Title: (NE) I've just been sent home from work while they investigate me for credit card fraud. What should I know?

Question:
I'm an insurance agent working out of a call center. I handle multiple credit cards a day processing payments and making policy changes. A customer alleges that yesterday they had fraudulent charges made after giving me their credit card number, so I came in this morning and was immediately sent home.

My biggest concern is that I could lose my insurance license. What else should I know, do, or be prepared for?

Answer:
 If you're not being paid, file for unemployment. Did you commit credit card fraud?Answer #2: Call the HR department and find out the status of the investigation.

I assume this will probably be a long process. But they should be able to clear you if you haven't done anything wrong. But follow what the other poster said. File unemployment in the mean time. Answer #3: on a side note, I had someone try to purchase something in Germany with my credit card info, the day after I used the card in a restaurant here in the US. I did not just assume, however, that someone in the restaurant copied the card info. It crossed my mind, of course, but then again anyone else who had the card or card info also are suspect, so I'd need more clues before I'd call the restaurant and get my server in trouble. what the heck.


Title: Parking tickets increased 12x original amount

Question:
Advice needed!!!

I received two parking tickets Feb of 2014 in Westmont Il. I only found out about these tickets last week when a collection agency called me seeking over $500. We had just moved to IL from MI and the registration hadn't been switched over. We never had the registration changed because in March we bought a new car to replace that vehicle. For whatever reason, I had no I'd gotten a ticket. I suspect it wasn't properly placed and blew off or some idiot took it off my car. We received no notification on the tickets via mail because of the Michigan address on the registration. In am not sure why the mail was not forwarded, but it absolutely was not.

 I spoke with the Westmont police station and they are completely unwilling to take less than 12x the original value of each ticket (originally $20) since it has been a year. I explained I don't have that kind of money, I've got a toddler and another baby on the way. Their suggestion was payment arrangements with the collection agency. Am I alone in thinking this is insane?? I have never had outstanding tickets or other debts like this. Do I have any options? It seems barely legal for the fine to grow to such a high amount, regardless of time. Any suggestions???

Answer:
 > We never had the registration changed

This likely compounded the problem.

> I explained I don't have that kind of money

You can set up a payment plan, $240 over 24 months is $10 a month, try offering that.

> I've got a toddler and another baby on the way

Your friends and family care about this. Hell, even *I* care about it and I don't know you. Good look and mazel tov! The law, however, doesn't let people with kids pay less for parking violations than people without kids.

> Am I alone in thinking this is insane?

I once neglected to follow through on a fix-it ticket for a broken headlight when I was young, which would have been $0, and the bill that finally came through collections was for more than $700. This was in another state. When I got that bill I felt like I fell off a cliff; I didn't have $700 cash at the time and they wouldn't take a payment plan, so I put it on a credit card. But I wasn't blameless in the scenario and I learned from that. In your situation you (apparently) parked illegally and you didn't change your address.


Title: Forced to work Christmas Eve because I called out today

Question:
hi first post here and all that jazz.

So I work at a daycare center and am in the 1-2 y/o room. Were off Christmas Eve and Christmas day meaning NO CHILDREN WILL BE THERE. this is important for later.

last night and this morning I was feeling extremely nauseous. Went downstairs and started throwing up. I called my center and told my boss that I got sick and I wouldn't be coming in this morning. Told her I would be bringing in a doctors note when I come in the next time and she basically said, "ooookay but just so you know you'll be coming in on Thursday to make up for this since it's such a short week." I said, "what why when I'm bringing in a drs note?" "because you need make up for today". mind you I have one sick day I can use which I'm going to use for today.
in extremely pissed off about this considering it's Christmas Eve and I had plans with my family.

I was just wondering if this is legal or not.

Answer: Legal. Shitty, but legal.Answer #2: Christmas eve isn't an observed holiday and plenty of people work on it. Its shitty but legalAnswer #3: I'm assuming you don't have a contract or union membership that would prevent this.  Yes, it's legal.


Title: [NL] Grandchild in group home. Paternal grandmother in ON wants custody

Question:
... but she keeps hitting walls.

CPS took the child from the mother several weeks ago. The mother does have visitation access. She told CPS that the father was not a part of the child's life, even though he visits and regularly video chats with the child.

The grandmother really wants custody, but CPS is stonewalling her. Is there anything she can do? She does not have the resources for a legal battle 1,000 miles away.

Answer:
 It has only been a few weeks. Mom has the right to get the kid back. CPS is not going to consider out of country placement into rights are terminated. Answer #2: CPS is focusing on reuniting the child with the mother.

If you have information that she is misleading CPS regarding visitation from the father, you can make a report to CPS with the relevant information.


Title: am I at fault

Question: A couple nights ago a friend and I were driving her car. I was behind the wheel and hit a curb. the tire blew out and I asked if she had a spare so we could change it to get home. She said she did not(later found out the spare was in the trunk she just didnt want to change it).at this point in time we switched seats and she chose to drive it home on the rim. this did significantly more damage to the car than the initial accident. I purchased  new wheel and tire for her and put it on the car so it was derivable. Today we received a quote from the dealership for over 4k and her father the owner of the car wants me to pay the insurance deductible 2k. more than 70% of the damage in the quote was cause by her driving it on the wheel and wouldnt have happened had we just changed to the spare. Do I need to pay the detectable? am I at fault for the damage she caused to the car while she drove it? how should i proceed? what type of lawyer would I look to for consultation

Answer: I'd argue you owe them the cost of a replacement tire, that's it. Your friend chose to do a really dumb thing and cause vastly more damage to the car, that's on her.


Title: Bank of America is closing all of my business accounts without long enough warning or reason

Question:
[removed]
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Given that you're a kid I'm guessing they're assuming you're doing something extremely illegal and want no part of it.


Title: [CA] Undocumented friend was refused pay.

Question: My friend is undocumented but found a job working in a small store selling clothes for a woman. Everything was going well until last week the owner refused to pay her a week of pay ~ $200. Claiming she never asked her to work those hours and that she can't afford to even pay her the hours that she did say to work. What can she do?

Answer: She can report it to the California LWDA or the US DOL WHD.


Question:
My gf has past legal fees but doesn't have a job. The criminal fines and court fines went to collection. She has been trying to stay on top of the payments but every time she has to be late or tries to get a lower payment plan they say that the lowest they can go is 50 dollars and threatens legal repercussions. We live in Iowa. What are our options on getting a lower payment?

Edit: Can they arrest her for not paying? That's the real question I wanted to ask but forgot.

Answer:
 > but every time she has to be late or tries to get a lower payment plan they say that the lowest they can go is 50 dollars and threatens legal repercussions.

Lower?  Lower than $50/month?

You can always ask, but in all frankness $50/month is a tiny, tiny amount and it's not really reasonable to ask for much less.  It's really unlikely that your girlfriend can't find anything that would give her $50/month.Answer #2: r/personalfinance

This isn't really a legal issue. $50/month is extremely reasonable and I can't see a place going much lower.


Title: Nightmare Tennant situation! Need advice!

Question:
To start, we live in Connecticut, a state that favors the Tennant's rights over the landlord's...

My gf and I have been dating for 2.5 years and we decided it was time to take the next step and move in together. So while we were planning that, we had a family friend who's a real estate agent help us find a Tennant for my gf's condo.

All the background and credit checks were fine. GF moves into my place and shortly after the Tennant moves into her condo. This is when the nightmare begins. We go over to introduce ourselves and are immediately greeted by the Tennant's significant other (who's not on the lease). In a friendly way, we mentioned that if the significant other were to move in, to please inform us so we could update the lease. Wishful thinking.

