Title: [FL] Bought a defective product, company refuses to do anything. Implied warranty?

Question:
I've got an implied warranty question. Last year (July 4 weekend, to be exact) I was at a board gaming convention and purchased Acquire (the rare-ish 1999 big box edition) for $100. I bought it second-hand (that is to say, from an individual and not a game retailer) but still in shrink wrap.

This past weekend, I was board gaming with some friends and decided to crack it open. That's when I discovered that the publisher had goofed. They included the wrong components - too many of some, and not enough of others. The game is unplayable.

This is not an uncommon problem with board games. Most publishers are small and sensitive to bad publicity, so they bend over backwards to fix problems like this. Unfortunately, the publisher of this particular game is a large, well known company with a not-so-great reputation.

I sent the publisher an email asking them for replacement components. I got a form letter back, saying they do not provide support for older editions of their games.

I looked into getting components from a newer edition, but those will not work. (Changes in names and colors between the editions make them unusable)

So, what are my options here?

Answer:
 So you purchased a product that was manufactured 16 years ago, and you bought it second hand from a private individual?

Unfortunately you're probably SOL on this one.

After 16 years they almost certainly don't have the parts anymore. 16 years is a very long time, long enough that they've probably stopped making that edition and there are simply no parts left. They can't give you what no longer exists.

Even if there was a warranty, after 16 years its long since expired.


Title: Would charging people to play a competitive game and refunding the money if they win be considered a form of gambling? [Louisiana, USA]

Question: Now that I'm typing it out, I also wonder, relatedly, how the games at fairs where you win prizes aren't considered gambling (kids are allowed to play it even with police two feet away).

Answer: Doesn't that depend on whether the game itself would be considered more chance based than skill based? Used to work in a comic shop in Louisiana a long time ago, hosting card games and stuff with essentially this payout structure plus prizes. Can't imagine this would ever be considered gambling.


Title: Is it legal to set up a video recorder in your house when someone is babysitting?

Question:
I was babysitting this kid who lives near me the other day. A guy I’m seeing rang me and wanted to know what I was doing, I said I was babysitting and he said did I want him to come see me, so I said ok but he had to be quiet cause the kid was asleep. So he came over and left before the parents got home. The next day I got a message from the mum saying she’d appreciate if I didn’t bring men into her house and have sex with them whilst I was baby sitting and she wouldn’t be needing me again. I messaged back saying I didn’t and that he just dropped something off to me. And she messaged back saying she wasn’t stupid. I don’t know how they would know this happened unless they set up a camera, and if they did they’ve now got me on video doing stuff...

Is this legal? I’m underage so I know it’s not legal to have that on video. I’m really paranoid now
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 First, your location is important. The answer will be different depending on the county, or state that this happened.

In general though, it’s legal and you deserved to be fired. You’re an employee and should have been acting like one.Answer #2: Where did you do the nasty? Was it in a common area of the house? If so, it's not illegal to record the common area of your own home. You have no expectation of privacy there. It is illegal for them to have a video of minors having sex. Having said that, for you to make that issue, you're going to have to tell people you were getting it on with your boyfriend while you were supposed to be babysitting someone's kid. Might be best to let sleeping dogs lie on this one. Answer #3: How long was your boyfriend there? It is possible they have something like a doorbell camera where they could see him come and leave and if he was there for awhile make assumptions.


Title: Guy taking pictures of infant son and pasting leud images on it.

Question:
Guy on facebook took images of my 6 month old son and pasted pictures of naked men and penis's on it and proceeded to post it to facebook. Have pictures and videos of it but don't know if I should seek legal councel for it.

Edit: In Califnornia.

Answer: I would contact your local police department and inform them, giving them the photos if they need.  While this may or may not constitute some form of child pornography, it would certainly fall under disorderly conduct and as a father I know I wouldn't want stuff like that with my children on the internet.


Title: [NYC] My friend's former employer withheld $3000 worth of 401k contributions but didn't contribute them to her 401k

Question:
(Posted this the other day but received no replies - I had less-generic company names so the post was hidden, probably got list.  Mods, if this isn't kosher, let me know and I'll delete)

My friend Jane worked at a company, Genericorp LLC for sake of anonymity. The office was located in New York City, NY. She was a normal employee of Genericorp, receiving a W-2, so she wasn't a contractor. Genericorp went through some financial problems and was doing some sort of pay schedule wherein the employees were a week behind in pay. e.g. payment for week 1 was received at the end of week 3, or something like that. They were also having problems paying their manufacturers, but that isn't the issue - it's more to show that they were having internal financial problems.

Jane was contributing to a 401k offered via Vanguard through Genericorp. At some point, Genericorp began to not contribute Jane's 401k withholdings to Vanguard. Jane noticed this at some point following her being laid off from Genericorp. They withheld roughly $3000 that is shown as withheld in her pay stubs and not showing up as contributions in her Vanguard account.

She filed a labor complaint with the NYC DOL for unpaid wages, but the complaint was closed since she fell under a category of employee making more than $900 per week and falling under a separate section of law. The closed NYC DOL complaint said she was free to pursue the matter in small claims court if she chose. She has a separate ongoing labor complaint with the NY attorney general's office.

At this point, could Jane indeed pursue the matter in small claims? Or given that it's a labor related issue, does it have to go through a normal court proceeding? Genericorp is still incorporated as an LLC, although now it's owned by Anothercorp, Inc., who bought Genericorp and its assets. She does have pay stubs that show the withholding and Vanguard statements to show that no contributions were made.

Jane is also going to talk to the NYC Bar Association lawyer referral service to pay for a consultation, but she asked me to post here to get an idea or two of her options while she waits for the lawyer appointment.

Answer: It is a violation of federal law and most likely state law to withhold funds in trust from employee pay and then fail to contribute to an employer benefit plan. If you cannot get any assistance from state agencies, the US Department of Labor has a task force related to employer contributory plans. Depending upon the actual circumstances, this is potentially criminal embezzlement or theft under state law and federal ERISA statutes.Answer #2: I'd request an appeal by the NY DOL on the case that she requested and they closed. This *seems* to be a clear-cut wage theft issue. Can you provide more details on why the NY DOL closed the case?


Title: My son bought drugs from an illegal website and passed away from an overdose.

Question:
My son passed away 2 months ago. We didn't know what he took and by the time he was rushed to the hospital, his heart stopped. My husband and I were cleaning his room and found that he was ordering illicit drugs from this website- www.phantomsilver.com. Is there anything we can do to report this site to stop further harm to others. My son was only sixteen and I feel it's my duty to stop this madness.

We are located in NYC and we found that the drugs were shipped from CA.

Pls help.

Answer:
 1. Please remove the link

2. Have you contacted your local FBI office?


Title: Friend got in accident with my car

Question:
I let my friend drive my car to go to run some errands and he wound up rear ending another person's car. When he got out to look, there was no damage on either car. There was no report filed, and the police were not called, but the other person did get a picture of my insurance information.

A couple days later, the other person calls and says that repairs will cost $1400. This is way more than my friend can pay, so we might have to go through my insurance.

We're going to ask for proof and documentation that the car needs $1400 to repair any damage that we did, but is there anything else we should be doing? Is there a way to go about this without potentially raising my insurance price?

I have Farmer's Insurance with my family, and we're in Pennsylvania.
Topic:
Insurance

Answer: If neither of you can afford it, tell your insurance company. This is why you have insurance. But yes your rates could go up.  Does your friend have a valid license?


Title: I unknowingly trespassed and was arrested.

Question: This incident occurred in Mississippi. I was riding my bike with a buddy on a well known trail. The trail is about 3 miles long with smaller more challenging paths that branch off from the main trail. We arrived at the end of the main trail which turned into a gravel road that runs perpendicular to the trail(we did not know this was the end of the public trail, we thought it was just another part of the trail that branched off) and we we were now on private property(we did not know it was private property). We rode to the end of the gravel rode and stopped to take a break. I did not see any private property signs(apparently there were signs) and we did not have to get off of our bikes to hop a fence or anything like that. Then we started riding back to our cars to go home. When we got to the point where the trail and the gravel road connect we saw the Sheriff and his partner talking to a guy and a girl who had parked their car on the road. The Sheriff calls us over and tells us we are trespassing. He asks for our information so we give it to him, then we are told we're free to go. About 3 weeks later we get a call telling us there is a warrant out for our arrest and we need to turn ourselves in. We were arrested for trespassing and had to pay a $500 fine. I pleaded not guilty and I have to go to court in a month. I can not afford a lawyer, how do I defend myself in this situation?

Answer:
 Call your public defender's office.  You won't be successful if you try to defend yourself.  You have to see if you qualify for a public defender...the general guideline for qualification is whether you are above or below the poverty line, but I'm not sure what it is in your state.  Answer #2: If it's 97-17-97, if signs are posted where they may be "reasonably seen", it doesn't matter if you saw them, or had any idea you were trespassing.  $500 is the max fine for that statue.

What constitutes "may be reasonably seen" is something an attorney could look into to try to argue the point.


Title: (Los Angeles, CA) Dumb mistake. Roommate who isn't on lease caused almost $1900 worth in damages after moving out. any legal options, if it comes down to it?

Question:
Hi,

Long story short, 3 people lived in a 2 bed 2 bath apartment in Los Angeles, CA. Friend and I were on the lease, but acquaintance in question was not. Turned out to be a huge slob and druggie, doing massive damage to the living room and his room. After 1 year and 8 months, we moved out and got the move out statement today. Lost all our deposit, but have an additional charge of almost $1900 due to damages.

