; you just want the kid expelled.

Which is fine! It's not wrong of you to be protective of your son. But nothing you do or say is going to force them to expel a kid who they think is safe to return to school.Answer #2: I never dealt with a hit list when I was a high school principal, but I've dealt with enough similar issues. That part you are missing is that there is that the default for a potentially dangerous situation is to not have it. So if there is anything in this kids history, or medical treatment or behavior that would lead them to think he posed even the smallest of threat then he would not be back. Why? Because by letting him back in the school would open itself to enormous liability. Keep the kid out, worst that can happen is a kid who made a hit list sues trying to get back in. So unless your school officials are psychopaths or completely and utterly incompetent than the decision to let him back in is actually a good sign. And it is also likely that the kid is getting treatment he needs. I don't think you have any standing to challenge this decision. I also don't think they will reverse it if you complain. Taking your kid to another school if you are still concerned is the only option I can see.


Title: How to make a civil case become a criminal case? (FL)

Question: There is a constructions company that isn't paying there sub contractors, not just one sub contractor but most if not all sub contractors.  The will pay so so at first then completely stop paying, What they typically do is wait until sub contractor has over $100,000 in invoice and then terminate the contract and offer to pay sub contractor $5000 or $10,000. Must sub contractor work there about 2 month before they are terminated and a new batch comes in to have the same thing done to them. What agencies should these subcontractor reach out to start a criminal procedure.  Most of these contractor do not have notice to owner, because they have never had to deal with company so corrupt.  This construction project is on going as we speak,

Answer:
 You contact the police wherever you are and report it.

If they choose to take a report and investigate, and prosecutors issue charges on it, then it becomes a criminal case.Answer #2: Are non of the subs liening the project? Can they not lien it if they didn’t follow the notice to owner protocol?  Either way, they all need contracts attorneys ASAP


Title: Need advice on reporting an assault (U.S)

Question: So my gf was going to work and a lady got mugged about a block in front of her. The mugger noticed her (there were 3) and returned to his vehicle and tried to chase her. Fortunately she was able to evade them by going somewhere public with a lot of people. A few days ago, we were walking and she recognized the car parked just a few feet away from the site of the mugging. I took a few pictures just in case. I ran into the lady who got mugged this morning and she remembered what the car looked like and I also learned one of the muggers was carrying a weapon. Is there anything else I would need in order to have a solid case? This happened a few days ago in New Jersey, U.S.

Answer: Step 1. Call the police.


Title: [Illinois] Kids joining the military made a mistake.

Question:
I have 2 friends trying to join the military. They are already enlisted but don't leave for basic for a while, December I think. They got real stupid one night and were messing around. They ended up taking some guitars and audio equipment from a church, selling it to a guitar store and taking the money.

At what point they realized their mistake is unclear. They said they wanted to make it go away so thats why they sold it, but thats not really relevant. Anyway, the cops catch them, they confess and now they are facing "Class 1 Felony Burglary". Their words.

The guitars and money were all returned to the correct people, which is good. But they want to make it right, and I believe them as much as I may not believe their story or motivation for stealing. Either way, their futures are going down the drain because they will be kicked out of the militaries delayed entry program unless they can fix this in some way. I suggested going to the Church to apologize and offer to make a public apology/volunteer to try to make amends in the hope that they may not press charges. The detective working their case told them specifically not to do this as it would be "tampering with a witness". Again their words.

I dont condone what they did, and I know you guys don't like 3rd person stories as much, and I couldn't even work in an MS Paint drawing that would be relevant... But I am a long time lurker and I wanted your opinions on what they might be able to do. Getting it pled down seems likely to me, but a misdemeanor will still stop them from going to basic and they will end up in their crappy small town forever. So try to talk to the church? Don't? Run from the cops? (/s on that one...)

Answer:
 They made a choice, not a mistake. A conscious choice to break the law multiple times. I am glad they are not going to be service members with those choices.

They need attorneys. That's the only advice at this point. Answer #2: They realized their mistake when they were caught.


Title: [AZ] Friend is employed to do HVAC with a company and he fell through the ceiling. Is he responsible for paying to fix it?

Question:
My friend slipped off a beam and fell through the ceiling of the place he was working in. He believes he's supposed to cover it because it was his accident. Is that something he can be responsible for? I'm sorry I don't have much information I'm not sure what you guys would need to know. Ill try my best to answer any questions asking for details. Thank you.
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 This depends on:

* if he was an employee of the primary company doing the work (company is responsible)
* if he was contracted via a company he is an employee of (his company is responsible)
* if he is an independent contractor (depends on circumstances and the contract). If he has a bond/insurance for this situation, he should talk to his insurance.
* if he is being paid under the table (maybe, coming after him may open the client to issues)

Even if he's not financially responsible, he can be fired. If he is an employee, the employer may not take it out of his paycheck without prior authorization - if that happens, report it to the [Industrial Commission of Arizona](https://www.azica.gov/forms/labor3303).

If he is an employee and was injured, he is covered by worker's compensation.Answer #2: Workers comp is for workplace injuries. Is he a bonafide employee, an independent contractor, or under the table?Answer #3: If he’s a W2 employee: the company is responsible for paying for fixing the ceiling. This would be covered by their liability insurance. If your friend is injured, he would be covered by his employer’s workers compensation insurance.


Title: Landlord damaged TV, not sure if what they're offering is fair MN

Question:
My husband and I just got a new TV for our family room downstairs and UPS delivered it last Monday.  I couldn't get it downstairs myself (way too pregnant for that) so I just pushed it to the stairs so it would be out of the way and my husband could take it down later.  The TV was backed against the wall so it would be really hard to knock down the stairs.

We are responsible for changing the furnace filter of our house each month.  Our landlords (a couple) apparently decided to do a "check" and make sure we were doing this. She did not notify us beforehand, just showed up and came in the house.  She knocked the TV down the stairs.  She had to have been very rough because as I said the TV was backed against the wall and would have had to be slid across the floor several feet in order for it to tip down the stairs.

The landlord then emailed us saying that she was nearly severely injured by us not having a lightbulb in the hallway/stairs fixture so she fell. That is ironic because the reason the light didn't work is because there is no power to that light and the nearby outlets and we had reported it twice to her husband in the past 3 weeks but he hadn't fixed it yet.

Then when I got back home I found the TV, which she had not even mentioned.  So first she tried to not take responsibility because of the light fixture.  Then when she found out it was an electrical problem they needed to fix and hadn't, she said that she doubted she broke the TV and it was probably broken during shipping, and we should file a claim with the shipper (UPS).

Now we have talked to her and her husband both several times.  They are saying blame should be half and half because they didn't fix the light, but we are the ones who had a TV near the stairs (they feel the fact they didn't give us notice of entering is not relevant.)  They are offering to pay half the cost of the TV.

We are not sure if this is fair and what we should reasonably expect out of this situation.  We already tried our renter's insurance but they denied the claim and said we should go after our landlord instead. So the options are to accept 50% or take them to small claims for the whole amount.