Almost immediately thereafter, the Tennant began complaining about the neighbor doing renovations on their condo (during the day time hours and well within their rights to do so).

Things started escalating. Tennant won't allow us to perform scheduled maintenance on the apartment (violating the lease agreement). Tennant and significant other have called police on neighbor's brother who was doing the painting and Reno on their condo for "looking at them weird". Tennant has called the fire department because they "smelled fumes". Tennant called the housing authority on the neighbor for not procuring the proper permits to do the renovations, even though you don't need permits to paint and change floor tile (which the inspector promptly pointed out to the Tennant). Furthermore, the Tennant's significant other is most certainly living in the condo. This has all happened in less than 2-3 months. Unfortunately, the Tennant has paid rent, waiting until the last hour of the 9 day grace period to do so.

What rights does a landlord have to proceed in eviction? Need advice desperately. This has caused a major strain on our relationship and I just want to help.
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 Most of the stuff between your tenant and your neighbor isn't really your problem.  That's between the two of them.

In Connecticut, you must give the tenant "reasonable" notice that you'll be entering the unit.  This is typically considered to be 24 hours, and only done during normal daytime hours.  Assuming you've done that, the tenant cannot refuse you entry.

You can speak to an attorney about an eviction.  I certainly wouldn't try it myself in CT.  Without them doing something blatant like not paying rent or trashing the place it may be an uphill battle.Answer #2: If this is nightmare tenant to you, you might want to rethink being a landlord or call this a learning experience.

Unless you have a lot of units, its worth sitting down with tenants and going line by line over the agreement and explaining how each item works and using examples.

As for scheduled maintenance send a schedule a month in advance with all the items. State that any changes need to be made will in advance with a scheduled alternative time. I include mowing, and even items where I don't need access.

3 months ahead of the end of the lease send a notification that you are in the process of reviewing all leases. If you don't like them don't renew. Tell them you have improvements you need to do that won't allow for occupancy.

Also why do you have a ten day grace period? Is that required where you live? Have rent due on the due date.

Also head over to the landlord sub.


Title: [PA] Landlord says my support animal paper won't work?

Question: Hi, I live in center Pennsylvania, my dog is a rottweiler/doberman mix, because of the rottweiler part he is not allowed in too many apartments such as the one I live in. I went to chilhowee's site to take an assessment and find out if I qualify for a support animal so he won't be able to make me remove him, I qualified and the therapist who is licensed and based in NJ wrote me a prescription, 'I have prescribed Mr. oso9817 to obtain or keep a dog to serve as an emotional support animal', I got the physical copy in the mail and turned it into his office, he said this doesn't qualify for ADA, and theres certain 'requirements' needed to qualify but he wouldn't tell me what when I asked him, trying to dodge the question it seemed. But when I checked with the Fair Housing Act he has to allow support animals, is what he's doing legal? What more would I need?

Answer:
 Some paper you got off the Internet from an out of state therapist you've never met is not going to work. The landlord is right to ignore that.

If you actually have a mental illness which requires an ESA then you need to have the mental health professional who has been treating you write a letter to that effect. If you don't have a mental illness that requires ongoing treatment then you don't get to label your dog an ESA. Answer #2: So you're trying to get your pet designated as an ESA not because you actually need an ESA but because you simply want to skirt your apartment's breed restriction?Answer #3: Stop lying. Either go to a real therapist for regular appointments and get a diagnosis and prescription, or call your dog what it is - a pet. Your landlord doesn't have to indulge your fake letter. Answer #4: FYI, your letter actually screws you.

>  have prescribed Mr. oso9817 to obtain or keep **a** dog

**A** dog. Not **your** dog. Not a rotty/dobby. So if your landlord is smart they will say "sure, but not that dog, go get another"Answer #5: NAL: that’s not how you go about getting an ESA. They are prescribed from a doctor who is treating you for a mental or physical illness. Printing something up you found online doesn’t count. Your landlord is right to ignore the letter, especially because you would have a hard time proving that you’re going out of state for regular sessions. Also, online quizzes tell everyone they have depression and anxiety. That requires a formal diagnosis, again, from a doctor. Quit trying to cheat the system.


Title: Purchasing firearm as a legal permanent resident - do i have the right?

Question:
I am a legal permanent resident of the United States. I have had this status since January of 2014. However, I originally entered the country under the Visa Waiver Program. Due to a severe illness in my wife's family during a visit to the US (she is a US citizen, hence how i gained residency), we stayed in the States and i filed the relevant paperwork to become a resident.

The immigration officer noted, during our interview to decide whether I was granted or denied LPR status, that I had gone about this the wrong way. Nevertheless, I was granted the right to live in the US as a legal permanent resident.

I am currently researching firearm laws, as I am considering purchasing a pistol. The ATF form 4473, firearm transaction record, asks the following question (11.l):

> Are you an alien admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa?

I did enter the country under a nonimmigrant visa, I had to submit an ESTA application to travel here in 2011. However, I have since been granted LPR status.

Does the 'admittance' mentioned on the transfer form refer to my original entry into the country, or when the Federal Government granted me the right to live here as an LPR? Is it a dumb idea to rely on the ATF to decide this for themselves during the relevant background check through the FFL?

I have no other concerns regarding my right to own a firearm. This is my only worry.

EDIT: South Carolina.

Answer:
 I'm all for answering the exact question asked for on the government form. In this case, I'd say no for two reason.

The "are" is the present tense. Are you currently an alien on a non immigrant visa? No, you're a LPR. It's not asking if you "were" a non immigrant alien previously.

Second, technically speaking a visa waiver isn't a visa. You were allowed to enter without one because the visa requirement is waived based on the information in you ETSA application. So you weren't admitted on a non-immigrant visa.


Title: Received a ticket when I was never there

Question:
So in April, I received a traffic ticket from the City of Chicago stating on March 3rd at 11:07 pm my vehicle ran a stop sigh or red light. There were no pictures and there is nothing online for me to look at.  Furthermore, I live 3 hours away from Chicago and was not there.  I am the only one who has access to my vehicle and my vehicle was in my driveway.

I called the city of Chicago and explained the situation. I was instructed to go online a request a hearing. I went online, as instructed, and requested a hearing.

On May 3rd, I received a decision and found liable and was ordered to pay the fine or had 35 days from the date of the notice, which was April 15th, to file a civil suit against the city in the Cook County small claims court.

I have called several times to get a copy of any photos or a copy of the ticket issued if someone was pulled over. I'm sure this is a clerical error. However, no info can be found or they tell me they can't give it to me.

I am at my wits end. I don't want to go to Chicago to file in small claims court and pay the court fees and gasoline and take an entire day off of work. I'm told that I have to show up at 8 am to file and IF I'm one of the first 60 people I will be seen at 9 am.  I realize that I could just pay the ticket but I have a perfect driving record and I really shouldn't have to pay a fine for something I didn't do.

Please advise.
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: Wait, did you go to the hearing or not? If not, that's why they found against you. You would have to presented some evidence the ticket wasn't warranted. If you weren't there, and didn't have a lawyer there to do it for you, they find against you by default. If you were there what did they say about the evidence you presented?Answer #2: https://www.citizenstoabolishredlightcameras.com/how-to-contest.html


Title: (NE) Property management company threatening to automatically roll tenant who has moved out over to a month to month contract without consent.