I have a complete itemized list of all the work that had to be done, along with the prices. Before moving out, I took a video of our whole apartment, detailing the damages he did compared to my room.

I know we were dumb for not having the acquaintance on the lease and learned our lesson. I've contacted him and he hasn't responded yet. He knows the bill was coming, and I will give him a week to respond. If not, I will go directly to his parents, who paid his rent, with the bill and video next weekend. If that doesn't work, are there any legal options? There is nothing binding or concrete tying him to the unit, other than my video and a couple friends who've witnessed the damages. Even if legal action isn't favorable, can it be used as leverage?

Thanks for any tips and pointers.

Answer:
 The additional roommate is legally considered to be your sublettor. While you will be responsible to the landlord, you can sue the roommate for damages they caused. Be careful to document issues and photograph as much as humanly possible. It can be difficult on occasion to show a particular person caused damage, so write things down in case you need to give testimony about it.

You will need to sue in the small claims court of either the jurisdiction where the apartment is, or the jurisdiction where the roommate moves to if they have moved away by the time you are prepared to file. Small claims in CA does not permit attorneys, so you will self-represent. You may request filing and service fees if you first send a letter demanding payment for the damages.

Good luck.


Title: 23 year old speeding ticket reappears suddenly?

Question:
My husband recently got a letter from a law firm in Texas stating he got a speeding ticket in 1995 and a ticket for having a suspended license, and didn’t appear in court, so he also got a failure to appear fine. Supposedly the justice of the peace in that district allowed them to collect on it or assigned it to them to collect or whatever. He doesn’t remember getting these tickets at all, and there’s only one or two days that he was in the area he was allegedly stopped.

He’s ready to pay, but I’m skeptical. I’ve never lived in TX, but here in SC, if you don’t appear in traffic court, they just send you a letter saying you were judged in your absence and found guilty, and you have x amount of time to pay the fine or they’ll issue a bench warrant for your arrest. I also find it strange that they couldn’t find him for 23 years. He wasn’t hiding.

I’d have to look at the letter again, but I don’t believe there’s any citation numbers or anything to identify the tickets other than the dates he was stopped and the date he didn’t appear. That being the case, how do we find out if these tickets are actually legitimate? Just call the court and give them his name and the date he was stopped?

Answer:
 >Just call the court and give them his name and the date he was stopped?

Yes. At the very least, ask if there is anything outstanding on him at all. Tickets, warrants, etc. They should be able to see pretty quickly if he has anything active out. If they say no, then I wouldn't worry about it.Answer #2: If you don't pay speeding tickets you owe in another state, the state can suspend your license and SC will honor that.  You can double\-check with the SC DMV but if that hasn't happened I would assume this is a scam and not respond.

If this law firm really thinks they have the right to collect from your husband, they will put something in his credit report soon, so he should watch his credit.  If that doesn't show up, this is probably fake.  If it does, he can dispute the negative credit report and they'll have to show their evidence that this is a legitimate debt.


Title: Can I write and publish a sequel to a Public Domain book?

Question:
Without going into the plot, I'm just curious if this is possible:
I want to write a novel about Cyrano de Bergerac. This is a play/book written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. The movie based on it in 1950 is public domain, and I believe the play is also.

There was a modern retelling of the story (Steve Martin's "Roxanne" in 1990), but I am not basing any part of the novel off of that movie. I am writing a sequel to the events of the original play only.

Is this something I can actually publish? How does public domain work for written word?

Thank you!

Answer: Yes, you can publish a sequel to a public domain work. Only the original elements you add are subject to copyright.  What you are considering is known as a “derivative work”. See page 2 of this pdf for more info about copyright protections of a derivative work using public domain material.  https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.pdf


Title: My service industry related job scheduled a mandatory meeting and won't allow my doctors note. Details inside.

Question:
I work at a restaurant/ bar full time while going to school. This job is my only source of income. I work on an hourly wage. In Pennsylvania

My job scheduled a mandatory meeting with less than a week in advance, on a day I'm normally not scheduled to work. I'm unable to attend this meeting because I scheduled a doctors appointment in advance. Rescheduling is nearly impossible because originally it's a month wait for an opening. working industry hours doesn't help either as most doctors offices close early. Missing this appointment would cause me to lose my current treatment progress and I'm in need of refills for my prescription.

I had told my manager about this issue and I was told that bringing a doctors note will not suffice. Also that I should make every effort to attend.

There are rumors saying that there are plans to fire those who don't show up. What can I do? In the event I do get fired could I file for unemployment?  As you can imagine my hands are pretty full and I would like to be prepared and know my options.

Answer: If you are fired for failure to attend a single meeting because you had a previously scheduled doctor's appointment, that is not misconduct and you should not be disqualified for that reason. Answer #2: talk to the owner, not just a manager.Answer #3: Call the doctors office and explain. People cancel appointments and they might be able to slot you in on short notice or give you a short term refill on your meds.Answer #4: I expect that you'll get unemployment. What you've described is not even close to misconduct.


Title: Someone tried to wire me money, bank declined it and now the money has been lost for over 3 months.

Question:
I have an online bank with Barclay's. A friend of mine tried to wire me $6900 to that account. They've wired me money before without issue.

However this time I received a call from Barclay's. They said that my account cannot receive a wire, and the they're not sure how the previous wire went through (It shows up as ACH on my bank statement).

I requested an email confirmation, which they've sent to me. (Here is the email in question: https://i.imgur.com/ggw057h.png ) In this email they state I requested to return the money, which isn't true. However it does show on my end the money being returned.

This is where it gets interesting. Both banks say that the other bank has the money. His bank, Bank of America says the wire was sent and nothing was returned. My bank, Barclays, says that the wire was refused and the funds returned. We've both sent certified letters to each bank, both of them have yet to respond via letter.

This happened in April, and we're still lost here in July. I'm not exactly sure where to turn to at this point. As it stands, $6900 is lost in the wind.

Answer: Complain to the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/). A CFPB complaint usually is sent to someone with actual problem solving ability and authority and will usually result in a resolution in a few weeks.


Title: I owe money to a school I never attended

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer: If you signed up for classes then you have a problem. But if you were mislead by the advisor you might be able to persuade the school that your lack of action on the other fronts showed that you were mislead. But you are reliant on their good will here.


Title: Brother is threatening to kill my dogs. (UT)

Question:
Posting this on mobile, so sorry for errors.

Essentially, my brother is threatening to kill my dogs. We still live at home, I'm 23 and he is 25. The obvious answer is to move out, but I recently quit my job and am not on my feet quite yet. I need help here. He has threatened verbally and through text, mostly to my mom (she showed me). He says it is out of his control if he comes home and kills them. He said he will open up the doors and let them run away.

I have a lock on my door, but I am scared he will just kick the door open and kill them. My mom isn't taking this seriously, and isn't doing anything to help me. Unfortunately this is a Raised by Narcissists situation, where he is the golden child (I have plenty of examples of this, but if this current situation isn't an indicator, I don't know what is) and I am sort of pushed aside. He's very violent, he has physically assaulted me in the past. I 100% believe his threats. A few weeks ago he opened up the front door while I was at work and one of them escaped. I ended up finding her by the help of FB, freezing cold a few houses away.

What do I do here? What can I do legally to protect myself and my puppies?

Tldr: brother is threatening to kill my dogs. I'm scared.

Answer:
 I would start looking for a friend that you completely trust who would be willing to watch them for you a bit. Answer #2: (IANAL)

I would go the home them with a friend route, but also make sure you have in writing your agreement with the friend.

* That this is temporary.
* That you will pay for all of your pet bills (and follow through).
* Medication/special care expectations.

There's been some unfortunate situations where people won't give animals back after watching them long-term, so you need proof of the situation and your ownership.


Title: My wife and I want to sell Lip Balm what do we need to know?

Question:
My wife and I want to start selling lip balm on the side and want a very professional product. What type of things do we need to know before we can sell a cosmetic product like this?

Im assuming there are some FDA guidelines we have to follow but is there anything else we need to know that I might be unaware of?

We are in the USA, Missouri to be more accurate although I'm not sure the state really matters in this situation.
Topic:
Business Law

Answer:
 Hey! A question I know! IANAL. There are no FDA guidelines for "lip balm" manufactured and marketed exclusively as that. It is considered a "cosmetic". If you claim anything like moisturizing, healing, etc., it falls into a drug category. Don't do this. You do however need to follow the FDA guidelines for packaging. Including weight and proper ingredient labeling. You may want to consider insurance for your business. Crafters like these can obtain insurance for around $500 per year on the low end. It's not legally required but if someone is harmed from your product, you are going to be screwed in a lawsuit.
Check out:
http://www.soapguild.org/insurance/insurance-faq.php
And
https://www.handmadeinsurance.com
I make products like this along with several other bath and body products. Lip balm is an VERY saturated market at this point. Also, you can not call your product organic unless it is certified which costs tens or thousands of dollars.


Title: Legally, who gets paid first with life insurance money when there is not enough to cover all debt?

Question:
If this is the wrong subreddit - direction appreciated for the correct place to post. Asking for a non-redditor friend Jane:  Jane's mother (83) died a few weeks ago in TN while visiting Jane. She resided in NM.  There is only a $6,000 life insurance policy (Jane is the beneficiary). Jane paid over $10,000 for costs to have the body flown back to NM,  a coffin, embalming, funeral costs, etc. Since she had to wait for a death certificate to request the life insurance, Jane paid for the funeral costs herself.