Answer:
 Your landlord [entered your apartment illegally](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes?id=504B.211&year=2015&keyword_type=all&keyword=privacy) (assuming you aren't in a mobile home as indicated in the last part of the statute) and broke your TV.  They owe you a new TV.Answer #2: As a fallback plan, what kind of credit card did you use to purchase the TV? I know Amex has an Accidental Incident claim for the first 90 days, and they will pay $1,000 to replace a product.

Just food for thought if going after the landlord doesn't work out.


Title: Girlfriend was fired for not being at work exactly 15 minutes before scheduled time.

Question: Long story short my girlfriend got written up a few weeks ago for making a cash register error, then her company cut her hours in half.  Then today she shows up a few minutes before her scheduled clock in time, when her company asks her to be there fifteen minutes before she actually has to clock in.  She then is fired because if they wrote her up for being "late" it would be "too close" together between write ups.  Is any of this even actually legal?

Answer:
 Stupid, but legal. She should file for unemployment, appeal if denied, usually whatever department in the state government handles these doesn't even look at the reason the company gives for denial until the appeal.Answer #2: It is not legal for companies to require workers to be on the premises when they are not being paid.

It is legal for them to decide when she needs to show up and fire her if she doesn't show up then (but, again, they have to pay her).

It is legal to fire her for making too many mistakes.


Title: Subway Manager schedules us to be "on call" but doesn't pay us for it. (GA)

Question:
The manager of the Subway I work at makes a weekly schedule. On the days and times that we might get really busy he schedules a person to be "on call". This means that if it gets to busy our coworkers can all us in and we have to show up within 30 mins, or we get written up. However we don't get paid for this. We are basically forced to stay in town, and it restricts what we can do on our time off. Want to go to the movies? Nope, You wanna play on a baseball team? Nope. Because you might get called in.

I feel like on the few days I get off of work, I still don't get to have a life. And theres no compensation for it.

(Is this legal? Thank you for helping me and my coworkers)

To make matters worse, I don't have a car and everyone knows this. It takes me 20 minutes to walk to work. So on the days that I'm off of work but "on call" I'm essentially confined to my house because I wouldn't be able to go anywhere and make it back in the 30 minute window that he gives us.

Answer: I think this is a subway thing because my sister has on call days. We’re in Florida. Answer #2: It is probably legal to be on call like this. It is a dick move that they write you up if you can't get there in thirty minutes. Also it's bad planning on their part if they don't know what time would get busy and plan ahead. I'm a bit confused if you mean that the person on call isn't paid at all when they are at work or that they aren't compensated for being on call.Answer #3: NAL, but this is probably a minimum wage job. Just get another minimum wage job. It probably wont be worse.


Title: Screwed in reverse mortgage scam

Question:
Hey everyone,
I was hoping someone could help me by telling me what kind of lawyer I need, I'm not asking for a referral, just the type of lawyer to contact.
A man from chicago named ****  was indicted federally for pulling reverse mortgage scams that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly homeowners in one of Chicago's worst neighborhoods. My roommates mom was one of his victims. She had owned her house since the 60's and lost over $120,000 (the equity in her home.)
Now that the man has been caught and indicted,  what kind of lawyer does she need? And if she cannot afford a lawyer at all then what would be the next step?

Answer: She should look into the class-action lawsuit and contact them.  Personal lawyer isn't necessarily required if you go through them.


Title: Got removed from an upcoming lease for questioning fire safety (Boston)

Question:
Hi! My roommates and I signed a lease on an apartment in Boston several months ago. We had visited the apartment and were fine with it. However, I’m younger and kind of an idiot I guess because I never questioned the fire safety of one of the rooms.

It was a basement room with only one door, and no sprinkler system. A family member heard of this situation and strongly suggested I verify the fire safety of the unit. So, I emailed our broker and asked to see the certificate of occupancy.

He responded by saying the unit was fire safe but that he didn’t know what that certificate was. I sent a follow up with links to a Boston.gov page explaining what it is (which is weird considering he’s a broker, so pretty sure he was just playing dumb) and also links to the relevant violated fire codes. (Need 2 forms of egress, with one to the outdoors if there’s no sprinkler system and it’s a basement bedroom)

He responded promptly saying that we were off the lease and would be refunded our money and that the apartment would not be rented as a 4 bedroom anymore (I was never given a certificate of occupancy, the broker also said that old buildings in Boston do not need it...)

Things get worse when we check Zillow and sure enough it’s been relisted with the exact same number of bedrooms.

Two questions:
1) I feel like we should report this, but I have no idea where to turn to.
2) Is there anything illegal about closing a leasing deal while possibly being negligent of fire codes? it seems they know very well what they’re doing as they reposted the damn apartment.

Also, I may be completely wrong and the broker is telling the truth, and certificates of occupancy aren’t what I think they are.

Thanks for the help, I realize I should have thought of this waaaay earlier, but lesson learned I guess :(
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 The state of MA has some pretty tenant friendly laws.

First, did he refund all money you had paid?  Are you out any money? If so, they have to make you whole.  They cannot just cancel the housing CONTRACT because you are asking questions.

You don’t want to live there, though.  Not if it doesn’t have 2 forms of egress.


Title: Left apartment due to landlord breaching contract, now being taken to collections. (UT)

Question:
I entered into a contract at an apartment complex in December, when I moved in I was given an apartment inventory sheet that asked me to note the condition of the apartment, where I noted that the couch was broken, and stained, the Carpets had large burn marks and stains in them, and the bathroom shower handle was not secured to the wall. I stayed in the apartment for around 4 months, with no attempt to fix these issues, I notified the office that I would be moving out in April and filled out an "intent to sell" for my contract. Upon moving out, and being unsuccessful in finding a buyer for my contract, I started receiving collections letters, and now a court summons.

In the contract it is stated that:

IF RENTING SIGHT UNSEEN, i.e. Student has not had the opportunity to inspect the unit covered by this lease, then landlord warrants that the unit to be occupied by tenant will be in good, habitable condition and will conform to any *model unit shown to tenant in all material respects except as agreed. If the unit is not in good condition or does not conform to the model unit in some material respect, except as agreed to, student may give written notice to landlord that unless the deficiency is corrected within a specified reasonable time, the rental agreement will be void. If the landlord fails to correct the deficiency within the specified reasonable time, student has no further obligations under the rental agreement and the landlord must return all monies previously paid to him by student regardless of how denominated. *(Model units are for show purposes. Assigned apartment units may have different flooring, paint color, furnishings and/or décor, but must contain appliances and furnishings in keeping with what was shown)

And

After written notice from the student of any material, substantial, or continuing breach of this Agreement by the landlord or of a failure of the landlord to take reasonable steps to maintain the Residential Living Standards and the landlord fails to correct the problem within a reasonable amount of time, the student may terminate without penalty or further contractual obligation upon written notice of termination, or, in the alternative if requested by the student, the student may receive a rebate in rent as determined in arbitration or a court of law

Was I incorrect to leave my apartment under the impression that the contract was breached due to the landlord not fixing the issues in the apartment, or am I in the right here?

The summon;
http://imgur.com/qXLh9F3
http://imgur.com/ZDFbpEx

Answer:
 BYU contracted housing, right? Thought I recognized the stink of a Provo slumlord.