Question:
My SO went through a nasty breakup and moved out of the apartment he had co-signed a lease for with his ex (who remained in the apt). Due to being unable to find someone to sublet his spot in the apt, he had to continue paying his share of rent for the remainder of the lease. The lease is almost up and he has prepared his written notice. However, he was told today by the property management office that unless the ex either also gives notice to vacate or signs a form assuming full responsibility for the apt, it will automatically roll over to a month to month contract under both of their names and he will continue to be responsible for his portion of the rent, regardless of his written notice. It is very reasonable to expect that his ex would choose to stay in the apt without assuming the responsibility and force my SO to continue to pay half her rent. The property management company is fully aware that he moved out several months ago and has no intention of renewing the lease, but made no mention of this stipulation until now.

We are leaving for vacation so won't be able to do much follow up until next week but he does plan to go ahead and submit his written notice anyway, as well as get a copy of the lease (the only renter's copy was left with the ex) to review. He also plans to reach out to the local housing authority for guidance. However, any input or suggestions r/legaladvice has would be very helpful, as this policy seems shady at best and Google didn't come up with anything for this particular situation. Thanks Reddit!

Answer:
 Unfortunately this is what happens sometimes when you enter into a multilateral contract.  It requires all parties to end.

Most leases have a provision that if the tenant doesn't leave when the period is over, it will roll over as month-to-month which isn't shady.  Your SO doesn't have a bilateral lease with the LL so he can't end it without actually returning the apartment to the LL.  If the ex doesn't leave then SO can't satisfy the requirement of actually vacating the apartment.  In other words it isn't enough that he's vacated the apartment, the apartment needs to be completely vacated before the lease can end.

The most optimal solution would be for your SO to work things out with the ex for her to either leave or sign a new lease.  You'll have to wait for the real lawyers to answer to get an idea of what to do next if that fails.

Assuming there isn't better recourse from someone else, your SO could stop paying rent which would force the ex to either come up with his share or face eviction.  Under the latter scenario, it would still hurt your SO's credit just as much as the ex and he would still be liable for back rent after the eviction but it would be final.


Title: 17 year old dating 15 year old in California

Question: I just want to know what our options are for when they turns 18, or if their are options other than breaking up. I also would like to know if we would still legally be allowed to hold hands/kiss/that sort of thing. Please don't post your opinion, I just need to know from a legal stand point, thank you.

Answer: If you do anything sexual before you both turn 18, it can lead to problems. CA doesn't have a Romeo and Juliet clause. Technically, if you're both under 18, you're statutory raping each other.


Title: [NM] Intruder broke into my home, I shot him to death, he happened to be Latino, due to misunderstanding I am now being accused of a racially motivated killing, advice needed.

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 I read nothing but the headline.

We cannot help you. You need a lawyer, immediately.Answer #2: DELETE THIS POST AND GET A LAWYER.Answer #3: You killed someone. The best advice anyone will be able to give you is for you to go get an attorney.


Title: Friend wants to buy out wash 'n fold business. Current employees might include undocumented cash workers. How to proceed?

Question: My friend wants to buy a business that washes and folds uniforms for other businesses.  I might help him do some of the bookkeeping and paperwork on the side.  He's concerned that this business has hired people of questionable immigration status that are paid under the table.  Any general advice?  How should he proceed?  It's a small business under 10 employees in Nevada.  Thanks in advance!

Answer:
 He should not employ anyone under the table under any circumstance. That means they’re fired just before he’s the owner of record (at the latest).

Also don’t buy the company - you don’t want any outstanding liabilities. Buy the assets/client list and open a wholly separate business.


Title: [OH] Puppy dies at vet from anesthesia for putting on a splint for a sprained leg. Is this malpractice and is there any legal action I can take?

Question: Hey guys new to the sub so if I am in the wrong just  yell at me. My parents bred their cavalier King Charles puppies that are about 8 weeks now. Well one of them took a tumble and hurt its leg as it was whining. So my parents took it to the vet to help it out and they said all they had to do was to splint it. They said my mom could pick it up the next day and called 30 minutes later saying the dog died from anesthia. I'm not a professional in the field but it seemed odd they had to give it in the first place to a puppy for a splint. These puppies were being sold for 1000$ each. Is there any way they can take legal action?

Answer:
 Just because someone or something dies does not mean it was negligence that caused it. Answer #2: IANAL

Most veterinary practices require a consent form to be signed before any surgical procedures, including but not limited to, anesthesia. Was any such consent documented or signed?


Title: [TX] I got bit pretty badly by my cat, but my mom (who has primary custody) refuses to take me to a doctor of any kind.

Question:
I can understand that doctors are expensive, but this is ridiculous. I was bitten by this cat yesterday, and today the bite is slightly swollen and is still leaking blood. Literally anyone who sees it would say I need a doctor, but my mom refuses to take me to one.

I’ve looked it up online, and 9/10 sources say that cat bites need antibiotics and I’m kinda worried about getting an infection. This is also not our cat, we have had it for only 2 or 3 months and do not have it’s vaccination records.

Also while on that note, my mother is something of an anti vaxxer. In my childhood she would flip out every time my dad got me a vaccination and I know for a fact that it’s been quite a few years since I’ve gotten a shot of any kind. She’s pretty stereotypical and owns essential oils and healing crystals. She has tried to put epsom salt and shit on the bite but I’ve refused.

Is there anything that I can do at all? If I do get an infection or worse, could this be labeled as neglect or something like that?

Answer:
 Please ask your mom for me...

When she was giving birth to you did she go out in a field alone and wing it? Maybe laid in a wood and laid crystals around her in a circle? Put some funky clay on her perineum tear? If not - She’s a fraud.Answer #2: I know most of what I'm going to write has already been said, and I realise you are going to go to the clinic, but you do need to go to a Doctor ASAP. This is becoming urgent.

I am a microbiologist working in a hospital laboratory. Cat bites are paticularly nasty because they cause very deep, narrow puncture wounds - so you often have a mixed infection, often containing anaerobic bacteria (Bacteria that normally grow in the absence of oxygen - there are some fairly nastly ones including the bacterium that causes Tetanus)

Deep puncture bite very often become infected, and can, in worst case scenarios result in massive tissue damage, sepsis or even death - please don't ignore this - get treatment first (by whatever means) and worry about your relationship with your mother later.


Title: [MN] My brother received this nasty letter from a neighbor 1 day after moving into his new apartment. Is this harassment? What can be done about it?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 A single letter is not harassment in any sense, even one as hostile and as badly-written as that one.

Your brother can ignore it, or he can reach out to his neighbours and smooth things over. If the neighbour actually calls the cops, they may come by and ask him to keep it down. I wouldn't fret it too hard, personally, although going over and saying sorry about the movers, whether it's deserved or not, might be neighbourly.


Title: Could a woman be topless on the Georgia tech campus?

Question: It is in Atlanta GA.

Answer:
 The answer to the question as asked is "of course".  The answer to the implied question of "would she be arrested" is "possible, but it depends on what else she's doing and who complained about her."

Really, the whole thing is purely academic since everyone knows that any Georgia Tech student that saw an adult woman topless would spontaneously explode.Answer #2: First there actually has to be a woman at Georgia Tech.

Buh-Dum-Tsch!

I'll go sit down over in the corner now.


Title: Injured at work boss is saying no workers compensation

Question: So a little bit about me I'm a 22 year old who just started working for a huge company about 2 months ago in Southern California.   My job tile is warehouse/maintenance and pretty much everything else that has to do with fixing things.  A little less than a week ago I was moving a cabinet and injured my back I have a slightly bulging disk making it very difficult for me to walk yet alone do my job.  I am a full time employee who opted in for benefits but they have not fully kicked in to my understanding now I am missing 2 full weeks of work and my boss is telling me I probably am not getting paid for my workers compensation.  Is that legal for a company to do?  Strongly rely on my income as it supports me and my girlfriend.