At the time of the mother's death, she owed over $30,000 in credit card debt. Also, her taxes were being prepared and after her death, Jane found out from the tax preparation place that her mother owed an additional $2,000 on her federal income tax.

So, the question is, who gets paid first? Obviously the debt is much greater than the $6,000. Can (should) Jane reimburse herself for funeral costs? What about the tax and credit cards? Legally, how can the $6,000 be spent? There are no other assets except a small amount of personal items that might bring a couple hundred bucks at a garage sale.

TIA for any advice you can give on this matter.

Answer: If she was the beneficiary, she gets paid.  Insurance payments generally bypass the estate.


Title: Can I print my signature as part of a form rather than hand sign it?

Question:
I’m a photographer and need to provide release forms to allow clients to have their files printed by 3rd parties. While the form itself is elegant, my handwritten signature makes most doctors looks like calligraphers. Would it be acceptable to use a handwriting font and have my signature printed on the forms? Similar to the inkpad signature stamps people use.

Then, a print release is a pretty benign form just for making the photo center employee happy, should I revert to an actual handwritten signature for more important things like copyright releases and work contracts?

Edit. Location: Michigan, USA

Answer: If you intend a writing to be your signature, then it is your signature.


Title: Family member urging recently widowed mom to sign away inheritance

Question:
Hello Everyone,

I am a bit of a pickle. I am using a throwaway to obviously conceal my identity because this is quite a sensitive situation.

My dad recently died suddenly and didn't leave my family with much but debt and some life insurance. It's up to myself to help my mom get back on her feet and get her affairs in order for life after my dad.

A wrench got thrown into this situation. It was discovered that my grandma (who is still alive and living in Asia) cosigned a property with my dad and under local law, my mom is the legal heir back in her home country. One of my dad's siblings is trying to convince to sign away my mom's part of the property with promises that my grandma will take care of us in her will when she dies (promising us lots of money from the inheritance when she dies).

This family member is not the most trustworthy. My mom never had the best relationship with my dad's side of the family. He still owes us from a loan that my dad gave him that he never really paid back. I'm afraid that if she signs over the property, we'll be left with nothing in the end because we have no one on that side to fight for us anymore for any part of the inheritance. There is no guaranteed unless it's written on paper. How do we go about protecting ourselves in this situation? My first instinct is to hire a lawyer that specializes in law in my parents home country.

I'm in California by the way.

Answer:
 My advice, refuse to sign it over. Let them know you would be willing to sell them her half for a fair price. First however tell them you will not engage in any negotiations until all current debts are paid in full. From what you have said I highly doubt they will uphold their promise of adding your mother to the will.

If you do want to accept their offer definitely consult a lawyer, there is nothing stopping grandma from changing her will as many times as she likes before passing.Answer #2: Don't do it.  Even if the will situation comes through, the grandmother could very well outlive your mother, and your mother needs funds now.Answer #3: Don't sign it away.

There is zero upside-a promise your mom will be taken care of in your grandmas will is worthless.

Tell the family member-"we've thought it over and determined Mom doesn't want to do that." ANd btw-Mom wants the money you owed Dad now.

Repeat as necessary.


Title: Christians keep demonstrating at my high school

Question:
I'm not sure if this belongs here, but I don't know where else to post it. For reference, I'm in Las Vegas Nevada.

So this Christian group keeps demonstrating at my high school. They aren't students. They're the typical group, they hold up signs about how judgement day is coming and how we have to accept Jesus to be saved. There's always at least least one person with a megaphone or speaker that plays incredibly loud, so loud that it can be heard over 15+ buses and hundreds of children.

I'm not entirely sure if where they're demonstrating is on school property or not however. They're always on this one street corner that leads directly into our school. I'm unsure of how to describe it but if they aren't on our school's property, it's just by a hair.

My question is, is this legal? Can a group like this demonstrate on high school grounds where children will surely see them?

Answer:
 They are very likely not in school grounds which would make it legal. Sidewalks in front of school are often not school grounds.

But why not ask the school about it?


Title: Seattle, WA: I broke lease on my apartment so the landlord keeps my whole deposit no matter what. Can he still charge me for cleaning?

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 How did you negotiate "breaking" your lease?

If you're just paying rent for the remainder of your lease, then he owes you your security deposit.

If you made a separate agreement ("I stop paying rent, you keep security deposit"), then you're still on the hook for returning the apartment to him in a clean state.

No need to put the lease on Google Drive, just extract the relevant portions to your post.


Title: Advice for a sixteen-year-old who may run away/get kicked out?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Juvenile and Youth Law

Answer:
 Where are you located and why are you running or being kicked out?

 Edit: Nevermind, unless there's something more to:

 >I feel that my parents are fairly emotionally abusive. It feels that their love for me is very conditional. I guess that's my fault for always doing what they wanted. In recent years, things have been getting harder for me and they aren't trying to see my side or help me at all. At least that's what it feels like. So because of that, my mother has taken offense to me having a sour attitude around the house. It just also feels like my parents are always arguing and she takes that leftover anger out on me. Not physically, but emotionally. It's just painful living at home.

 Then you should simply not run away. I understand that you're under duress, I'm not making light of your feelings,  but being 16 and homeless will not make anything easier. If you aren't seeing a therapist/counselor, you should. Have you ever considered whether or not you suffer from clinical depression or any other such disorder? If so, are you being treated?


Title: Chicago, child custody & boardline abusive relationship.

Question:
Hi, I need some advice please. I've been calling and calling several legal aid clinics because I can't afford a lawyer but no one is willing to help me or call me back. It's been very difficult even getting a real human to talk to me and they basically tell me nothing that helps me.

21/f and 28/m. Had a baby 7 months ago. Moved in with him a month before baby was due because of bs promises of change and also wanting my family to be whole. Put up with constant harassment from him whenever he got angry for 5 months until one day I was sick of him trying to control me and I took my son, packed out things, and left. I've been living with my mom for the past two months.

We had a court date two weeks ago that I was unprepared for and we came up with a temporary "parenting time" agreement until June 14th, the next court date.

My questions,
-why was the temporary agreement the only thing done that day?
-what is going to happen at the next court date?
-child support was on the court summons I got served yet it was not spoken about. Why? Do I have to bring it up?
-I was told custody is no longer a thing anymore. What can I do about maintaining all rights to decision making regarding my son?
-I don't feel comfortable letting my ex have my son for so long. He currently gets him 3 days a  week for 5 hours and 1 day for 6 hours. How can I fight for him to have less time? Because I KNOW he wants more time and he is going to demand overnights.
-He is a terrific manipulator, liar, and very intelligent. I'm utterly afraid of losing my son.

Answer:
 You are in way over your head.  If he is on the birth certificate, he has as much right to his child as you do.  You essentially chose to have a baby with this guy and the court will trust your decision.

Literally the only thing you can do is come up with a ton of money for a great lawyer.Answer #2: Legal aid is underfunded and busy. You are going to have to keep trying. You could also try contacting the [state bar](http://www.illinoislawyerfinder.com) for a list of pro bono lawyers in your area (lawyers who take on clients for free)

In the meantime you need to start reading up about child custody laws in Illinois so you know what to expect.

[Here](https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/sites/default/files/legal_content/file_content/9356unmarried%20family%20law%20presentation%202016%20lake.pdf) and [here](https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/family-safety) are some sources you can start with that explain the basics.


Title: Claiming unemployment

Question: US(MD)Background: I've been working at said company for just under 2 years and have major weight issues. The 9-5 seems to be a direct result of me losing 30 pounds. I am down to under 120 and for a male and my age this is not good. I can't afford to stop working, but have never claimed unemployment. My employer loves me and I am starting to feel I'm doing myself harm. I would like to take a few months off and concentrate on my weight. I would like to add I    have taken multiple nutrition classes and understand my requirements. The point I am looking to address is I see my health/ weight loss is a direct result of working my 9-5. I would like to share more, but would like to stay as anon as possible. The last thing I want to do is claim unemployment, but my weight is causing me to miss out on relationships and I feel depressed. Would anyone know where I can start?

Answer:
 >The 9-5 seems to be a direct result of me losing 30 pounds.

I am thoroughly puzzled by how working a 9-5 job for an employer that loves you is causing you to lose weight - what is going on?

Why is that you cannot address your weight without taking a few months off?

Please understand that I am only asking this to understand whether you have any grounds to claim unemployment if you decide to stop working.Answer #2: You have a medical problem combined with a stress problem and maybe a depression problem not an unemployment problem. If your diet is sufficient and you are still losing weight you may have a serious medical condition. This isn't time for WebMD or self-diagnosis. Go to a real doctor. When's the last time you had full bloodwork done? In addition to seeing if you have an undiagnosed medical issue, there are coping techniques for high stress jobs your doctor can talk to you about or refer you to somebody.


Title: Mandated Reporter didn’t report physical abuse?

Question: Hi yalls. I’ve been living in an abusive household for years. I’m in high school at the moment, and reported my mother for physical abuse, so I could get in contact with a cys worker. He didn’t report it, I assume because she works in the building. I feel like I’m not being taken seriously. Is there anything I can do since my guidance counselor is legally obligated to report it?

Answer:
 You can call CPS yourself.

You can file a complaint against their license for not reporting.


Title: I still have my girlfriend’s nudes from when she was 16/17 (BC, Canada) [NSFW?]