Well, so, first off, since it is BYU contracted, they used the BYU-written Student-Landlord Rental Agreement, which is explicit that you and your landlord have to take disputes to the Center for Conflict Resolution. If your landlord hasn't done that yet, going straight to civil court is a breach of contract, which you should mention in your written reply.

Getting any help from that first paragraph will turn on whether you did

> give written notice to landlord that unless the deficiency is corrected within a specified reasonable time

you would void the agreement.

Getting help from the second paragraph will depend on your being able to show what part of the Agreement or Residential Living Standards was breached by the condition of the apartment (I'd start with "safe, reasonably clean, and operable" in Section 5 of the Agreement), and again, that you gave written notice.


Title: I have human aggressive dogs. 2 of my friends with dogs want to move in with me. How do I protect myself legally if there is a dog bite?

Question:
I have a large amount of dogs on a farm in the texas country. My house is pretty ideal for someone who is serious about dogs, and as a result 2 of my friends want to move in with me, as well as friends boyfriend who likes dogs but isnt dog crazy like we are. They would bring their dogs, who are well bred and socially adjusted dogs (I have well bred good dogs, but I also rescue a lot and that's where the unpredictable dogs come in. I take in the euthanasia list.)

I have been bitten by my dogs in the training process, however no one else has been bitten by these dogs since I got them (they all have bite records in precious homes). I have gotten most of them to the point that a stranger (and by stranger I mean one of my friends who is new to the dogs. If an actual stranger stepped onto my property they would be killed) can be around them as long as they don't try and interact with them. I am extremely strict about these rules, and no one steps into my home without me giving thorough instructions. I understand that if a guest gets bit on my property, I'm liable and as a result I do tend to put the aggressive dogs in a closed off section of the farm, but sometimes 1 or 2 is in the main area or in the house. But I cant do that with someone living here.

Is there a contract I can have them sign that will protect me if they move in, are instructed on how to manage the dogs, and they get bit? I dont mean just when it's the humans fault for doing something dumb or not thinking, but also when it is just a random bite.

I don't want my friends to get hurt, I will do everything I can to prevent it. But if I have been bitten by these dogs.....at some point anyone living here will get bitten. Most likely it would be a quick bite and release, not causing significant damage (bad damage has happened to me twice, early on in training. All bites since getting further in training are bite and release).

I know this is going to be controversial. I know keeping human aggressive dogs is controversial. But they are my family, and I won't let them be put down.

State is Texas.
Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 You cant. You are responsible for your dogs. Answer #2: Think of it this way: not only does bringing in others make you liable if your dogs bite someone, it's also possible that the dog that does the bite will get put down.Answer #3: Others have addressed your main question, but I'm incredibly concerned that you think it's okay if your dogs KILL someone they don't know if they're on your property. I don't believe even being hurt is legal, much less death. I would strongly advise you to learn your local laws about dogs and trespassers. I'm very worried for you and your dogs if something happens.

Seriously, there are potentially severe ramifications for your dogs being "human aggressive", and you should learn what those are before allowing anyone near your dogs, much less having someone live with them. Answer #4: You are opening yourself up to legal liability, and opening the dogs up to the chance of being euthanized. There's no way to get around that. Answer #5: You don't. You're wholly responsible for your dogs. Answer #6: You put the dogs down.  Answer #7: If the dogs are really that bad you're just opening yourself up to legal trouble.  Your best bet is to not let your friends move in.  There's no contract or agreement you can make them sign releasing you from liability. Answer #8: You open yourself up to a lot of legal trouble by keeping these dogs around wether or not you mean to. If a kid accidentally wandered onto your property and is killed, you are responsible. You’re the person that they’ll come after, I’m not saying they’ll be successful but it is a very big liability. You need to revaluate if these dogs really are worth it.


Title: Landlord wants me to testify in exchange for a break of my lease?

Question:
I won’t go into too much detail about my living situation (already made a post about it), but essentially there is a lot of illegal activity going on at my building and it’s very unsafe therefore I’ve been asking to break my lease. After a long exchange of back and forth emails the property manager has come back and said they’ll ask the owners if I can break my lease in exchange for me testifying to court if needed about the illegal activity going on in the building.
I’m really not sure how I should respond back. A) me agreeing to testify may not 100% result in me being able to break my lease
B) that seems like a lot to ask now

Help?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Ask them for an unconditional release from your lease, and tell them you will cooperate with the police if approached in regards to an investigation. It may or may not be in your best interest (for example in regards to your personal safety) to testify in a court case against criminals who were your neighbors, and you should seek the advice of an attorney on that point.


Title: AT&T turned off my data because I told them I was switching to Verizon

Question: I told an employee on a live chat through the AT&T app that if we cant help me fix my problem ill be switching to Verizon. As soon as I said that to him, he turned off my data on my phone. I lost hundreds of dollars because it happened right during our lunch rush and I use my phone to run credit card sales on Square. My data was turned off so I could not do that. I have no idea what to do

Answer: So did you call back & ask about it? I have a hard time believing that would do that if you are paying. You have yet to leave the company so..


Title: [Georgia] Moving 40 minutes away, can my ex take me back to court?

Question:
Right now we are about a 5 minute drive from my son's father's house. Literally right down the street.

My boyfriend's dad is moving and has offered to let us live in his house for half of what we are paying in rent right now. It is however a 40 minute commute to our current city.

It's a much bigger home in the country and we are currently in a 2 bedroom townhouse in the city. My boyfriend also has a daughter who he has full-custody of. Being in a home with more than 2 bedrooms would be great at this point.

Renting a larger home in our current city would be too expensive for us, not to mention crime here is rated as very high. There's been tons of shootings lately, it's scary.

I told my ex that we were thinking of moving to this new house and I have a feeling that he is going to try to make it impossible for me to do so. I offered longer visits during summer and school holidays. All I got out of him was "there are going to be issues".

Does my ex have any chance of forcing us to stay here? I checked our court papers and they don't say anything about relocating. I've called my lawyer's office several times and haven't received a call back.

Answer:
 you might have to pay for the additional cost of  transportation, but as long as this move doesnt inturrupt his visitation time (and cost) you should be fine

you will still be in the same county and state right?


Title: Can I get a restraining order against my grandpa if he hasn't directly threatened me?

Question: I recently moved back to my hometown in Benton County, Washington with my fiancee to watch my parents house while they get settled in a new job, until they sell it. We are both trans people and are both queer/pan/bi. My grandpa lives about 5 minutes away by car. I know that I the past he has directly threatened his own children for being queer, for example I was discussing this with my aunt (cis pan) earlier today and she stated that he'd said to her that he wished he could incorporate his own city where it's legal to beat your children for being queer. My parents decided that he and his wife (my step grandma) should know that I'm in town so that they aren't surprised by me being in the house if they visit my brother (who is also living in their house until it's sold). I said I was uncomfortable with this but begrudgingly agreed, and then they decided that he and his wife should come over tomorrow because "they didn't stiffen up when I told them about your name and gender" and apparently I "should" see them. I'm genuinely concerned for the safety of both my fiancee and myself, but I don't know if there I anything I can do in this situation.