Answer:
 It's not your bosses call. If your employer isn't cooperating contact these people directly:

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/Answer #2: Where in the world are you? When did you report this injury to your company? Have you gone to see a workers comp doctor?

Keep in mind that Worker's Comp. is separate from health insurance in most cases.Answer #3: I am a lawyer in Ca that specialies in workers' compensation. Please note that nothing I tell you will constitute legal advice and I am not your attorney.

Your boss knows nothing about comp, worker's comp is not the same as medical benefits. His policy is effective the day you start working. Deal with the insurance company directly and just provide your boss with copies of your work status slips. If you are unable to return to work they will provide you with partial wage replacement.

Consider reviewing the Ca worker's comp website (others have provided the link). And contact Information and Assistance in San Diego if you have more questions.


Title: Can I move back into my marital home?

Question: Michigan - I moved out of the marital home approximately 7 months ago. My wife still lives there. My legal address on my driver's license still has the marital home address, although I filed a change of address with the post office so I could get my mail. I am still paying part of the mortgage each month. We're in the process of divorcing, but it's taking a long time. Is there any reason I can't just move back into the marital home? We have no children.

Answer: Are you both on the title? If so, then legally you can move back in unless your wife wants to get some kind of court order against it. But I would be cautious; it would be much better for you two to come to some kind of understanding without getting the courts involved. Do you have a lawyer working on the divorce?Answer #2: Against her will?


Title: Is it legal to use a "fake" "nickname"?

Question:
Today, the barista asked my name, and I said John. The kicker is that my name isn't John. I just thought it would be funny to say that.

Of course, I don't expect to be sued over this, nor to end up in jail. But I think I read in some article somewhere that this is illegal.

What are the implications of doing something illegal like this, if you probably won't get in trouble over it?

How about if it were an email account? Would that be legal?

Answer: No, it's not illegal. It may surprise you to learn that my name isn't actually GreedyPhrase and I am not writing this from a jail cell.


Title: Are sports statistics part of the public domain?

Answer:
 OMG! MY CHANCE IS HERE!!!! Sports Law guy here! In 2006 Major League Baseball tried to sue a fantasy baseball site, stating that those stats were property of Major League Baseball, the court in New York and judge deemed before the lawsuit went to trial ruled that it was public domain and Major League Baseball was not able to sue.

Flash forward to 2015 because of internet speeds and people doing real time highlights they needed to go back to trial, basically what you saw live updates on ESPN and such. As of now it is completely legal, but use of logos, brands and players WEARING UNIFORMS are not allowed. Look at your espn or yahoo fantasy app it is players photos which is free use, but nothing that shows branding, that will get you sued!

Along with fantasy sports twitter is another notorious problem because of delays in real time games, you can be "spoiled" from events seconds before it happens. This also went to court with NBA vs Motorola. The arguments in court have always gone with this " Sports organizations do not enjoy any sui generis right to real-
time data in the United States."

Also you should get a lawyer to start a fantasy football sports website...if you you are only giving advice ensure you are not showing Major Sport logs and such, and if you are running a pay fantasy site, make sure you get all the money set in TRUSTS so there are no questions about payouts


Title: State wants me to pay child support [Michigan]

Question: The state wants me.to pay child support because my kids have Medicare. Me and the mother are in good terms and have an agreement. She says she doesn't want to get child support through the state because she will probably get less money than what I give her right now. State is going to set up a court date. What should I do?

Answer:
 If your children get state aid and you are legally on their birth certificate you will have to compensate the state. There really isn’t going to be a way around that. However, if the 2 of you let the state know that you co-parent and both cover all expenses you likely won’t have to pay as much as you are thinking.

Make a list of all expenses you cover. Not the amount but the things that you cover. Don’t tell them what you pay, because they will use that against you at some point.


Title: Landlord Passed Away - What Now? (NJ)

Question: Living in New Jersey and my landlord passed away. Have a signed lease through June 2018 but unsure of who to pay rent to. His wife and his daughters seem to have a battle looming over custody of his assets so definitely on edge. His wife asked us to pay her in cash but definitely don't want to put myself at risk of paying the wrong person and being forced to pay again. What should I do? When and how will we be contacted about who legally owns the house?

Answer: Write your check out to the deceased LL. It's up to the relatives to sort it out, not you.


Title: [NJ] What constitutes reasonable lawn maintenance for a tenant?

Question: I am renting a house with shrubs and two trees. My lease states that I am responsible for "maintaining the yard, front and back, including mowing, watering weeding and other reasonable maintenance as needed". Am I responsible for paying for the trimming of the trees and pruning of the shrubs and bushes? Also, am I responsible for laying down new mulch?

Answer:
 Look up the city ordinance on lawn maintenance. There will be a section on noxious weeds and grass length. This is your safest bet. The largest thing as a landlord is not getting a notice or fine for having the city have to take care of the lawn, which costs a solid 700% of the going rate or more.
Falling trees are considered an "act of god" if there is not evidence of tampering / sawing on the tree to cause it to fall. Nearly every town/city has a ordinance similar to this.


Title: (Nebraska)I qualify for FMLA for my mother. But afraid it may be looked at as fraud.

Question: So my mother unexpectedly ended up in the hospital earlier this week. She had surgery and is recovering fine. It's unknown how long before she can return to her normal routine. I'm an only parent and I take my child to my mother's each morning before I go to work at 6 am. My mother takes my kid to daycare and goes to work at 8 am. I work for a company that employs 20k+ people. The leave/disability department told me I'm able to take leave either full time or partial leave(able to miss days or show up late, leave early). Either leave I would take unpaid. Now I intend to use the partial so I can show up late everyday after dropping my kid off at daycare. And if my mom needs rides to any follow up appointments or just general help until she is better. Because I am reliant on her to help with my kid would this be acceptable use of fmla or would this be considered fraud? As I am primarily using it to take my kid to daycare and not exclusively helping my mother. Thanks for any help or advice.

Answer:
 I think you'd get into trouble with this.  FMLA is to help the ailing family member, not to pick up the tasks she'd done for you, and the way you phrase it makes it pretty clear that the main reason is for driving the kid with your mother's needs only possible and incidental.  If you have a good relationship with your manager, you could ask if you could come in late unpaid for a few weeks even though it doesn't qualify for FMLA.

Glad to hear your mother's recovering fine, though.


Title: Mother is chronically ill, refusing any treatment. Anything we can do?

Question:
WA state (near Seattle, if that matters).

My mother has had a chronic illness for 12 years (started December 2006). It's similar to Crohn's, but we don't know what it is. She went to the doctor when it first started and got a colonoscopy and prescription for steroids, but the colonoscopy didn't give good enough results and they wanted to do more testing, and she refused to take the steroids.

It seems to be getting steadily worse now. I'm in college across the country, but when I came home last month, I quickly realized that it was much worse. This is kinda gross and probably irrelevant, but she's shit her pants like 3 times in a week. And today, like 2 hours ago, when she was driving me somewhere she screamed in pain and sounded like she was in labor or something and shat her pants super bad. I'm a little shaken up from that. I was very close to calling 911.

She's also had an awful cough the entire time I've been home (two months) and has a history of choking (one time was in public where the paramedics were called and they forced her to go to the ER where they found nothing wrong).