Question:
My girlfriend and I have been together for about 3.5 years. We are now both 19, but we were obviously up to sexual things when we were younger. Namely, exchanging nudes. This started probably when she was 16 and I was 17 and continued until now. I still have some saved on my phone because they were really only from about 2 years ago and she still looks like she does in the photos. Am I technically in possession of child pornography? And does that mean she is technically a distributor? I don’t believe I’m in any danger of my phone being searched (well I don’t know after making this post!) nor that she’d complain or tell anyone if we break up. Regardless, what is the legality surrounding this issue? I do not plan on ever showing them to other people. Should I still consider deleting them just in case? Is there a difference because I received some of them when I, too, was under age. I have some from when she was over 18 and there’s really no way to tell the difference between most of them. I’m mostly interested in the actual legality around this issue. I imagine I’m not unique in this situation and I’m intrigued because it seems to be a bit of a grey area when I ask my friends what they think.

EDIT: Well thank you everyone! They are now deleted!

Answer:
 Unlike a lot of countries, Canada does recognize that someone may lawfully produce images of their own body, for private purposes, or of their own lawful sexual activities including partners who may be a minor, without automatically running afoul of child pornography charges. R. vs. Sharpe is the guiding case on this:

> Nevertheless, the Court read into the law two exceptions relating to expressive material privately created and kept by the accused. It found that possession of such material poses no reasonable risk of harm to children if it is:
>
> 1. self-created expressive material, i.e., any written material or visual representation created by the accused alone, exclusively for his or her own personal use; and
>
> 2. private recordings of lawful sexual activity, i.e., any visual recording, created by or depicting the accused, provided it does not depict unlawful sexual activity and is held by the accused exclusively for private use.
>
> The Court ruled that the possession of these materials should be excepted from section 163.1(4).

Note, however, that Sharpe was still convicted, because the images he possessed were not of himself.

Delete the ones where you cannot be positive your partner is over 18 years of age. There are two reasons for this:

1. You may well be in possession of child pornography, and while looking at your partner is probably quite enjoyable for you and doesn't present any obvious moral hazards, it's not worth the legal risk, and

2. If you ever disclose those images, or if they're ever released as a result of an account breakin or similar, then arguments about private possession are much harder to make.


Title: Pulled over last night, they found pot. Questions about court system.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Would it be different if a male cop gave you a stern lecture?

Yes you need an attorney. You have to qualify financially for a public defender.  If you have to go to court you are being charged. Drug convictions make you ineligible for federal student loans. Answer #2: Learning your lesson would be to not use or possess illegal drugs period. If you get into some type of first offender program you can expect that not smoking be a requirement of that and if you blow it off and smoke anyway and get caught then the consequences can be most severe.

You should stop smoking immediately and stop associating with people who do.  And get an attorney. Don't take any kind of deal without taking to one.


Title: Invoice given after person deceased for work done.

Question:
NSW-Australia So my grandfather has died recently and we got a invoice from a crane company for when my grandad's yatch ran ashore for $20,000 and the owner of the crane company said they had verbal agrangment (we have no proof of this?) he said he and my grandad said no price discussed just said to get the boat off the beach.  This boat had previously washed ashore  and he charged my grandad $5000.
My family are wondering if there a minimum amount that there needs to be a written quote or invoice.
We are willing to pay for the work done but there was no agreed amount or invoice and we didn't know anything about it till 3mnths after he died.
Between the crane being used on the boat on 20th Nov  and my grandad dying is 26th February. The crane person didn't try to get in contact with us or grandad about this. And grandad didn't say anything about the price for the work.

Answer:
 Disclaimers:  I'm not Australian nor am an attorney

You're right to be skeptical.  If I were the executor of the will and thus in charge of the estate, the stance I would adopt by default is "Sorry, I have no evidence my grandfather agreed to this price, or evidence he paid or didn't pay you for the work already. If you have evidence that he agreed to a particular price, I'm happy to take a look.  Otherwise, I'll have the estate pay you $5000 if you sign this paper prepared by my attorney saying that you agree that's the full amount owed you by my grandfather and his estate for anything that has ever been done ever."

Or a harder line could be to delete that last sentence and replace it with "Otherwise, sorry."

If he doesn't show you evidence, the likelihood of a lawsuit and a big judgment against you seems low.


Title: I just made an anonymous report about an ex-friend of mine who is a pedophile and has possibly killed a child. He will know it was me who reported it. What will happen to me if it turns out they can't get a search warrant and there is no body?

Question: Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Answer:
 If he knows it was you, then i recommend going down to police station right nkw and giving a statement. They can hekp monitor your safety and even talking to you may lead to details you haven't thought of. Answer #2: It's not a crime to make a report to the police that you believe is true, even if they don't end up being able to prosecute.

If you're worrying about him suing you for defamation or slander, don't. You made a report to the police, not a Facebook post.

If you're worried about him beating you up then do what /u/cvega88 suggested.


Title: Boss want's me to go golfing during work hours and not pay me for the day

Question:
This is my first time posting to this sub, so if I need to provide any additional info, please let me know.

I live/work in Michigan for a small privately owned painting company. I am an hourly employee. My boss wants to take his employees out for a day on the golf course as part of a charity event. It would be a very nice gesture of him, except for the fact that he wants us to do this during normal work hours and not pay us for the day. And on top of that, he wants us to work extra hours to make up for the pay that we will be missing on the golf day. So I'm loosing an entire paid day to go play golf (a sport that I have little to no interest in) and on top of that, I have to work extra hours for a week to be able to do this thing that I don't want to do in the first place. We voted as a company as to whether or not we want to do this. I voted "no" (along with one other person, out of 9 votes) after the vote, I told him that I didn't want to go still and would rather work and get paid. He said this is to be a "team building event" and wants me to attend anyways, even if I suck at golf.

Can he do this? Is he not obligated to pay us for the day? It seems ethically/morally grey at best to me. I brought it up to one of the managers and he said I was being selfish and behaving this way only because I don't want to golf in the first place. While this is partially true, I also can't afford to play golf instead of getting paid, even if the bill is being paid for by the company. And I really don't think that it would be fair if I had to use any PTO to make sure that I get paid for the golf day.

tl;dr-Boss is taking the company out for a day to golf, but not paying us for the day even though it is during normal work hours, and asking us to work extra hours for the week leading up to the event.
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 This is a tough one. First question, do you have an employment contract that states your regular hours?

If not, the general rule is, that if you are required to be somewhere by your employer, then you have to be paid. Otherwise known as, slavery is illegal.

Now, your employer is absolutely allowed to cancel the work day in question and go golfing and allow you to make up the hours at a later date.


Title: 3rd Update: Case was dismissed, back rent and fees were paid. But I just received a Notice to Move from the court. I'm kind of freaking out right now. [Indiana]

Question:
[First post here](http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/2tovdh/i_screwed_up_my_rent_check_now_my_landlord_is/)

[Second post here](http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/2vjuim/update_went_to_small_claims_court_over_eviction/)

The long and the short of the situation is that I was late with my rent, and my landlord filed for eviction. However, I paid the back rent (and retained the receipts). I also went to the court date and was told (and given a Judgement/Order) stating that "This case be dismissed without prejudice."

Today I got home and found, on my door, a "Notice to Move" from the township court. It reads:

>NOTICE TO MOVE
This property must be vacated on or before **5:00PM on the 16th day of February, 2015** or the contents will be removed and placed in storage at Defendant's cost.

>TO ANY CONSTABLE OF MARION COUNTY:
You are commanded forthwith to put Plaintiff, *landlord*, in possession of property located at *address* in said county, by removing therefrom the Defendant, *name* and removing the goods of said defendant, by placing said goods in storage and to levy on any non-exempt property, by sale thereof you make the sum of **$0.00** together with costs and accruing interest from 02/09/2015 for which the Plaintiff has a judgement against said Defendant as appears of record on the docket of this court, and of this writ make legal service and return.

>Trial on damages: 5/11/2015 at 9:30AM
>Judgement Amount: *blank*
>Expires 3/11/2015

>02/09/2015

>Honorable *name*
JUDGE

So what do I do now? I paid the back rent. I was assured that the case was dismissed in court. So how can they order me to move? What are my options, given that this is a weekend and Monday is a holiday? I can't call the court. I can't call the law firm.

The best option I have to go into the property office tomorrow morning, (fortunately, they have hours on Saturday) and ask exactly what the hell is going on here.

What's my best course of action, and how screwed am I right now?

Answer:
 Is the named judge the same one who presided over your eviction hearing?

You definitely need to talk to the property people tomorrow, and the court on Tuesday.  If there's an error, the judge can rescind the order before 5PM.


Title: Landlord keeps losing rent checks (NM)

Question:
This began in February, I send my rent checks via USAA certified checks (meaning the money is immediately deducted from my account), the landlord,who lives accross country, calls me and says she never received my rent check, I tell her I sent it two weeks ago and she denies ever receiving it, two weeks later she calls back after I had sent her another check and tells me she found it, she had used it as a bookmark, she thought it was her USAA car insurance summary.

Fast forward to April, it happens again, I ask if I can just transfer it to her USAA account and she tells me she's never been with USAA (she told me that's how the first one got mixed up and lost) so i send another check and now I have to wait the 60-90 days for a refund on the certified check again, this happens again in May, I'm sick of this happening at this point and tell her I can't afford to keep sending her $915 checks every two weeks.

I sent a check last monday, then got a court summons in the mail tuesday, I have to go to court Monday because I'm being evicted and now she is charging me for late rent. She wants $2,060 total. I quickly cancelled the rent check to her and rented another house with a local landlord, that way the checks can never get lost and I don't have to deal with a seemingly senile woman.

What's my legal footing here? The certified checks weren't cashed and they have been cancel, but USAA saves all that information, it's not like I fat fingered the address, it never changes, I think she is just misplacing things in her old age, but if she never got the money I feel like I'm still on the hook for it despite my sending certified checks and having the money immediately deducted.