Answer:
 You'll have a difficult time persuading the court to award a restraining order against a man you have not been threatened by. Perceived/interpreted threat isn't sufficient unless you can establish he's had a documented history of violence for this reason.

While you cannot preemptively place a restraining order, you can simply avoid him. If he seeks you out and begins harassing you, then that is when you should begin documenting information to give to the court.


Title: Interpol flagged my name at the Baghdad airport at last visit

Question: I have traveled to Iraq before on business and last time at the Baghdad airport´, Interpol flagged my name.  This has resulted in me being denied a visa for an upcoming trip to Iraq.  Any information or experience with this would be highly appreciated.  Keeping it vague for obvious reasons.

Answer: Have you attempted to contact Interpol regarding this event? Automated flagging infamously results in innocent names being flagged for any number of reasons that the system deems sufficient for suspicion. How were you notified that your name was flagged? Either whatever notice you got or Interpol itself should have an answer on how to deal with the matter. If you feel there's no legitimate basis for your name being flagged, just reach out and find out.


Title: Jiffy Lube wrecked my engine

Question:
I was on here a bit back about a poor experience at a service station.  Draining my oil then telling me they didn't have the oil my car required but gave me something close.  Everyone said not to worry at worst it would give me less gas milage until the next change.

I wrote the franchise owners but never heard back.

I just got my "time to service" for oil notice to come up.  I brought it in and turns out I had almost no oil.  My oil bolt was stripped and leaking oil.  They were the last people to touch it and the mechanic also said the oil light looks meddled with because it doesn't appear to be working.

How can I force the franchise owner to respond to my complaint this time?

Answer: Contact corporate. Otherwise it would be lawsuit time.


Title: [USA - WA State] I am trying to negotiate a settlement for an incorrect medical bill but the attorney keeps including odd language in the contract...

Question:
Last year I received an incorrect bill and after a bunch of back and forth, they eventually removed half the charge but kept trying to charge me the other half.  I just sent certified letters telling them I didn't owe it and would sue them if it went to collections.

Well lo and behold it went to collections earlier this year.  I had everything documented so I filed a small claims lawsuit against the hospital.  Their attorney reached out and said they would pay me the amount plus costs to settle it.

However the settlement originally came with language that tried to release the hospital from ALL claims against them, including medical malpractice, and I didn't feel comfortable at all with signing it.  The doctor in question did some weird shit that I am still unsure about though I am not solid on if what he did constituted malpractice or if he was just a bad doctor.  I told them I was only interested in releasing them from liability issues related to the billing/collections of the amount and the attorney agreed (or so I thought).

He changed the language in the contract to state that it was only to release them from billing issues, but at the end of the contract it states:

"I HAVE COMPLETELY READ, FULLY UNDERSTAND AND VOLUNTARILY
ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINAL RESOLUTION AND
SETTLEMENT OF THE SPECIFIED BILLING CLAIMS AND PRECLUDING
FOREVER ANY OTHER CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY
CONNECTED WITH THE INCIDENTS, INJURIES, OR DAMAGES ABOVE
MENTIONED."

My issue is the whole "or in any way connected part."  Does this inadvertently include malpractice or other claims?  The billing is of course "connected" to that in some way.  Even though the rest of the contract clearly states "billing issues" before this paragraph I can't tell if this guy is trying to fuck me over and make me sign away rights to anything else.  Or is this standard legal language that won't affect other matters?  This is such a small matter that I don't feel comfortable with paying an attorney just for a consultation.

Answer:
 Yes it's connected to any suit you may bring as well. This is typical douchebag lawyer tactics. Do not sign and talk to a lawyer.Answer #2: Just tell him that this settlement is for the billing issues ONLY and then add in the extra "BILLING" as indicated below and send it back to him indicating that you made that change.  Then you should be good to go...

"I HAVE COMPLETELY READ, FULLY UNDERSTAND AND VOLUNTARILY ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINAL RESOLUTION AND SETTLEMENT OF THE SPECIFIED BILLING CLAIMS AND PRECLUDING FOREVER ANY OTHER **BILLING** CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE INCIDENTS, INJURIES, OR DAMAGES ABOVE MENTIONED."


Title: As a minor, do I legally have the right to refuse medications prescribed to me by a psychiatrist?

Question:
I am a teenager, and I have anxiety, ADHD and "depression". I put depression in quotations because my parents and psychiatrist are the ones claiming I have depression, I don't think I do (Anyways though, not the point). My parents idea of fixing these things is to feed me tons of medications that I don't want. I've gone through more than 15 different medications through the past 3 years and I keep having to switch because my parents say they aren't working because they aren't getting the results they want to see.

I don't want to take medications anymore, and I have expressed this numerous times to my parents, to no avail.

MAIN POINT: Legally, as a minor, do I have the right to refuse medications prescribed to me? Or even better, do I have the power to make my psychiatrist not prescribe them at all?

EDIT: I am a teenager, and live in Waco, TX.

Answer:
 You cannot tell a doctor how to do their job, no.  You can ask to see a different doctor for another opinion.

Realistically, no one can "force" you to take medication or accept treatment. That being said, if you refuse treatment at home, your parents are free to send you to an inpatient/residential  facility for treatment.

In any case, you should not stop taking the medications without talking to your doctor. Many drugs require the recipient be properly weaned off or they can cause serious complications.


Title: [CA] If I [30 F] have someone to represent me for free, should I go through with it?

Question:
I've never sued someone before because I don't believe in that even if some people may deserve it and that's not how I make my money...but someone lawyers have called and talked to me and one told me based off of just the little details I told him, he could see that I was treated different because of my background.

I told him about some girls at work harassed me and I told him their race/ethnicity and how they got away with it and then he said that's more evidence to him how I was let go based off of my race/ethnicity especially when they barely got into trouble and I was the one let go.

This staffing agency did ruin my career to get hired into a place I really wanted to work for.  They terminated me, and now I have to wait another 6 months just to reapply through someone else and I think they tried to blacklist me from the hired-in company, too, but they're not allowed to do that.

They also had the nerve to have their lawyer contact me to "cease & desist" anything even though I wasn't doing anything illegal.  They incriminated my e-mails and messages trying to damage my reputation.

tl;dr  Some managers at my old job favored certain race/ethnicity over others.  A lawyer says I have evidence to strongly prove that.  If I have a lawyer who can prove my old company treated me differently because of my race/ethnicity, should I go through with it?  He said he would charge all the lawyer fees on them.  Of course I'm not agreeing to anything until he comes up with a contract.
Topic:
Business Law

Answer: Sometimes you can get a lawyer to take a case on contingency, and sometimes you can successfully sue for legal costs. Read any fee agreement very carefully before signing. It overrides anything you are verbally told.


Title: Legality of no breaks?

Question:
I recently started a new part time job in Missouri and this company doesn't do breaks. They allow employees to use the bathroom or grab a drink or buy something from there to eat as needed, but you're supposed to eat/drink between duties. My husband thinks this is illegal, but this company, although regional, is huge, so I'm thinking there must be a loophole or something. They employ several 16 & 17 year olds, and their shifts are 6-8 hours long, if any of that makes a difference.