Is there any possible way to legally force her to get treatment? My dad won't do anything and I'm only 20 and completely dependent on my parents so I don't want to wake the kraken. I know that there's stuff allowing people to refuse treatment if they're of sound mind, but I just don't want to find her dead, and I seem to be the only person to care about this.

Thanks in advance.

Answer: As of now she is an adult of sound mind so only she can make her decisions. Maybe talking to her might be a better approach


Title: Being denied an Internship because of religious practices.

Question:
Hello,

I am trying to get an internship at a company in Kentucky. Everything is going well until I bring up that I am a Christian and that I wont be able to work on my day of worship. At first they said I was okay and that I would not have any conflicts as an intern; however, later they tell me that because the internship is preparing for full time managers and that managers are required to work the weekends, that they would not be able to take me if I couldn't compromise my religious practices. Ive told them I would be happy to make up the hours in other ways, but they say it isnt fair to the other managers. Is this religious descrimination?

Answer: No it is not. If they need you to work weekends you work weekends. They have to make reasonable requests but being off every weekend or every Sunday is not a reasonable request. It isn't far to the company or other works you get those days off.  If they denied you wearing a religious symbol or clothing then yes you would have a case. Answer #2: Not being able to work any weekends ever is not a reasonable accommodation. They can legally deny you this internship for this reason


Title: [Kentucky] Want to transfer ownership of my car to my wife for lower insurance, just making sure it isn't some kind of fraud?

Question:
Hi, just a quick question really, I just want to make sure we're not doing something wrong.

I've owned my car since around 2010. No payments or anything like that. I moved to Kentucky around 5 years ago to be with my now-wife, and got new insurance then. I've had two incidents since then (ran one stop sign, and I was in an accident that was my fault because I got the "wave of death" from someone and I went). Our current payments are around 82/month, with basic coverage.

My wife went looking for quotes today, and we discovered that through one company, she would be qualified for much *better* coverage for literally half of what we're paying now. She is licensed and a perfectly good driver, I just tend to drive us around more than she does. She has 0 incidents at all.

The quote she looked up however was under the assumption that she was the owner of the car. Like I said, we currently own the car, and it's registered under my name. I have no issue with transferring the registration to her name, especially not if we can pay half of what we're paying now for much better coverage.

I just want to make sure it's not some kind of fraud or deceit (legally) to transfer ownership of the car to her name really only for the sake of getting better insurance rates, especially since as I said, I tend to drive it more often than not. I would still be a covered driver under the quote she got.

So yeah, don't need a ton of help here, I just wanted to double-check that we aren't doing anything legally wrong before we move forward.
Topic:
Insurance

Answer:
 Did she list you as an authorized driver for the quote?

If you're considered a higher risk driver then it's likely that the rates will be similar regardless of who owns the car.

Transferring it to her name is probably fine.  Lying about you driving it regularly is fraud.

Check with /r/insurance for further.


Title: Did my landlord scam me?

Question:
Me and two other roommates pay our rent online to my landlord property management website.

Our rent is due on 5th of every month. Today is the 28th.
This past month I paid $633 for rent on our website on the 5th. According to my bank statement, the payment was posted on the 7th. On the 10th the payment was returned.
So my statement says
-$633.33
And then
+633.33

On the 24th my landlord sent me a text saying that my payment didn’t go through. I never responded and I just sent the payment again. It goes through and I think nothing of it really. I assumed it was a technical issue and I wouldn’t be penalized.

This morning my roommates both received texts threatening to evict us if I don’t pay the portion of rent????

They texted me the one time on the 24th and I thought it was an automated thing so I never responded and I just payed. Again.
The messages to my roommates said that they have been trying to reach me all week and I wasn’t responding, which isn’t true. There was the one text and I responded with my payment basically.

So I look at my bank statement and that’s when I saw that they took my payment the first time then sent it back and then asked for it again and it went through.
 At this point in time I have over $2,000 in my checking account.
I will say that it is possible that my account was overdrawn the first time but I didn’t catch it? I feel crazy though. This has never happened to me and I almost always have at least $1,000 in my account from money my family sends me. So this is a possibility but very unlikely. Even so, how could they return it?

Anyways, I get on the phone with my landlord and she’s telling me I’m wrong and if there is an issue with any statements it’s the banks fault. We argued for like 10 mins. Mind you, I’m at work freaking out over this but that’s besides the point.
Also mind you, I’m not an argumentative person at all but she was so condescending and talking over me and she even laughed at me when I said my roommates were being contacted about this and she said that never happened. I literally have screenshots to prove it.

My bank was closed at this time so I didn’t get to call but I really just don’t understand how my funds were insufficient if it said “posted” and then they were returned 3 days later.
I ended up just paying the stupid late fee of $80.

Something similar happened to one of my roommates w the same landlord where we were randomly prompted (like 24 hour notice) to pay via online portal as opposed to a physical check in the mail. My roommate never received the prompt (you had to be invited via email and we were given a specific login)
She ends up just sending the check in the mail but they told her it was late and they no longer accept physically checks in the mail. So technically it was last because it arrived past the 5th in the mail, but the past 15 months or so we did it like that and as long as the date was the 5th on the check, it was acceptable.
Again, she was charged an $80 late fee.

Is this fishy or are they allowed to do this?
I’m more annoyed about being gaslit and accused of something I didn’t do and then having my roommates be harassed about it than the stupid money.
But still it seems fishy and I don’t know what to do.
I’m going to call my bank tomorrow.
What do you guys think?
Why did they threaten my roommates with eviction today and not me if it was my payment they were worried about?
And I my payment had already cleared YESTERDAY and the landlord even said that!
How can they return my payment if I never had the funds?
I have never had this issue in my 5 years of renting. I’ve lived here for almost 2 years and I’ve never missed a payment.

Answer: I don’t really see a scam here. I see errors and miscommunication. If this continues happening to the tune of you frequently owing $80 extra bucks a month, it’s time to see what’s up. As it is, call your bank and see if they can explain what happened with your first payment that caused it to be reversed. I think you need to stop leaving your payments to the last minute as to avoid issues that may result in late payments.


Title: [NYC] broker did not inform me of bad bedbug situation in building before I paid deposit. What to do?

Question:
Apparently he forgot.

I put down a deposit on an apartment. The broker told me the housing management company name/contact only after I put the deposit down. When I called them for lease signing, the management company told me over the phone that the building has had cases of bedbugs in 4 out of the 6 floors within the past year, including the floor below the unit I put a deposit on, but would not tell me whether the unit directly below mine had been infested. My unit was not infected within the past year but I know how they can spread fast. I talked to previous tenants and they said the bedbug issue is an ongoing problem.

Now I know NYC housing law requires landlords to give notice of bedbugs in writing before lease signing, but as I was required to put a deposit down with the broker, not the landlord, before even finding out who the landlords were, is there a way for me to get the deposit back? The broker did know about the bedbug situation in the building, he says he forgot to tell me.

The deposit states that if the application is not approved (it was) or the apartment is not given to me, then I am entitled to the money back. It also says that if the application is approved, I am not entitled to a refund. The deposit was about 1500, so I would really like it back.

In order to submit my application I had to give them personal info like SSN, birthdate, etc for background checks. Not sure if I'm being paranoid but if I try to request money, can I expect retaliation?

What should I do in this situation?

I crossposted a simpler version to /r/asknyc .

Answer:
 >The broker did know about the bedbug situation in the building, he says he forgot to tell me.