Answer:
 Next time you think you might encounter this situation. Ask them what bank they banks with. Ask them for their account number and write it in the endorsement box in the back of the check.  Take your USAA certified check and walk into her bank, and have the teller deposit the check into their account.  You can also do auto bill pay and wire it into her account too.

As far as what you can do about this lady. Is it small claims court? A lawyer sure would be handy if not. Did you send her checks via certified mail w/ USPS, fedex, ups with signatures? Get the check status history on all the checks you've sent to her from USAA, bring the check stubs too if you have them.  Bring your bank's transaction records that shows withdraws for the certified checks and cancelations and re-issues of them.


Title: I accidentally saw illegal pornography and I'm very scared

Question: I live in California I downloaded the TOR browser and I was on some wiki page and I can't remember what I clicked on but I was using the TOR application for my iPhone 4 about 2 years ago, but there was no intent for this to happen, but I clicked on some link and a pornographic image of a child appeared. I promptly closed the browser and removed TOR from my phone. I was using a friend's wifi at the time and that friend has since moved away. I no longer use the phone but the iCloud account is still in use. I have no idea what the site url was and I have no interest in pursuing child porn... It made me sick just seeing that... It happened about two years ago, I think... It's been a very long time. Nothing was downloaded or anything and I have not run in to that kind of thing anymore. I only saw this stuff once and I promptly closed the TOR app and removed it from my phone... I just don't know what my risk of getting in legal trouble is... It's been so long... What can I do to put my mind at ease?  What are the odds that I'm going to get in trouble for this? What can I do?

Answer:
 So what you are saying is that you accidentally stumbled on CP then closed it immediately, whilst using an anonymiser service, on someone elses wifi, using a phone you no longer have... Two years ago.

You're fine kid, don't do it again and stop being so paranoid.


Title: I received 2 tickets yesterday, because I was driving a car without insurance and licence plate sticker.

Question:
So for the past week I've been trying to fix an old Honda Civic, problem is as I was testing it by driving it around my neighbourhood I was pulled over by a cop. The cop proceeds to give me 2 tickets 1 for no sticker on my license plate and failure to provide insurance card ( cop said I was let off easy as I could've been fined much more for driving without insurance). I live in Canada Ontario. Is there anyway I can fight this to get this off my record or am I screwed?

Edit: sorry forgot to mention I'm a new driver (g2), I've also scheduled a meeting with the prosecutor to resolve the tickets

Edit#2: thanks everyone for telling me how this stuff works and saving me and others a bunch of time.

Answer: You were given those tickets because you deserved them. You can chalk it up to bad timing but ultimately you are responsible. Sure you  *can* fight the tickets. Be aware that if the officer has to go to court and remembers you don't have insurance, he can sure as hell include additional fines. He let you off easy, I would move on if I were you.Answer #2: Let me give you some perspective. The MINIMUM repeat MINIMUM fine for driving without insurance is $5000.00


Title: I submitted a waiver for a volunte that I have been convicted/found of being a child sex offender -IL USA

Question:
I used a program on my phone to sign a waiver to email to an organizer for helping out with an even at a park district and got a response back saying sorry we can't accept your waiver and I looked and the waiver had the circle I put over no moved over to yes and so it looked like I circled yes.

I'm feeling so sick to my stomach. I work with children at a before and after school program and work for another park district with open gym programs. My life could be ruined by this.

I don't know what to do. I want to prove that I am not/have not been convicted. Do I obtain my record from my police Dept? 22 Male in college if that helps.

Illinois, USA

Answer: Have you contacted them and told them there might have been an error?  Because that is the first step.


Title: My sister is running from the cops, I have no idea what to do.

Question:
We live in North Dakota. My sister got a DUI 3 months ago. She is 6 years older than me.
She missed her court date in the beginning of June. I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks but she tried to contact me today, I was working so I didn't see the message right away and now I can't get ahold of her. I'm worried sick.

The cops showed up at our parents house today (where we both live), twice. My dad was home at the time so he told me the following: He sent the cops on their way because he thought she wasn't home. Right after they leave my sister makes a run for it out of the basement. We have no idea if they are after her for missing her court date or if she did something else.

Once I get in contact with her I want to talk her into turning herself in, but my sister is a little unhinged. She did a lot of acid with some not so good people and it really fucked her up. She now has anger problems and a lot of other(unrelated to this situation) problems because of it. She can't take care of herself, I usually take care of her because all she does is party, do drugs, and can't hold down a job.

I never thought I would see my sister in this situation and I have absolutely no idea what the best course of action would be.

I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, and I'm sorry if its a little scrambled. I love my sister no matter how fucked up in the head she is and I can't handle not knowing what is going on.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.
Topic:
DUI

Answer: If she missed her court date then she probably has a warrant.  She needs to deal with it because warrants don't go away.


Title: Girl I know had her nudes leaked by her friends

Question: So there is this girl who I talk to on Snapchat. We get on pretty well, but today she told me that her friends who she hung out with over the weekend were being cruel to her and that one of them leaked her nudes onto her Snapchat story. She took them down as soon as it happened and, obviously she is upset and humiliated. She does not know who saw them of the 200 people she has on Snapchat. We live in Virginia so I know this state has revenge porn laws. Could she potentially take the girl that did this to court. The girl took the photos herself but is 18 and the pics were leaked without her consent. If there is anything you can tell me that I can advise to her I'd greatly appreciate it.

Answer:
 Yes you are right, Virginia is one of the first states to pass the bill. As in § 18.2-152.7:1. Harassment by computer; penalty, it says exactly;

> If any person, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass any person, shall use a computer or computer network to communicate obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious, or indecent language, or make any suggestion or proposal of an obscene nature, or threaten any illegal or immoral act, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

So it basically says, those photos that leaked without your friend's consent, makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to “maliciously” distribute a nude or sexual photograph with “intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate” without license. She can sue for it, counsel cyber-crime or internet-crime lawyer.


Title: (CA) Are employers allowed to force employees to clock out before counting out the tips/balancing how much they made.

Question: The servers I worked with at my former place of employment were always told to clock out before counting out the tips. I wasn't a server, and I quit a while ago. Just trying to help them out and see if it is legal.

Answer: You must be paid for all time worked, that includes counting out tips, doing book-work, anything. You can contact the CA department of labor about getting the money you're owed. It may only have been 30 minutes, but  multiply that by minimum wage, and the number of days worked, it could equal a lot of money.


Title: Years ago I was involved in a car accident which left me a settlement when I turned 18. At age 16 my father lost all the paperwork and everything else I/we owned after our house was evicted and he refused to let us grab our stuff. How do I locate this money?

Question: [WI] I know for a fact of the settlement but neither my mom nor Dad have any idea about where it is, it would really come in handy since my parents kicked me out when I turned 18 a few weeks back.

Answer:
 I would not be surprised if you parents have spent the money.

Answer #2: Start by running your name through this database:
https://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl

This should give you the name of the case, and the county where the papers were filed.

Search for missing property here:
https://tap.revenue.wi.gov/UCP/_/#1Answer #3: Was there a court case involved in the settlement? If so (and that's a high probability for a minor settlement as they typically have to be a approved by a GAL), you can pull up the records from the court where the settlement was entered. The settlement documents should identify the bank where the settlement was deposited.


Title: I got sexually assaulted by a woman, is there anything I can do?

Question: It happened a while ago, around a month and a half ago and it happened in Paris, I'm still in the country and she done stuff without my consent, is there anything I can press against her or is there no point in trying?

Answer:
 You can report it to the local police.Answer #2: >is there anything I can press against her

You are referring to charges right? Contact the police.


Title: Legal advice - exs dad is filing domestic violence restraining order when I was the one that was abused and sexually assaulted. (Xpost from relationships)

Question:
So this is an interesting story. It is in california.

Background is that this girl was cheating on me with two other guys. We broke up and two months later I initiated no contact. She flipped out and cried and said she needed me in her life and broke up with her at the time only other bf.

Well the only reason I agreed to reconciliation was that she said she was one month pregnant with my child. I also thought she was serious about me this time due to having broken up with the other guy she was involved with.

Well two or three days later, I am not sure when we had physical contact again so, I had a major accident. She ended up being the one to take care of me and was basically living with me for two months.

I had been with someone else during the separation period and she knew about it. I friend zoned this person and had asked her to do me a favor since she needed one as well. My mistake was allowing the friend, shall we call her A, in my home while my ex, shall we call her R, was with me.

R tried to fight with A and I would not allow it. We were friends doing each other a favor nothing more. As I rent in my residence I refused to have the peace disturbed. This angered R as I was not defending her.

Well lots of fighting ensues between R and I and I find out she had gotten back with the other guy who turns out to be long distance. I kind of allowed it after seeing he was hours away and neither of them had transportation nor were sexting as far as I could see. I figured fine he will be your friend that you confide in so be it.

Well the fighting continued and she kept raising her arms to hit me. She was also beginning to cut her self. One morning she starts yelling at me at 5am saying she is gonna cut and kill herself. When i threatened to call the cops if she did she got very angry and threw a chair down on my landlords hard wood floor. She continued the cut threats and I began dialing. She ran at me and fell over the chair caused damage to the floor. This woke up the whole house.

Things are looking very rough and I did want to make things worse so I told her she can do what she wants to me in terms of making us even. Well that was a horrible idea.