It doesn't bother me, which is why I'm posting in OT, but I am curious about the legality

Answer:
 Missouri doesn't require employers to provide any kind of breaks at all (meal, rest, etc.) to their employees.

[Missouri's Youth Employment laws](https://labor.mo.gov/youth-employment) only apply to those under the age of 16.


Title: DE: Paying Rent After Eviction

Question: My brother was recently told by his landlord that he needed to leave by October 26th or he will be evicted for breaking his lease agreement. His lease was for one year and was set to end on November 30th. He left on the 26th and after the landlord did a walkthrough of the apartment we were informed that we needed to pay for damages done to the apartment, which was completely understandable, and also November's rent. I don't see how he is still required to pay rent on an apartment he isn't living in after being told to leave. Any advice would be very helpful.

Answer: He isn't (unless the place is so trashed that it will reasonable take a month to fix LL is claiming lost rent due to excessive damage but let him take you to court over that), but it would be best that the request to leave was in writing , email or text even.  If he has that he needs to save it in a safe place  FOR YEARS.  If it was noy in writing , your brother should communicate in writing now "I will not be paying rent for Nov , as you asked me to leave by Oct 26."  I would do so both in a certified letter and email (LL is likely to reply quickly to the email)


Title: [Update] | [Update] Updates.

Question: [removed]

Answer: You should make /r/legaladviceupdatesofftopic to discuss the updates.Answer #2: Drunken shitposting. What have I become?


Title: My upstairs neighbors flooring makes a nails on the chalk board sound and I NEED out

Question:
So I am located in Tx. I very recently moved into a more expensive apartment that I fell in love with. They only problem is that my upstairs neighbors have hardwood floors that were not installed correctly and make a horrid squeaking/scratching sound from hell. I have been here 3 weeks and have taking Advil every day for headaches. It gets under my skin so bad. I signed the lease for a year and have already alerted the apartments of the issue through an email. I am scared they will not take me seriously since I have yet to get a response. Do I have a legal right to a quiet environment? I would think the apartment would take care of the issue since it is an issue with installed flooring? How would they let me move in if they knew of the issue (I’m assuming they do since it’s literal hell)? Should I alert my upstairs neighbors to try to get them on my side?

There are marks all over the ceilings where the previous neighbors were hitting them trying to alert the upstairs neighbors.  Would I have more of a case if the previous tenants told management about the issue?

Please help. I’m so scared that I am stuck here. I almost rented a hotel room the other day so I could sleep peacefully.

Answer:
 Go talk to the landlord and ask them to tell the tenant upstairs to put down rugs. Or go talk to upstairs people yourself and ask politely for them to put down rugs.

You can also invite one of the upstairs neighbors down to your place to hear the noises while someone else walks around/moves chairs/etc. That way upstairs people will really understand how bad it is. Just be sympathetic and super polite. Upstairs people are probably glad the ceiling-bangers are gone and may be motivated to work with you if you show that you are polite and reasonable.


Title: Game dev hired me to write dialogue sold 55k units of game and never paid me.

Question: So i worked for a small dev company for about a year writing dialogue and doing game design. We never had a written agreement but he told me i would be paid. After a year of him extending the project and never paying me i told him i was done and he couldn't use my work. Instead he sold 55k copies of it and was trying to sell the rights to the unfinished game to a third party. I was able to copyright about 80k words that i wrote but he stole another 80k that i didnt get back since they were on the server. Since then i hired a lawyer and he said even though i have a copyright on the dialogue he is selling, even though he is def breaking the law. It wouldnt be worth the cost to sue him. This lawyer costs about 350 an hour. I cant help to think that maybe he just wasnt experienced in this area as he was confused how video games and computers worked. Nice guy but  out of his depth. I live in Tennessee,  and he owes me at least 8k for my work. It has ruined my life for the past 2 years. I want accept that he gets off free I would love to sue him for ruining my life also if possible. He lied to me told me my work was his and kept me working for a long time by holding my work hostage. This is abusive on many levels. I dont know where to go from here. Any advice would be awesome.

Answer:
 No one here can contradict your lawyer on the little bit of information we have.

If the advice was that it’s likely not cost effective to pursue this matter given what you’ll spend on the effort and what you stand to recover, that advice seems reasonable here.


Title: [GA] Neighboring homeowner association suing mine (and others) for alleged water damage from neglect.

Question:
Our knowledge is limited to what the accusing association has revealed.  My condo complex and the one next to it are atop a hill that leads down to a road which is parallel to a river. There is a townhome complex across the road with their backyard touching the river.  [Shitty MSPaint drawing.](http://i.imgur.com/Ottixn6.png)

Anyway, the association of the townhomes at the bottom is suing my association, the association next to ours, *and the county* for neglect to maintain some sort of water main which supposedly broke causing water to run down the hill and cause damage to their townhomes.  The accusing association called ours requesting to talk about it (I believe the word used was "mediation").  When our lawyer asked for their evidence they never responded.  They asked us to come sit down and talk about it again (I suppose for the same reason as the first time - to try and work out a deal or something), and our lawyer responded the same - asking for their evidence.  Again, no reply.  This happened two months ago, and nothing has happened since.

As a concerned property owner of one of the associations being sued, I want to ensure that my board and their lawyer do everything they can to avoid me being assessed thousands of dollars (because I REALLY cannot afford that kind of blow).

Any advice?  Shouldn't the suing townhomes have their insurance cover it?  Why are we even being involved?

Answer:
 Have you actually been sued? Or are they just writing letters saying we want to discuss come sit down with us for mediation?

If the latter just have your attorney keep demanding evidence that you're at fault. If they actually serve papers for a suit, they'll need to supply their evidence then.

And anyone can sue for anything.


Title: How do you know if you are paying someone "under the table"?

Question:
Hello Legal Advice! Ok, so this may be the stupidest question this subreddit has ever received but: how do you know if you're paying someone under the table? Under what circumstances do you have to pay taxes for people who work for you?

My circumstance: my wife and I have had a cleaning service come in once a month for a few years. We got their contact information from our in laws. As far as we know, the gentleman who comes and cleans our house owns the business. We pay him by check every month, and he pays the workers who work for him. I never once thought about if we were paying him "under the table," but I saw a "nanny tax" mentioned in another post and now I'm wondering. I always just considered it a service, like if you went into a shop and paid someone $30 to fix a watch. Is that not correct? We've never paid any sort of taxes on his behalf. We are one of many, many houses he cleans. Should we be paying tax on his behalf for the hour he spends cleaning? For that matter, if we pay someone to mow our lawn, do we pay taxes on their behalf? Is there a cutoff (monetarily) on when you must pay taxes? For instance, if we pay the neighbor kid $40 to mow our lawn once, that's ok, but if we pay him $40 every week we need to pay taxes? Again, I'm sorry if this is a stupid question--I just want to make sure that if we need to pay taxes on behalf of our cleaners, that we do so (and if we can ever find anyone to mow our lawn that we do that correctly too).

Edit: I'm in California.

Answer:
 You are not an employer in this case.  You are the customer.  You don't have to worry about paying taxes.