Regardless, the law states [they're required to give you notice, in writing](www.nyshcr.org/Forms/Rent/dbbn.pdf).

You should seek a refund. If they choose not to, you'll have to sue them for a refund.


Title: Divorce, sole custody, terror and nightmares and 15 months later, my ex husband wants to work it out all while using our child as a bargaining chip.

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 You should look into two things:

First, look into an attorney to see if the custody arraignment can be modified.  It sucks that you didn't get a positive result the first time, but I would be all the money in my pocket vs all the money in yours that this was the result of him having an attorney who knew them law and you being self represented rather than Kentucky law sucking so bad that it unfairly screwed you.  The standard in ever state that I am aware of is some variation on the best interest of the child.  Laws that explicitly favor men or women are unconstitutional.

Second, seek some counseling regarding the abusive relationship that you appear to have been in with your ex.  You have a new relationship now which appears to be serious, that said since you didn't immediately tell your ex to piss off it sounds like you are still struggling with some sort of attachment to him due to the abuse you suffered.  Therapy can help you with this.

Best of luck  Answer #2: Why are you arguing with him about visitation at all? Why do you not have a set custody schedule? Answer #3: I think this is more something for r/relationships.


Title: City of Fremont, California just closed 2 roads leading to a heavily-used freeway on-ramp, during commute hours. This is a permanent closure, with signs,cones, and even police stationed to enforce it!

Question:
As the title says: I live in California, and I commute along interstate 680. There's a heavily-used shortcut which cuts through city streets to avoid HEAVY freeway traffic. However, a few days ago, the City of Fremont erected signs blocking off traffic from entering the freeway from 2 of these city streets.

Can a city in California shut off streets to through traffic onto an interstate? Are there rules in place about how they do this? Must an environmental impact report be done, because this is SURE to impact traffic in the surrounding areas or the freeway itself. Are there no State or Federal rules which govern the ability of drivers to use freeway on-ramps, which I believe are paid for by State and Federal taxes?

If something can be done to address this, I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Answer:
 Lol. You can call your city officials or the state department of transportation, but likely this was planned and approved and not a city just going rogue. Answer #2: Anti-Waze barriers.

My jdx recently put up half-intersection barriers that direct drivers back onto the freeway to avoid exactly this sort of thing.

I assure you the City has the authority to control their own streets.


Title: How do I get my ex to leave? MN

Question:
Good morning, I hope you can help me.

My former fiancée has an incredibly bad temper when he is drinking. Yesterday, during one of his binges , I asked him to leave. He didn't take this well, and felt the need to throw things around the house. Eventually he left, but then returned. After pushing me around a bit , I finally called the police out of fear for my safety, as well as my children's safety.

He was allowed to sleep in off in the detached garage.

Now what? He thinks he is going to come back here after work tonight. I do not want him here.

Details- I'm a renter, on a month to month lease.  He has lived here for 1 year. He is not on the lease and doesn't play rent.

Any insight? (Other than to never date again)

Answer:
 He's a tenant there even if he doesn't pay rent, so you can't change the locks or put his stuff outside or anything else like that.

Since you're month to month, the best thing to do would be to move out ASAP and go somewhere else. You cannot legally stop him from staying there.


Title: Bought my ex girlfriend a mattress, we broke up. I still owe money on the mattress, what do I do?

Question: Hey there from Tennessee. I bought my ex a mattress from mattress firm last April, but we broke up. The mattress is in her apartment, and I still owe money to pay off the mattress, what can I do in this situation?

Answer:
 You gave her a gift that you financed. You keep paying for itAnswer #2: You can ask her for it back, but she doesn't have to give it back, it was a gift.

You can keep making payments on the mattress and learn the lesson that you shouldn't buy expensive gifts for people that cause you to go into debt.Answer #3: This sounds like a gift. Absent an agreement for her to pay you back, you can keep paying the phone to protect your credit. Answer #4: You can continue paying off the mattress. I presume the mattress was a gift? If so that doesn’t change because the two of you break up.


Title: Mother bleached hair before court ordered drug test

Question:
Court issued a follicle test for our temporary custody hearing. A part of our testimony was her drug abuse. This was an obvious attempt to juke the test. She has never bleached her ever, and now she decides before a follicle test to bleach her hair. My lawyer says that he wants to get her in front of the judge this following week. There are other ways to test, but I'm guaranteeing she has shaved all of her body hair, as well as clipped and cleaned her nails. I'm so livid right now. How else can I text her, besides a blood test? She is going to claim that she got it after or that she didn't know that this affected the test. She is also a nurse, she knows what she is doing. Does her bleaching her hair help prove my point?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 First, this isn't really a legal question. Second, you have a lawyer. Listen to your lawyer. Third, the judge isn't stupid. If it is pointed out that Mom knew a hair follicle test was coming and she shaved everything and bleached her hair, the judge can draw his or her own logical conclusions about that behavior.Answer #2: Listen to your attorney. But the court isn’t stupid, if she is willfully avoiding compliance with a court order she will ultimately be held in contempt and things will go poorly for her.Answer #3: Good news it takes multiple bleachings to damage the hair cuticle for the drug test.  If she only did it a single time it removed maybe 20% of the drug metabolites from the hair.  It will still test positive, unless she has done a significant amount of damage to her hair through multiple bleachings (her hair looks like straw or a haystack).  If she is continuing to use then her body is still depositing drug metabolites in her hair.

Do a search on bleaching hair and hair follicle drug testing and one of the results will be the source I used.  It was from an expert witness, Okorie Okorocha, that offers their services at trial so I can't post the link here.Answer #4: Everyone else is correct, listen to your lawyer. I can promise that the people doing the hair follicle test WILL find hair that she has not damaged, eyebrows, eye lashes, some part of her hair is going to be used for the test.

The judge will also not look kindly on her attempt to circumvent the test.

Let your lawyer and the courts deal with it, that's what they are there for.


Title: [MO] Landlord misled us, now forcing us to stick to lease

Question:
SO is starting medical school in Missouri in July.  Early this year she decided it would be good to find an apartment before they were all gone since the town is small and has lots of college students coming/going.  I didn't argue and we browsed around the web to find a variety of good options.  Ranked them based a few different factors and she ultimately chose one that looked nice and had laundry on site.  This is the key.  I'll admit we should have investigated further but in all my experience, on site laundry means in the same building.  So a couple months later we opted to make a trip to visit the town, scout things out, see the apartment, etc.  When we got to the apartment we were shocked to find that not only was laundry not in the same building, but it was something like buildings away and the woman doing the showing opted to drive there.  At this point we were pretty upset.   We had already paid the security deposit ($550) and the lease stated that if she opted out of the lease by 5/31 she would only be on the hook for security and one month rent (additional $550).  We've been actively trying to find somebody to take over the apartment since this happened but have had no luck.  5/31 was yesterday and we told them we had no people lined up but that we would continue to try if it was an option.  They said no, send a check for $550 and this is over.  Now, I can handle the $550 but as a matter of principle and the fact that is still a significant amount of money I'd rather not pay it.  Do we have any sort of recourse we can take.  Something tells me they aren't will to go to court over $550 bucks but I don't really want to either.

TL;DR.  SO rented an apartment based on pictures and landlord description, told laundry was on site when it's actually a long walk/short drive away, now we're on the hook for $1100 bucks (already paid half, and don't want to pay the other half)

Thanks in advance!

Edit, thanks everyone, upvotes all around and lesson learned I guess.