She decides to restrain me, while I have serious injuries, and play femdom. But it went way to far. I was sodomized, though I was still willing at that point, and when she got on top to ride me I began to change my mind. Well she asked me a question in a stern demanding voice along the lines of "who do you want to be with!?" And when I did not answer as I was already crying she slapped me and I cried harder.

At that point I knew this had crossed into sexual assault as my brain shut down and I stared at the wall and cried. I was to injured to fight and too scared of further violence against me, as she had also tried to carve her name into my arm and proceeded to suck up the blood.

Well that's not the end of that night as she got off and asked me more questions about A and her friend, shall we call her S, and how I met them. Both questions answers got me smacked very hard across the face while I was still restrained. The first made me start bawling, the second made me have a panic attack that was full on ptsd hallucination status. Then I had overwhelming fear for the next two hours.

She had calmed down and began crying that she broke my psyche and thus I tried to make things better between us. We agreed to individual and couples therapy but I was the only one to seek it out. I needed to after that panic attack.

Well a week before thanksgiving I find more out of the long distance other man. He starts threatening me and her if I don't break up with her and send her home. The things he threatened scared me as I did not want to see this girl die in front of me or sent to the ER. So I agreed that I would force her to go home.

Anyways me and the other guy continued to speak and soon learned that we were quite compatible as friends but several of R's lies came to light and we both texted her some nasty things on thanksgiving. I believe she had either a breakdown or severe panic attack.

Fast forward a few days and there is no contact from her on any media, text, facebook, her friends even said she wasn't talking. So being worried and wanting to return her things o her I went to her house to see if she was at least alive.

Her father for some reason was very aggressive to me and chased me off property saying the cops were coming. I was picked up later on street after having a bit of alcohol so was charged with drunk in public, I go to court for that in February, and released the next day.

Just today I got a call from an attorney that said domestic violence restraining order was being filed against me and the other man, who hasn't even been within 100 miles of her, for tomorrow. Joy. No vehicle, no ride, no money for public transport.

Well she also had me agree to "punish" the other man with death and pain, by starting with his penis, in case anything happened to her. I have tried several times to tell her i no longer agree to that as he and I are friends now.

So I'm going tomorrow to file my charges against her which at this point i can prove the physical assault and mental trauma from unwanted sexual activity via my psychiatrist who is the one I spoke to breaking down and crying as I relived it by telling him. The conspiracy to commit murder is harder to prove but I do have texts proving mental instability and belief that the other man would cause her harm.

Am I doing the right thing?

Tl;Dr Girl gets back with me under pretense of pregnancy. Gets increasingly abusive and continues to cheat. Now saying I'm an abuser when I was the one abused. Going to police with my statements.

Answer:
 >Just today I got a call from an attorney that said domestic violence restraining order was being filed against me and the other man, who hasn't even been within 100 miles of her, for tomorrow. Joy. No vehicle, no ride, no money for public transport.

(Assuming you live in the US, in a normal state) That's not how a restraining order would work, and not how you'd be notified of one. (You'd be served with papers granting a temporary restraining order and telling you when the court date was, not called out of the blue by an "attorney", and given 1 day advanced notice).

Without commenting on any of the rest of it, I can assure you that the call you received was not from her father's lawyer or her lawyer.  Chances are it was from one of her other partners or her father or her father's friends, to mess with your head.


Title: Unknowingly Sold an iPhone which was stolen

Question: So I bought an iPhone from a guy on the internet and it didn’t give me any connection with my carrier. I put it up and sold it for cheaper price and told the person it doesn’t get any service for me. 2 months later that person texts saying I sold them a stolen iPhone and wants the money back or will go to the police. I technically know I shouldn’t be in any trouble, they should’ve checked before buying and stuff, but what can I do just to be sure I’m good?

Answer:
 \> I technically know I shouldn’t be in any trouble, they should’ve checked before buying and stuff,

That's true when it comes to the condition of things \(e.g. broken or not\) but not about whether stuff is stolen. If the phone is truly stolen then you owe the money back to the buyer and then it's up to you to get your money back from your seller. The law has an interest in cutting down on sales of stolen merchandise so "buyer beware" doesn't cut it.


Title: Does the defence have to share evidence proving legal guilt?

Question: Assuming a defence attorney is presented with irrefutable evidence that their client is guilty (legally and factually)--such as a video--are they required to present that evidence in court? Must the prosecution be made aware of the existence of such a video, even though it hurts the defence attorney's client's defence?

Answer:
 No. The burden is on the government to prove guilt—defense doesn’t have to turn over evidence of guilt. What some of these other comments are referencing is different. *If* the defense is going to put on evidence (they don’t have to at all), they need to make the government generally aware of what that evidence is going to be so the government can prepare to meet the evidence and not waste the court’s time.

Civil cases are different, this is just criminal.


Title: My father owns a commercial property, with a perfect spot for an apartment. We're running into problems with zoning. Any advice on this situation?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Zoning laws are notoriously difficult. Hire a real estate attorney and don't commit fraud by doing what you listed above.


Title: Told I was hired and to quit.

Question: I went for an interview at a dispensary in Los Angeles and was told that I was hired and to come in Wednesday for training. I also asked if they were positive and if I should quit my other job. I was told enthusiastically that this was the case. Come Wednesday another manager (whom I found out was the hiring manager) said he didn’t know me from Adam. Was told to keep calling back until it gets sorted out. Was also informed today that the woman who hired me is now at a new location. Is there anything I can / should do about this. I am now jobless at Christmas in LA because of their business and my own mistakes.

Answer: Did you have anything in writing, like an offer letter?


Title: The University System of Georgia Is Threatening to Send Me to Collections if I Don't Give Back Their Free Fitbits

Question:
Long time lurker, first time needing to post so I made a new account.

A few weeks ago, a post on the Georgia Tech subreddit stated that anyone with a .edu email could get 2 free fitbits from the fitbit website by following the given link. I, along with a very large number of other students, got our 2 free fitbits.

Fast forward to today and we all receive an email stating that if we don't pay, return, or agree to subsidize the amount for the fitbits, the amount will be sent to collections.

Is this an empty threat or is there actual legal precedent here to get sent to collections? I feel like since it was their fault this happened, we, the students, shouldn't be punished for it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer:
 They are claiming that it was only meant for USG employees, and that the link was not meant to be shared outside the company, but it does not state that on the site, or if it does, not clearly enough to keep hundreds of others from going through it without realizing it wasn't meant for them.Answer #2: What were the terms and conditions of receiving said Fitbit? Was there any false statements/representation made?Answer #3: Also a university student who got a fitbit for free. However, they didn't send me any email or notification for me to send it back. Am I in any danger of repercussion even when they don't give me any notice to?Answer #4: so what would op do if they sent him to collections?Answer #5: I feel like they got way more orders than anticipated, and are probably pissed that people double or quadruple ordered. Now they're trying to cover themselves because of how many they have to give away. Interested to see how this turns out considering I currently have two of them... Maybe put an order limit or a more secure link next time.Answer #6: Georgia Tech has free legal counsel for their students. Perhaps run it by them.

[Legal Advise](https://studentlife.gatech.edu/content/professional-advice) It's all the way at the bottom of this page.Answer #7: It would be worth your time to login and save any copies of terms and conditions so they can't try to change them and claim they were always this way.   Electronic documents allow a lot of shady stuff.


Title: [NY] My Boss Keeps Sharing My Medical Info With Coworkers

Question:
I have a medical condition that I had surgery for and have been in ongoing treatments for since then. I work at a small company and my boss disclosures info about my treatments and condition to my coworkers. I know this because I’ve had coworkers ask me questions and say our boss told them about it.

Isn’t this illegal? What can I do? We don’t have an HR person but I recently found out we do have one who comes in whenever someone leaves to do an exit interview 🙄 I don’t have her contact information though.
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer: How did your boss come to find out about your condition?


Title: Disturbance at hotel room / breach of privacy

Question:
Here is what I wrote in an incident report after speaking to the day manager of the hotel this morning after.  I have been staying at this (Hilton chain) hotel on/off for ~2 months on business. I have had no other issues other than some loud families (the area I'm staying in is very close to Disneyland in California).  I am a young (early 20s) woman staying by myself (going to call myself Chelsea).

"At approximately 2:30AM on the morning of 4/21 I woke up to an extremely loud pounding on my door. At first I thought it might be some kind of emergency and the staff was trying to get me out because I deadbolt and chain lock the door, but the pounding seemed too aggressive to be staff. I went to the door and looked through the peep hole and there was an unfamiliar black male in his mid 20s at my door telling me to open up. I asked who he was and what he wanted and he told me to let him in. I asked him why and he said and he said it was his room.  I asked who we has looking for and he said that 2## was his room and he knew Chelsea was staying in it.  I asked "Chelsea who" and he said "they didn't give me a last name" but I needed to let him in because it was his room and he wanted to go to sleep. At this point, I moved away from the door, terrified because I didn't know if he had a weapon and what his intentions were. I grabbed my cell phone and put 911 in the dial pad then grabbed the hotel phone and dialed down to the front desk. I told the front desk exactly what had just happened (especially that the man knew my name) and their only response was "sorry, he came to the wrong [Hilton chain hotel]". I asked them to send someone up since I was terrified and they said ok. ~5+ minutes passed by and nobody had come to my room and the man had seemingly left. I called the front desk again to see if they were sending a staff member up to talk to me, and again they respond that the man "had gone to the wrong hotel".  I asked if he had at least left the property and all they said was "yes, sorry about that". I stayed up for an hour or two, terrified that he would come back, not knowing how/why he was allowed up to my floor and how he knew my name. I reported this incident in the morning after at ~10:00AM to the day manager. I have not yet filed a police report, and am waiting on further action from the hotel to decide if I need to do so."