There are two possibilities regarding taxes.  If the cleaning service is a business that hires people, then the business will pay taxes on their profits.  If the cleaning service is owned by the cleaners, then they are self-employed and they will pay taxes on their own tax return.

In either case it's not your concern.


Title: My wife was treated with a brand new medicine that she was not a candidate for, she had complications because of it that put her into the hospital. Ohio

Question:
My wife saw a doctor about complications of diabetes and to be placed on a new regimen to control her blood sugar, in the office her physician administered a new (very new) medication to her prior to running any labs; this medicine made her I'll enough to require admittance to the hospital through the ER for an overnight stay (there is no doubt in anyone's mind that it was anything but the medication that sent her there, confirmed by the prescribing physician).  A few days after being released, my wife was admitted again due to having a stroke (very uncommon considering her age).

The manufacturers info sheet medication in question specifically states that people in certain situations should not use said medication, two of the situations mentioned applied to my wife; one of the situations was tested for, but the labs were ran more than 24 hours after the drug was administered.

I really don't know if the side effects of the medication is what triggered my wife's stroke, but there is some evidence that it is possible.

Should I contact a malpractice attorney?  I really don't have any desire to create a stir unless I have very strong evidence that damages were occurred directly due to the use of the drug my wife was put on.

Thanks

Answer:
 You should contact a medical malpractice attorney.

You may or may not have a case. But making a mistake is not, by itself, malpractice. But talk to an attorney. Consults for this are generally free


Title: Is it legal to smoke marijuana in my parked but running car in my own driveway in Michigan?

Question:
I cant smoke inside and its cold as fuck so Im looking at my car like... I mean? Right? But I dont know the new laws too well and I cant seem to find anything outside of driving specifically or for Michigan. And right now Im in a very crowded neighborhood. Im worried of being questioned or called on so I want to be armed if its legal or what my defense would be. Anyone know? Sorry I wasnt sure which flair to use. This is not a troll post!
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer: if a cop shows up you could very well be ticketed for operating a vehicle while under the influence


Title: Company I work for keeps trying to bribe us to support a musician...is this legal? [AR]

Question:
I think the person they are trying to get us to support is a 'client' of the company. (We are a marketing company.) However, I know the person they want us to support is definitely the daughter of one of the heads of our company.

It feels like this must be illegal. They are sourcing us to 'like' her on social media, and have even asked for our usernames to websites and (I think) they are just plugging in all the usernames we give them so get 'votes' for this musician.

It really bothers me, but before I make any kind of stink about it I want to know if what they are doing is legal. I know these are small music contests - and I think the winners get to go on some country music tour.

http://imgur.com/Z1pl14Q
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: This isn't illegal. Just delete the emails and forget about it.


Title: Parents attempting to commit tax fraud by falsely claiming me as a dependent. Worried about how this is going to affect me (GA)

Question:
I'm 24 years old, live on my own, and have a full time job. I was 24 years old on December 31, 2017.

My parents paid for the deposit and first month's rent of my apartment, and helped pay for some of the furniture in my apartment. Now they're trying to claim that money on their taxes, falsely claiming they have covered over half of my living expenses. They also want me to get a document from my university (I took classes one semester last year, which I paid for), and want to declare on their taxes that they paid for it.

My husband is an immigrant, we are applying for his green card, and I'm sponsoring him. I have to be able to prove that I'm able to support him, which I am. If my parents are falsely claiming that they are covering over half my living expenses, his application is almost certainly going to be denied and he could be deported.

They've vaguely threatened me that they'll be done with me if I don't help them commit this fraud. I already have my mind made up that I won't get the document from the university to help them lie on their taxes, but I don't know what steps I should take next. Having to turn my own parents to the IRS seems kind of shitty, but I don't want to risk getting arrested for knowing about a crime and doing nothing, or having my husband's green card application get denied because they're falsely claiming to support me on their taxes. Should I report them? If I don't, will my husband's application for residency be in jeopardy? Could I be forced to testify against a parent if the IRS audits them or they get arrested for tax fraud?

Answer: What will happen if you both claim yourself is that the IRS computers will chug along and in a year or so you will both get a letter saying one of you has to amend your tax return and that person will owe the tax plus interest and penalties. Nobody is going to jail here over one dependent. So what you should do is file a correct tax return and tell them you won't help them and that's the end of the conversation.  Let the IRS realize it in a year or so.


Title: Ex Parte

Question:
Edited.

. My brother-in-law is in a custody dispute with his daughter’s mother for the past four years. He’s exhausted his resources as well as the baby mama as they are both acting in a pro se manner. However she has paralegal experience and therefore the upper hand. She is attempting to use an ex parte request to obtain a psychiatric evaluation. She is also using an ex parte motion for emergency sole custody pursuant LA CCP aRT. 3945With rule to show cause as well as an Ex parte a motion to approve a new custody evaluator. In the state of Louisiana the party motioning ex parte has the capability of changing custody if they are able to show the court the child may sustain irreparable damage. How does one respond to this?

Answer: That's not nearly enough information for anyone to give you a meaningful answer.


Title: Legal rights concerning unusable toilets in rented apartment [California]

Question:
I've been renting this apartment for around 18 months now and have had no issues with my landlord. She has always been extremely nice and responsive. However, she's a bit hands off which has left me to handle a lot of maintenance issues.

The current situation: One of the two toilets in my apartment started having water pressure issues, so after contacting the landlord and her home warranty company for a few days, I finally got a plumber to come in yesterday. He said he has to replace the tank (it's one of those high pressure-low water closed tanks), and will need to wait for it to be approved by the warranty company, and then delivered.

After he left I looked up the serial number of the tank to find that it had been part of a major manufacturers recall in July 2016. It was recalled due to risk of impact and laceration (i.e. it can explode and cause injury). The recall notice says to shut the water supply off immediately. I contacted my landlord about this and she ended up calling the company to order a repair kit for the recalled tank. She said to definitely keep the water supply shut off until it is repaired. The problem is, the repair kit won't arrive for another 6-8 days, then the plumber has to come in to actually do the repair.

So here's my problem...my landlord told me to shut off the water supply to that toilet, and apologized for the inconvenience. There is another toilet located within another roommate's bedroom suite so she probably expects the three of us to use that toilet in the meantime. However, I made her fully aware that the tank in that toilet is also part of an *earlier* recall from 2014, and this morning she ordered a repair kit for that toilet too. She didn't specifically say to shut the water off to that toilet, but I'm assuming I should since she would not want to be liable for injury should something go wrong.

My question is: What are my legal rights in this situation? Technically both toilets in my apartment are unusable since they are part of documented recalls in 2014 and 2016. My landlord was unaware of both recalls until I notified her, so I feel as though she should be extra concerned about the situation. She has done everything she can do right now in terms of contacting the tank manufacturer to order repair kits, but now my roommates and I are in limbo since we technically *shouldn't* use either toilet. Is my landlord legally obligated to provide funds for alternate accommodation during this time, or a rent refund for the time until the toilets are repaired? Is in unreasonable for me to ask for these things even though my landlord neglected 2 recall notices?

Thank you!