Answer:
 If it's still possible, maybe you should just accept the lease and move in.  Then you get a place to live in exchange for your rent money and you can even get your security deposit back when you move out.  Laundry a couple of buildings away is, I agree, not ideal, but throwing $1100 down the drain over it seems stupid.  If you're willing to spend $1100 for laundry, why not take the place and hire someone to do your laundry for you?

Besides, when you've moved in you can continue to look for someone willing to take over your lease and once you find some good ones the management will probably be happy to release you.


Title: (New York) I have discovered that someone is ejaculating on my desk at work.

Question:
I originally posted this in /r/relationships but my post was deleted and I was told this sub would be better.

I've been working at this job since the beginning of December. I love my job, I love the people that I work with (for the most part) and am definitely happy with where I am at now. My current position offers a lot of room for advancement.
The problem is, this office has a lot more males than females, which is fine. For the most part, everyone has been very respectful, with the exception of one incident at our Christmas party (one of my coworkers got very drunk, clapped me on the back and said "it's SO nice to finally have an office hottie!!" he has profusely apologized since then and has never been inappropriate since), until now.

Monday morning, I came into my office to find a milky white substance on my desk, beside my keyboard. As I got closer, I noticed the smell... it was definitely semen and a lot of it. I was appalled. I went straight to my boss and asked him to come into my office. I showed him the mess and he was visibly furious. We went to HR together and we filed a complaint. They said they will go at great lengths to find out who did this, but will need a couple of days to talk to employees, IT, anyone who can help.
Problem is, we don't have any security cameras at this location.
I was still pretty shaken and disgusted and my boss offered to let me take the rest of the day off, but I decided to power through, using a different office instead.

Tuesday was fine without incident. HR said they were still working on the case. I wasn't expecting a resolution so soon, so I was okay with it. Today I came in to find more semen on my desk this morning. I informed my boss and HR yet again and took my boss's offer to take the rest of the day off.
I am home now but pretty shaken and quite disgusted. I don't know what to do from here. How will they even find out who did this if we have absolutely no security cameras? I feel sick to my stomach and I don't feel comfortable going back to work, knowing that someone is doing this, has probably touched my things... what if they try to get me next?

If it was any other job, I would leave, but this has been my dream job for such a long time and I am so happy where I am... what do I do?

tl;dr: Someone at my job has been ejaculating on my desk in my office before I get into work. This has happened twice this week. WTF do I do?

Answer:
 Is your office cleaned at night?  I've worked in a few offices where the cleaning staff comes in at night.  There have been occasional problems of theft and other disrespect for a person's desk.

May be worth looking in to if anyone outside of your office has access to the office.Answer #2: Perhaps HR and your boss can offer you an office with a locking door until the culprit is found?  Also I second the advice to get a camera to watch your desk.Answer #3: The same thing happened at a place of business near me last year.  You may find this interesting http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/04/02/man-pleads-guilty-to-ejaculating-into-co-workers-coffee/Answer #4: Is a DNA test possible or I have watch too many episodes of CSI?Answer #5: Do you lock your desk?  Have you checked to see if anything is missing?  He might have taken a momento like a picture?  If your company has physical security, they need to be walking you to or from your car.  As for the recommendation of you arming yourself, it's probably better if you don't get a gun unless you have prior experience and training.  You don't have time to get the proper training and it could put you in more danger if you hesitate or lockup.


Title: [US] Are promotional campaigns copyrighted?

Question: I am working on a project that I hope will become a buisness someday. However the name I have chosen for the project has been used as a promotional campaign by a big company to sell a series of products. None of the products contain the name, but the word in question have been used in hashtags and as a title to the series of products on the webpage (like this: companyname.com/myprojectsname). Am I safe to assume that I can continue to use this name safely in the future?

Answer: No you are not safe to assume that. Would need to know if company applied for any protections. What market is company in, what market is your project in. All sorts of info.


Title: (TX) Squatter Questions

Question:
There is an abandoned house in front of ours that is abandoned (the owners died and the property went to son) (son refuses to at least maintain it)

recently some people claimed to have bought the property and decided to start doing things in there.

We dug into it and it turns out they didn't actually buy the property and it still belongs to the son of the deceased owners.

We tried to contact the son and he wont answer his phone.

we called the police but they bought the story of the squatters.

anything that we can do?

Answer: If they are doing illegal things, report that to police. If not then it's a civil issue that does not affect you and (no offense) is none of your business. If the property is deteriorating you can file complaints with zoning office or the local health department, but beyond that, you have no rights to someone else's property.


Title: My grandparents both died and left the house to my sister in their Will. How do we locate this Will? Ive looked at the court website for records and do not see it. Orange County Florida. Is there some lawyer or court house we can call for finding a Will?

Answer: You can call around to local probate attorneys  which is really only practical if it was a small town. You can (and should) look through their papers in their home. If a will cannot be located, eventually the estate will pass according to the laws of intestacy.


Title: Mom and autistic sister rented Motel room blood all over bed, management laughed when asked for refund..pics taken.

Question:
My 70 year old mother mother rented a hotel room for her and my autistic sister as a bad weather storm hit today in Phenix City AL.

They went to the hotel room and there blood and black specs that bled through the mattress, microwave had rust all over it, and bathtub had wierd stains all over it.

Mom went to management to leave and ask for her money back and they told her to " oh just put the sheet back over it and it will be clean, it's just old blood".

Mom obviously freaked and left.

Uploading pictures soon. This shit looks crazy dude. Is there anyway for her to get her money back?

Answer:
 Contact information for the Alabama Department of Health: Food, Milk and Lodging

&#x200B;

[http://alabamapublichealth.gov/foodsafety/contact.html](http://alabamapublichealth.gov/foodsafety/contact.html)Answer #2: If she paid via credit card the simplest thing would be to call her credit card company to attempt to open a disputeAnswer #3: is this part of a chain or independently owned?Answer #4: Your bank should be able to dispute the charge for you, especially if you have documentation about the room condition. The hotel will try to counter saying that you caused the damage and/or you signed the registration card saying you are paying for the room, but keep escalating.

First though I would contact their manager. Make it extremely clear and send them pictures however they are willing to accept them. If it was part of a brand, you need to call their customer relations department if the manager will not correct this, and make them aware if just how bad your stay was and that the hotel is not offering any compensation to you.

To be fair, it was probably old blood, but the standard way this should be dealt with in a hotel is to rewash the sheets untill they are cleaned (they should have been properly cleaned with a BBP kit as well, or thrown out and this shows that they likely weren't. )


Title: Abandoned car on the highway

Question: So for the last week I’ve seen a car on the side of the road with the plates ripped off, my friend wants a cheap ride for the time being, if it’s been there for a while and the plates have been taken off are those people abandoning it and am I allowed to take it? Location is Florida

Answer:
 You are not allowed to take it.  Answer #2: >  if it’s been there for a while and the plates have been taken off are those people abandoning it

Yes.   Either the owner abandoned it, or some other person (a thief, a borrower, etc) abandoned it.

> am I allowed to take it

No.   The only process for obtaining title to an abandoned automobile in the USA is to purchase it from an auction after it has been impounded by the police and their contracted impound lot has been through the process to notify the registered owner of its disposition.

Think about what the DMV would say when your friend showed up to get new plates.   "I found it by the side of the road !" is not a substitute for a bill of sale.Answer #3: No.


Title: girl wants me to impregnate her

Question: not sure where to go for this but this was the first place i could think of to get some professional help..so im just gonna go straight into it... This girl from wants me to impregnate her and is willing to pay me 250 each time. Wants to keep it anonymous which im happy with. But i just dont want to be screwed over and end up having to child support.. what kind of lawyer do i need to get so i dont..im open for this to happen but as long as i dont get screwed over like i said.