There is the same hotel chain just a mile or two up the street, so I can believe that he came to the wrong one late at night (I actually did the same thing the first time I stayed here). The day manager was very nice about the whole thing, and said his night guy didn't say anything about the incident when he traded shifts in the morning.  He is working on getting me a new room on a different floor for my safety/comfort. He also said that there is no way that the front desk should have shared my name with that man, but I know there is no other way he could've gotten that information.  I'm waiting on the hotel to file the incident report right now, but should I file a police report? Should I ask for compensation? The stay is on a company credit card, but can I ask for hotel points? I'm most upset that he was not stopped to come upstairs to my room (down a decently long hallway), and I feel like company/privacy policy was definitely breached since he knew my last name.

Also this happened on a Friday night after a long fucking week at work, and I was looking forward to getting 9+ hours of sleep last night :(

Answer:
 > I'm waiting on the hotel to file the incident report right now, but should I file a police report?

Go ahead if you want, but as no crime appears to have been committed, I doubt they're going to do anything.

>Should I ask for compensation? The stay is on a company credit card, but can I ask for hotel points?

You can ask for whatever you want, but legally, nothing happened, you suffered no compensable damages, and you wouldn't have a case if you went to court.  Anything they do would be a customer service gesture, not a legal requirement.

>I'm most upset that he was not stopped to come upstairs to my room (down a decently long hallway), and I feel like company/privacy policy was definitely breached since he knew my last name.

It's certainly reasonable to ask to be moved to a new room.  But a breach of a purely company policy is not a legal matter.


Title: Father terminated under false acquisitions 1 year away from retirement [SC]

Question:
I’m going to try and keep this as short as possible, and will be rather vague for reasons. Please let me know if there is anything that needs to be removed.

&nbsp;

My father (in his 70s) had been employed as a behavioral health nurse at a local hospital for almost 30 years, and was 1 year away from retirement. Two weeks ago he was terminated being told it was because he assaulted a patient. The hospital produced a false report stating that 4 witnesses saw my father assault the patient (one witness my father attests to being at the nursing desk). My father explained to me that the patient was violent, had been attacking others, and was defending himself from being struck for a second time.

&nbsp;

 So fast forward 2 weeks, the police show up at my parents house with a warrant and arrest my dad on assault & battery charges (3rd degree). The strange part is these charges were filled not by the patient, but by the hospital. My mom is freaking, calls me (I live about 2 hours away in a large city) and tells me what’s happening. I immediately call my lawyer and he gives me contact for a lawyer in my parents town. So I get in contact with the local lawyers office, and explain everything. They react right away, and tell me they will get the lawyer to the jail. Well, I get a call an hour later and the lawyers office tells me the jail has no booking listed for my father.. Well apparently they took my father, not to jail, but straight to the judge who released him on a PR bond. So my father gets released, and I set up an appointment with the lawyer the following day. That was yesterday, and the lawyer is requesting the evidence the hospital has. The lawyers conclusion after there meeting is that the hospital is making a malicious attempt at denying my father his retirement pension.

&nbsp;

My heads still spinning from all of this, and I am honestly very scared for my father, and family as this hospital runs the entire town. Any advice that anyone can give, or direction I could take from here would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 >The hospital produced a false report stating that 4 witnesses saw my father assault the patient (one witness my father attests to being at the nursing desk). My father explained to me that the patient was violent, had been attacking others, and was defending himself from being struck for a second time...

>The lawyers conclusion after there meeting is that the hospital is making a malicious attempt at denying my father his retirement pension.

Come on dude.  This isn't a conspiracy.  The hospital didn't get 4 different people to go along and lie to the police all in an effort to deny your father his retirement benefits.  There was obviously a serious situation, and there is a difference of opinions as to what transpired.

Your father will have to defend against these allegations on their merits.  But that said, your attorney may be able to add the retirement issue as a good spin (and it may indeed by a motivating factor in why the hospital is pursing this event in the way that they are pursuing it), and may be able to get some kind of early retirement settlement or something like that out of the deal.


Title: I think my dad has blown through all of the money in my trust. How screwed am I? (CA)

Question:
Location: California, USA

Hi, r/legaladvice. I am the beneficiary of a (relatively) small family trust. AFAIK, the initial amount was \~$250k. The language in the trust allows for disbursement for my health, education, maintenance, and support.

The trust was established when I was a minor, c. 2006. One of my sisters also received an inheritance. My minor cousins also inherited money from the family member that passed. The difference is that my father (from whom I have been estranged for the better part of the last decade +) didn't want my minor sister and I to receive the money, and so he fought for it. He ended up getting 1/10 of the disbursement and my sister and I each have 1/20. My sister took out student loans and he disbursed money ($30k+) to pay the balance of them.

Here is the deal. I called my Dad (original Trustee) every Tuesday in 2017 to try to make contact with him. I called him a few other times when a family friend passed away. I never received a return phone call from him. I started going to school (part time, community college, on top of working 45+ hours/week) back in 2017 and paid for everything out of pocket. (Not that it matters, but I'm not a spoiled trust fund kid. Everything I own- material possessions and otherwise-- have been obtained by hard work.) I sent him a formal letter requesting disbursement (less than $2k) for education expenses in February 2018 and also requested a full and detailed accounting back to the initial funding of the trust. I also quoted language from the trust that gives beneficiaries to petition the court if the Trustee does not fulfil their duties.

Since then, he has appointed two successor trustees. The first quit after less than a month, and the second one lives in Montana and does not have access to email. The only person I have been in regular contact is my dad and his wife’s attorney who has also been retained by the Trust.

I have received two separate checks as reimbursement(s). The first was written from an investment account that did not have the name of my Trust on it. The second was a personal check from a personal account for his Admin Asst. The second check was made out to my maiden name. I emailed him again today, asking for an update on the accounting, and he said they are still waiting for old account information. I offered to come by his office to exchange it for a check I can deposit, and I'll be going there tomorrow.

I fear that my dad and his wife have likely misappropriated the balance of my trust and they have hired him to help cover their asses. My Trust law friend has been cc'ed on all of our communication and gives me advice from here to there, but since the new trustee lives out of state, she said that if I try to remove her as trustee, it has to be done by someone licensed to practice in the Trustee's county. My original plan was to wait and see how much was in the accounts before moving forward, but it seems like I will never see that. I feel so powerless.

Other (maybe) relevant details: The trust was originally created in Texas. I live in California. The new trustee lives in Montana.

Where do I even start? What should I say tomorrow? Am I making a huge mistake accepting and cashing this personal check? He claims that his assistant was "designated to write checks for the trust" when I expressed my concerns about the personal check.  Since he is no longer Trustee, does he have any rights to touch the money in the trust?

&#x200B;

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

&#x200B;

TLDR; I think my Dad misappropriated monies in a trust fund when he was the Trustee. Keep getting runaround from attorneys. New, out of state trustee not communicative. How can/should I compel them to send me a current account history? What are my rights as a beneficiary?

Answer:
 Even though this is the most common thing you’ll hear around here, it is the right answer: go talk to an (estate estate planning/trust) attorney.

You don’t have to start with some random attorney in Montana. Find someone local who seems to know what they’re talking about. They’ll send a letter to the trustee and get things moving. Don’t wait. There’s too much shadiness going on.

Maybe they are just pointlessly withholding info and it will take a formal letter from an attorney to get it. If not, you’ll at least find out whether the money still exists. I will say that the heck’s coming from different accounts that aren’t in the trusts name isn’t a great sign...

Good luck. Happy to do why I can to answer any semi-legal question you may have. (I am familiar with trust law but I’m NOT licensed in TX, CA, or MT sooooo.... take it as educated suggestions) Answer #2: If you are an adult why does the trust even exist? Why did you wait a year for a response from the executor? Immediately get a lawyer and move on. They can always sell their house or cars to make up the difference.Answer #3: > I am the beneficiary of a (relatively) small family trust. AFAIK, the initial amount was ~$250k.

That's not relatively small. That's a huge amount. That's lawyer territory.


Title: Third-party lawsuit states

Question:
I have some family members that are looking into retiring and/or moving and I've been trying to get a list together of states which would be better for them to move to. I'm aware there's other factors such as taxes, quality of life, etc, and I've looked into those things already to knock out a large number of states.

The one thing at play I cannot seem to find is which states permit third-party lawsuits. One of the ones who is planning to move has a history of putting themselves close to legal hot water and I'm sure if they move to a state which permits third parties to sue will make it hard to just barely avoid it as before.

I have yet to see a comprehensive list of which states permit it.

Aside from Pennsylvania, does anyone know which states in the country allow for it or suspect it could be so? I've also read California, Colorado, and Illinois may but under some sort of wording which implies it so I'd put that under the "suspect" list.

Answer: Third party lawsuits deal with suing a tortfeasor in addition to collecting from workers comp. So, I have no clue what that has to do with retirement.


Title: [PA] Accidentally opened a letter addressed to my house, but not to me (or my wife). It has a check inside. What can I do?

Question: I didn't even realize that it wasn't addressed to me.  I just saw my street address and that it was from the PA Department of Revenue, so I opened it.  It's got a check for ~$150 and I'm sure the actual person it's supposed to go to will want it.  However, I've heard that it's illegal to open somebody else's mail.  I'm not sure how that covers stuff that's addressed to my house though.  What can I do?

Answer: Seal the envelope and write wrong address return to sender on it. It's not a crime unless you knowing did it, if you send it back after you realized the mistake you should be fine.