Answer: Does the 2014 recall instruct you to shut off the water to that toilet?  If so you don't have a working bathroom which makes the rental unit uninhabitable.  I'd ask the landlord to pay for a nearby hotel while the issue is being fixed.  If not, then you're down to one toilet for the three of you.  I'd ask the landlord to give you a small rent discount, but wouldn't push that point to hard, it's a small inconvenience.


Title: Father of my child committing greencard fraud

Question:
Hi! Throwaway

The father of my child is dragging out the child support process as far as he can. It's been 8 months since the petition was filed, he has has been to court 4 times since then, the next one isn't for another 3 months. I would like to speed things up.

I recently received an interesting Facebook message from a friend of his new wife (who he met before our breakup, when I was 5 months pregnant, and married 2 months after his son was born) claiming that she paid him a bribe in order to get a sham marriage. Her visa was set to expire this fall, and she wanted a green card.

Basically, I want half the bribe she paid him, and I want child support to be set up ASAP.

How likely is it that they would be investigated for fraud if I tipped immigration off?

If I **do not** tell immigration, will I be in trouble?

If I message him asking for money sent directly, and for him to be super enthusiastic about setting up payments at the next hearing... is that extortion? Should I care?

(I just want to add, he's not a good person. He's refused to meet his son, he has no intention of ever doing so, and he's never sent so much as a diaper for him. I know this post sounds callous and money grubbing as fuck, but I just want good things for my son. He owes him a good life.)

Edit: He is in New York, my son and I are in California

Answer:
 You have no obligation to tell immigration, but forwarding those messages to them could get them to act on them.

You asking him to pay you and insinuating you'll go to the authorities is extortion.  Don't do that.

Your best bet is to hire a family lawyer that can get you the most favorable deal.


Title: Is it legal to leave a restaurant after you've placed an order in the drive-through?

Question:
I just visited the drive-through at a fast-food restaurant. The line was longer than it sometimes is, and the service seemed to be slower than it sometimes is.

The car in front of me left the restaurant without paying and without picking up their order. I think that's a lousy thing to do, because the restaurant probably prepared the food, and it will now probably go to waste.

Is what the driver in the car in front of me did illegal?

If it matters, let's assume that the driver intended to pay and pick up the food at the time they placed the order; and that the driver left because they were unhappy with the speed of the service; and that the restaurant prepared the driver's order and then threw it away.

Location: Wisconsin.

EDIT: No idea what flair to use. I'll say "Contracts" because it seems like a question about an understanding made between the restaurant and the driver at the time the order was placed.
Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 You could make a contracts 101 argument that there was offer and acceptance and the restaurant make the food based on the reasonable belief the customer would pay for it and now they have suffered losses, but no fast food place would pursue that for a one time incident. Answer #2: worked in fast food a LOOONG time ago, and the reality is that this is pretty much par for the course. They have margins built in for wasted food, but, in reality, they are probably going to be able to re-purpose it for another customer, especially if the line was as long as you say. If it doesn't get reused quickly (within whatever freshness guideline the store uses) or if it is a made to order meal, the employees get a free meal.

People pull this all the time. Either they decide that they don't have time to wait, or order and realize they don't have cash, or are high as a kite and think it's funny (which it never is), or just change their minds. It's why a lot of places have you pay at one window and pick up your order at a second window, since they actually wait to "execute" the order until you pay. From a friend that owned a fast food franchise I learned that they would never make an order that was more than a car full of people could eat until they had cash in hand, as drunk/high morons would roll up and order 20 cheeseburgers and pull away when they realized they were broke, and that would be too large of an order to absorb.


Title: [OR] Our company decreased our vacation hours cap, and isn't paying out the lost time.

Question:
So, our company decided to bundle paid sick time and vacation hours together into a a pool used for paid time off. Before the new year, employees that have been there for 5 years or more capped at 180 hours for vacation, and 40 hours for paid sick time.

With two weeks notice (The week of Christmas), our company notified us that due to the mandatory paid sick time law in Oregon, they will have to be giving all employees a 40 hour cap minimum for all employees including new ones.

Because of this, they are decreasing the cap for seasoned employees from 180 hours vacation + 40 hours of sick time, to 120 hours of paid time off (which includes sick and vacation).

People that have been here five plus years are effectively losing 80 hours of vacation (if they have it saved up) and they were only notified 3 weeks ago.

Can anything be done about this?

Answer:
 >Oregon courts have ruled that vacation that has been “contracted for” (promised in writing, orally, or consistently provided) is considered to be wages. If such time is not compensated, the employee may file a complaint with the Department of Labor and Industries that may result in financial penalties, attorney's fees, and court costs (OR Rev. Stat. Sec. 652.140; State ex rel. Roberts v. Public Fin. Co., 662 P.2d 330 (1983)).

[Source](http://www.blr.com/HR-Employment/Benefits-Leave/Vacations-in-Oregon#)

If Oregon considers PTO to be earned wages, they might have some trouble taking them away from employees who have already earned it. This won't impact a policy change moving forward, but they shouldn't be able to take away an agreed-to benefit retroactively. Effectively, you've been working for the last year and accrued PTO was part of your wages. They now want to retroactively end that accrual (for people who are over a certain arbitrary limit).

IANAL, but my interpretation of things is that they can't take away what you've already earned if it is considered to be wages.


Title: [Oregon] My mechanic made a mistake that could have caused a crash, he also dropped my motorcycle on the highway resulting in significant damage

Question:
Here's a list of events

- I give the mechanic the bike January 15th to replace tires.

- Little Contact until Feb 7th when I ask about progress.

- February 9th he tells me it will be completed on February 16th.

- February 17th he informs me no work has been done. He then tells me he dropped the bike off of his trailer in a parking lot over the phone. He describes minimal damage had been done.

- I pick up the bike April 1st after asking him weekly when I can get my bike.

- The damage is much more extensive that he told me. He said that I could ride it off of the lot (damage was said to be all cosmetic), and then he'd fix it later in the week. It was now that he told me he dropped it on the highway, not in a parking lot.

- Two miles down the road, on the interstate, the bike broke down (likely an issue with the carburetor that he failed to fix)

- I got towed and I told him that he would never touch the bike again

- I brought it to another mechanic to either get it repaired or assess the damage and say that the value of the parts would exceed the value of the bike and have him pay for it

- Mechanic called me today and asked if the first mechanic replaced the tires, after I said yes he told me that he's surprised I didn't crash. The first mechanic installed the first set of tires incorrectly and put me in considerable danger.

&nbsp;

What is my legal recourse here? Obviously, I can take him to small claims court for the value of the bike, but as he nearly caused me to have an accident (in the opinion of the other mechanic), I want to do everything I can to ensure he doesn't put anyone else in danger like he did to me.

&nbsp;

Thank you so much for your time. It means a lot to me.

Answer: You cannot sue for damages that might have happened, but didn’t.  You can sue him for the damage to the bike, and you can leave him a bad review.


Title: It has been a month, police have kept my phone without a warrant and will not talk to me.

Question:
They claimed they were going to get a warrant but I have not heard anything about what is going on, they still have my property. What can I even do?

Mo.

Answer:
 If they have not talked to you, then you don't know if they have a warrant or not, right?

Contact a supervisor.  Ask what's going on.