Title: Colorado - My Roommate Stole My Property But, I Handled the Situation Poorly and Now I Don't Think I Have Any Recourse - Advice Please?

Question:
I posted about this the day after it happened but, I didn't get a lot of responses. Mostly because I don't think I explained the quandary very well... The situation was still unfolding, so tensions were high. Plus, I have a bit more information now so I thought I'd try again.

Two years ago, someone broke into my house while I was at work. Nothing else was taken except one single, fairly expensive handgun. I discovered the theft the same day it happened and I called the police and they came out to the house and made a report.

Fast forward about six months from that time. A friend of mine needed a place to stay because he'd had a blow-up with his SO, and had gotten a domestic charge and had to leave his SO's house. I had two rooms upstairs I don't really use so, he moved into one of the spare rooms and started paying rent. Soon after, his 13 year old son moved into the other room.

Then two or three weeks ago, he texted me while I was at work, asking me if I could keep a rifle for him. (he's not supposed to have any firearms per a stipulation of his probation for the domestic charge)  He said he had a $5,000 bench warrant out for him, and that he had no idea what it could be for. (I know... dubious to say the least)

When I came home, my roommate wasn't here but, his son informed me that he had put a rifle in my hall closet at the behest of his father. I looked; sure enough, there was a rifle in there I had never seen before. I was waiting for him to get home because I was going to make him take the gun back and get it out of here. But, then his son came back downstairs and said, "Uh, here. You'd better take this one too." He handed me a pistol that I recognized as mine. It was the gun that had been stolen from my house two years earlier, before he even moved in.

I couldn't believe it. The gun had been painted with some kind of black oxide coating but, not very well... It was peeling off on all the corners but, I could still tell it was mine because of some of the custom parts it had on it. I tried hard to fight through my initial shock and rage and figure out what I should do. The obvious choice now would have been to call the cops right then and there but, I was trying to give a guy I've hung out with for the past two decades the benefit of the doubt before throwing him to the wolves. I now realize this was a mistake.

I couldn't read the serial number because it was obscured by the thick coating of stuff he had painted it with. I scratched the stuff off over the serial number, and compared it with my records. They matched.

He came home soon after, and he started telling his story about how the cops were looking for him because someone had used his ID to try to buy a gun. (I have since found out that the actual charge is "trying to purchase a firearm under a false name") He then started thinking of things he could sell to get the money for a bondsman, and asked me for "his" guns because he was going to have his girlfriend try to sell them at a pawn shop. (I know what you're probably thinking - Is this guy so fucking stupid that he was going to let his girlfriend walk into a pawn shop with a gun that he knew was on record as stolen? Yes. That's exactly what he was going to do)

I gave him his rifle back. Then he asked for the pistol. I told him, "We'll talk about that later." I didn't want to get into it right there because his son was in the room. But no, he insisted so, I told him "Uh, that's MY gun that was taken from my house two years ago. You're not getting it back." And of course he categorically denied everything, acted very incredulous, yadda yadda... All the things bad liars do when they get caught. He has a story about how he came into possession of the gun, which I don't believe a single word of, and I won't bother to relate here since it's not relevant.

So that's the back story. Sorry about the length but, I wanted to provide all the details.

My first instinct was to see if there was a way to report the return of the gun to the police without mentioning who took it. I mean, I know the guy betrayed my trust. But, he's a single dad and I wasn't sure I wanted to completely blow his life up over this.

I spoke with a lawyer who handles weapon charge cases in a phone consultation. Told him this whole mess, and he said that his thought is that if I go to the cops with this story, and tell them I don't want to report the person, that they're going to think they smell a rat. And they may even try to charge ME with something. (!??!!) Well, after hearing that, my mind was made up. I'm going to have to tell the police who took it. I can't risk putting myself in a compromising position to protect someone who stole my property.

But, then I started thinking about it.... Because I just took it upon myself to intercept my gun and immediately stuck it in my safe, I now have no way to prove that my roommate ever had the gun at all. The only link between him having it, and me having it, is when his son handed it to me. If I go to the police, and he denies stealing it (which I know he will), I'm now swept up in legal proceedings where I have to get a lawyer myself, and then go testify against my former friend in court. And at the end of the day, it's still just my word against his. I admit, I know very little about the law so, is my assumption correct here?

So that's the dilemma. I have my own property back but, I don't know how to report that to the police without putting myself at risk. (according to the attorney I talked to) And I have no way to prove that my former roommate ever had possession of the gun at all. Then there's the not-so-little matter that the gun has been out of my possession for two years. I'm fairly certain that no crimes have been committed with the gun but, I can't know that for sure... A few weeks ago, I never would have thought this guy would have stolen from me so, I don't know what he's capable of at this point. I should have just given him the gun back and then called the cops. But, I assumed in the moment that since it was my property, and I haven't done anything wrong, that I had nothing to worry about by intercepting the gun from him but, I now think that was a bad move.

Please advise on what the heck I can do here, if anything. I'm at my wit's end trying to decide on the best course of action. I can't afford a lawyer, (especially since I'm losing $700 a month by suddenly not having someone renting my spare room) and after speaking with one, I'm now scared of going to the cops even though I haven't broken any laws (that I know of!). Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time. (and if you read this whole convoluted novel, you're a saint)

tl;dr - My roommate stole a gun from me but, I just took it back when I found out about it, and now I can't prove he ever had it.

Answer:
 TL;DR -

OP possessed a gun with unique characteristics, and recorded the serial number.  IT was stolen from his home.  Sometime later, he allowed a friend to stay in his home after the friend had some legal issues and was on probation.  More legal issues (probation violation), and friend's son asks OP to hold onto the friend's guns, as it is a further violation to possess them.  Surprise!  One of the guns is OP's stolen gun.

OP isn't sure how to handle telling police he found the gun he previously reported stolen, without implicating himself or his friend.Answer #2: This is way too long. At least cut out any unnecessary info or give us a tl;dr or something, come on.


Title: Help! A friend had a levy against her and the bank has seized her accounts! (Xpost from /r/ LosAngeles)

Question:
Can anyone help me with telling her about any legal advice? Any Redditors out there with some legal info?

She thinks it stems from when she was evicted from an apartment she rented in Los Angeles that was foreclosed on from her landlord. During the transition from the old landlord (owner) to the new landlord (buyer), she thinks someone didn't inform her correctly about possibly having to appear in court for whatever reason. Meanwhile, she always paid her rent, so she didn't know there was an issue. Also, she was involved in a serious car accident and had to have back surgery. Me and some friends actually had to move her when she left this former apartment, because her health wouldn't let her otherwise. So maybe it's possible she missed a legal notice while dealing with hospitalization/surgery. Is there any way she could get an attorney and argue a case? Any advice on what kind of attorney to get and what to do going forward?
Bankruptcy?

How can someone seize her bank accounts?

Help me Obi Wan Kenobi!

Answer:
 She owed somebody money.  They sued and she either lost or didn't show up to court.

They then have the legal right to take her money.

You need to ask her who took it and why.Answer #2: It's likely she was sued and lost. They wouldn't be able to levy her account without that.


Title: [OK US]my boss has become overly obsessed with my health in the last couple of months and made me uncomfortable. Is there any law to prevent him from asking?

Question:
Oklahoma US

I work for a very small company which only has one HR person. I manage a team and my boss is the owner of the company. Towards the end of the year I have scheduled many doctor appointments for checkups just to use up my insurance coverage for the year. Also I worked very hard in the most part of the year which is also why I didn’t have time to schedule such appointments. I didn’t use up all my allowed sickleave time. As a matter of fact I actually only used the half of my sickleave which is probably below most of my coworkers.

My boss is a 60 year old foreigner who immigrated to the US when he was young. I don’t know if he thinks it is OK to ask for someone else’s health or he is trying to figure something out. My appointment times are not affecting my daily work or causing any troubles. The only reason I can think of is him I suspected I am interviewing for other jobs or I might have some underlying health issues that will cost me to leave the job. Either way it is not of his business. He is now asking me almost twice a week that if I’m feeling well or my health is doing good. The HR person isn’t going to take my side, but is there any way I can prevent him asking more about my health? I told him many times that I don’t have health issues.

Answer:
 He's allowed to ask if you're feeling well; however, you don't have to disclose any specific medical conditions or diagnoses.  Answer #2: He can ask. Answer #3: I would guess that due to the boss's background, he may not realize that his questions are inappropriate. I would consider telling him frankly that you are fine, there is nothing that would affect your ability to do your work, and that further questions from him would be inappropriate. I know when I have worked with people from other cultures, sometimes cultural expectations of privacy or appropriate questions needed to be discussed more blatantly...

I know of at least one culture where this type of question would likely be completely normal and appropriate...


Title: Volunteering at work? NJ

Question:
I work at a private business in animal boarding (for profit) in NJ and am not salaried. I have no current social life (and dont want one) and find work to be fulfilling and a way to break up my day. I am not interested in trying to get a second job as I have pretty bad anxiety but I am comfortable at my current job as I have been there for a few years,. The way shifts are scheduled in my department they can not break up my current hours to have me work 7 days a week instead of 5 and cant allow me overtime.

What I want to know is it legal issue for my bosses to allow me to offer my services in a volunteer kind of way (unpaid) on the two days off a week I have,. It would only be for a few hours and only if I feel like it. Would this create liability for them, even if I sign some kind of agreement? I feel like the answer is probably no, but figured I would ask.

Answer: No, they can't let you volunteer to perform the same duties for which you are normally paid.