If that doesn't work, then talk to an attorney.


Title: I am the leaseholder in an NYC apartment. One of the tenants, who is a subletter and isn't on the lease, installed lights in her room (a full system with a light switch on the wall). She is moving out and had them removed. Is this legal?

Question:
Is it legal to make a structural improvement to a room, and then remove it when you leave? Now, there are holes in the wall, as the lighting system had to be pulled out.

This is not her apartment in any way. She also has never signed a sublease agreement.

They were removed by our neighbor, who is a contractor/handyman, even though we told him not to.

Answer: Why wouldn't it be legal? As long as things are left the way they got. it. So you can charge to fix the hole.


Title: (US) How much can the marriage prenup be expanded?

Question:
We all know how men get the shitty end of the deal in marriages and divorce. And we all know more and more men abandon the idea of marriage altogether. So it begs the question, if the court system isn't fair to men with no resolution in sight, how much can the marriage prenup be expanded such that it IS fair?

Example 1: Article about man having to pay $65,000 in child support for child that is not his. I want to preemptively include, in the prenup, that in such a case I will not be responsible for aforementioned situation.

Example 2: Man makes more money than wife. Because I make more money, I can better support the child. Therefore, I want to include preemptively, in the prenup, that the child custody is solely mine.

Example 3: Woman gets custody of child. Assuming the average American makes $15/r, even if I make 5 trilllion dollars a day, I want to include preemptively, in the prenup, child support is no more than what the average American makes.

Answer:
 Child support is the **child**'s right. You cannot have any form of contract in between the parents that affect the **child**'s right to child support.

Basically, you can't sign someone else's rights away. Any provision that would touch examples 2 and 3 would be completely unenforceable since they aren't in the best interest of the child.Answer #2: There's nowhere in the US where the courts will accept decisions made about a child in a prenup without reference to the best interests of the actual child.

Maybe you can better support the child, but that doesn't mean your home environment is necessarily better for the actual child, for example. Consider an alcoholic child abuser: you think the courts could or should send kiddo to live with that person merely because the parents signed an agreement before the kid was even born?


Title: My roommate broke my foot. Do I have a personal injury case?

Question:
I already made appointments with two top firms in my city (Los Angeles) for this kind of thing, but I just want to be prepared for any questions they may ask me.

All of this has happened in the last week.

My friend, at a going away dinner for someone we know, got extremely drunk. He ended up stumbling backwards and stomping on the top of my foot with his heel while we were walking to my car. When this happened I screamed in pain (heard the bone crack and everything) and 10-15 of our friends who were around at the time all tried to help me to my feet/make sure I was okay (we were also in an extremely touristy area in our city so I am positive there were security cameras nearby that probably caught it).

I went home to ice it, and the next day texted him to let him know that he probably broke my foot. He said that he would not pay for any medical bills, which was outrageous to me because he caused the injury. Here's where it gets complicated: a few weeks prior, I had signed a sublease to share a room with this friend in his house. So shortly after he broke my foot, I moved in with him on August 1st and I was supposed to stay in that room until September 1st.

He saw that I was in extreme pain but I could not afford the last minute doctors' visit and the ER would've cost me an arm and a leg. Finally he offered to pay for the aircast and crutches, which was about $80 out of pocket (which he still has not given me). The doctor confirmed that it was a pretty significant fracture, so at minimum would probably be about 6 weeks in the cast. With the type of fracture that I received, I will also have to do physical therapy (did not get into this with the doctor, but the average time for this kind of injury is 15 visits across two months).

The problem is my insurance expires on August 17th and I will have no coverage for the physical therapy or several weeks of checkups. The physical therapy I'm estimating will cost between $1000 and $2000 based on averages for my area (high cost of living). My roommate was getting panicked about the mounting financial burden this was causing and said that he would not pay for anything else.

The problem is, his house, which I just moved into, has 100 stairs leading up to our door and is on the 3rd floor. Completely inaccessible for any kind of handicap. It causes me extreme pain to go up these stairs, so I told him I was going to try to move out as soon as possible. He took this to mean that it was okay to sublease my room out to someone else, which he proceeded to do without my permission, and sent me a threatening Facebook message encouraging me to "seek new accommodations."

I think he's trying to keep my rent money so that he can use it to pay for the treatment he didn't want to pay for in the first place. Not only am I stuck paying for all of that, I'm also losing out on several weeks of work and extremely promising job opportunities (I work in film, so a lot of it is manual labor). I can no longer go running or hiking, which is something I do often. I can barely walk myself to the bathroom, let alone function on a daily basis. I can't even move out of the house without asking for significant help from my friends and probably paying a lot of money. I can't even stay with most of my friends until I find a new apartment because their places aren't handicap accessible at all. :(

This is all so convoluted and ridiculous. I'm prepared to explain all of it to the lawyers I'm meeting with, but like I said, I would love to get any feedback on this situation so that I can anticipate what the lawyers are going to ask me and provide more detailed responses.
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer:
 IANAL but there is a lot in this post that doesn't pass the smell test. For starters:

I've had my feet stepped on by many people quite larger than me and never broken my foot as a result of that. This sounds odd.

I have never heard of physical therapy needing $2000 worth of PT for a broken foot that didn't require surgery. This course of treatment seems excessive.

Were you drunk with your friend the night your foot was broken? Did you do anything at all that would cause you to bear some of the responsibility for your injury?

Going up three flights is a pain in the ass but with crutches and a walking boot there isn't much reason that doing so should cause you extreme  pain.

Your insurance is expiring and you know you'll be needing medical services. I would make sure you get COBRA or otherwise do not let your coverage lapse.

If I am being honest, with all of the hyperbole in your post I have a hard time believing your account is accurate. Consult with lawyers but if I have questions about these things, they will too. Additionally, given the damages you claim you will probably be forced to file in small claims  court which might not allow you to hire an attorney to represent you'


Title: $50,000 guitar was stolen from me. What do i do?

Question: I had a guitar stolen from me recently. It was worth $50,000 and i actually had it sold. I know who stole it, and have pictures of the guitar. What can i do? The theft was devastating to me, i needed the money and it is crippling not being able to sell the item. Thank you for any help in advance.

Answer:
 The police said what when you filed a report?Answer #2: File a police report ASAP.Answer #3: How was it stolen? Was it physically stolen, as in someone broke in to your home and took it, or did you sell it to someone and their check bounced, or they reversed the charge, or something like that?Answer #4: >I know who stole it

Did you tell the police this? If you know who has it, this seems like an easy case.

What's the question?Answer #5: Why did your insurance company said when you put in the claim?Answer #6: Do you have a picture of the serial number as well?

For all of my instruments I have pictures of them, along with close ups of each ones serial number. Store them all in a cloud account with a google spreadsheet linking to the pictures, with the serials written down.

In the event of theft, this will go a long way into recoveryAnswer #7: The others mostly gave dick answers lol, but thats because what do you expect us to say?  Hire this secret PI firm that will steal it back?  What else do you do when something is stolen from you?  Call the police.  Call your insurance companies (for the guitar which it sounds like you didnt get, try from your renters or homeowners insurance if they might cover it).  Thats it