Answer:
 You need to use the search feature on here for more detailed information. In short though, your child, your responsibility. No contract or legal agreement gets you out of it. If she wants to take you for child support, she can, and from the oddity of the request, will. That child will be your responsibility. Get out now. Answer #2: We get this post every couple of weeks, and the answer is always the same.

NO. You are liable for child support unless you do this through a licensed clinic. That $250 per dosing of baby batter will disappear quickly once you start having to pay child support. The rights of the child trump the fact that the mother informed you that you wouldn't have to pay child support.


Title: [CA] Employer manipulates sick pay policy to my detriment

Question:
Tried to use a sick day in Feburary assuming they reset Januraury 1st. Employer denies it, stating it's not annual and that they reset in July. Instead I must use my vacation hours to cover for the shift since I had used all 3 already. Come July I try to use a sick and I'm told I have none and that they reset annually (Januraury 1st). I have evidence of the 1st conversation. What should I do in this situation? Any information will be very helpful. Thanks.

Tldr: Sick day policy changed by management so I never have sick days available :(

Answer: Did you show the email to your manager and ask why you were told differently in January?


Title: Spouse agreed to pay alimony even though we were never married.

Question: We’ve been together for 10 years and we were never married. He finished residency (doctor) a few months ago and decided it’s time to move on. He forgot who helped him get there for a second but had a change of heart. He offered me a % of income which I accepted but can I have it automatically taken out of his check still? I want to lock this shit up and the snake will probably try to get out of it later. He’s willing to sign whatever to get me gone but I’m giving up the rights to half the house as part of the deal.   What’s the next step?

Answer:
 > can I have it automatically taken out of his check still?

No. It's a gift that he can rescind at any time.

> I want to lock this shit up and the snake will probably try to get out of it later.

You can't.

> He’s willing to sign whatever to get me gone but I’m giving up the rights to half the house as part of the deal.

You could sell him half of the house and set the price and payment plan. You should hire a lawyer to write that contract.


Title: [VA] Felony Drug Possession Charge, wtf to do now...

Question:
LONG VERSION -

Nurse is a home care nurse. Nurse went to a patients house who ran out of his medicine (Some schedule 4 med) that he needed ASAP or else he needed to go to an ER, Med #1. Patient was unable to retrieve medicine himself, so asked if Nurse could pick it up, as well as drop off a prescription for some other random medicine, Med #2. Nurse drops it off, doesn't present ID or sign for it, and is told the drop-off would be ready the following week, and it would be 15 minutes for Med #1. Comes back, picks up bag with Med #1, pays $3.xx, doesn't sign for anything again. Does not open nor inspect the bag. Goes back to patient, gives them the bag.

Patient is a pretty scummy piece of shit, basically looks like a drug addict, all self-inflicted injuries due to poor health, no job, etc. Even before this occurred Nurse notices how this patient and their home is pretty vile, low of the low. Nurse sees patient two more times after this point in time. Week+ later, patient reports to the police Nurse stole Med #3 during that first visit, a schedule 2 drug. Nurse never knew there was anything but Med #1 within the bag, and never signed for Med #3. Nurse had no knowledge of Med #3 being in the bag, or even being in the equation, was only aware of Med #1 and Med #2.

Nurse lawyers up with Lawyer #1 (criminal defense lawyer) to go to hearings or something before charges are filed. Eventually gets charged and arrested with Felony Possession of a Controlled substance, then fired, etc. Wasn't able to get ahold of Lawyer #1, seemed to be hard to contact, not the best. There is video evidence of 2 medicine bottles being placed into the pharmacy bag, as well as the pharmacy system showing Med #1 and Med #3 leaving their inventory at that time. Arresting officer is a complete and utter dick by the way, who seems to think he is inspector gadget and caught a drug kingpin of Virginia. Nurse hired another lawyer, lawyer #2, for Nursing License protection.

After being charged, Lawyer #1, goes to hearings. Prosecutor is a complete alpha female with something to prove, Lawyer #1 female who has gotten into some scraps with her in the past. In a lower court, the judge throws the case out as nonsense, but prosecution / inspector gadget cop is angry now. Prosecutor somehow gets a higher court to take the case with a direct indictment. At this point, Nurse is getting tired of Lawyer #1 seeming to be unresponsive, WTF is going on, how did Nurse get arrested and humiliated and not able to contact lawyer #1 for over 48 hours after, how is this happening, etc. Nurse speaking with lawyer #2, for Nursing License protection, who also happens to be a criminal defense lawyer, and decides to switch criminal defense to Lawyer #2 as well.

Lawyer #2 says to pay more now that he is the criminal defense lawyer, this case is a joke, it'll be thrown out no problem, that Lawyer #1 is bad, etc etc. Just give a few thousand more, and it'll all be forgotten basically. Lawyer #1 wanted the case to be a jury trial, Lawyer #2 says WTF HELL NO, BENCH TRIAL. Jury's can sentence in VA, and that's super insane, and so forth. Either way, we can easily win this, not a problem, there's no evidence beyond a reasonable doubt you ever had the medicine, knew of it, took it, did anything wrong.

Few months go by, Lawyer #2 seems to always forget details of the case. Goes to board of nursing, still doesn't understand details and nuances of the case, board of nursing dismisses the case though, with no help from Lawyer #2, but Nurse having to speak up to correct things. Board of nursing sees Nurse has 100% negative drug screens, 100% positive work reviews, no reason to suggest Nurse would do something so stupid as take a schedule 2 medicine from a random home health care patient, and not even attempt to hide it. Board of Nursing finds no evidence to suggest Nurse took anything, dismisses it completely.

At some point before the Board hearing, prosecution seems to change their direction that Nurse didn't take the medicine for use, but "Nurse must be selling it...or something" - they don't have much to stand on besides patient's claim of not getting the medicine, and some weak evidence "a second bottle" was in a bag, but with no actual signature from Nurse. No evidence that a pharmacy tech or patient didn't take it. No real evidence though to support the possession charge.

Closer to the date of the preliminary hearing pre-trial, Lawyer #2 thinks he's SuperLawyer of VA or something, because he got the prosecutor removed from the case, and "an amazing deal" - Nurse needs to plead guilty to Class 1 Misdemeanor Trespassing. Nurse is like WTF?? Trespassing where? Fuck that, why plead guilty to anything? Nurse didn't do anything, so having a on their record of a Felony Drug Charge w/ a plea of guilty to a lower, random misdemeanor seems like Nurse is guilty and got a good lawyer. Nurse wants Lawyer #2 to do what they were hired for, and defend for a complete acquittal.

Lawyer #2 keeps saying even more money will be needed if it goes to trial, etc etc, even though Lawyer #2 was confident this was super easy, a bench trial would be a joke if it came to that, but no way it would, etc. Lawyer #2 references the fact that it was a direct indictment and they "have witnesses" as it being some unwinnable case now, completely 180's on the entire case, Nurse goes WTF!? again. Seems like Lawyer #2 has NO desire to take the case and properly defend Nurse, just wants a plea. Up to this point now, Lawyer #2 seems senile, as they would call Nurse and tell Nurse things that they spoke about previously, or forget things that Nurse told Lawyer #2, etc.

Nurse has already paid Lawyer #2 a bunch more money than what was paid to Lawyer #1, and at this point doesn't have any more money to try to get a Lawyer #3.

Lawyer #2 basically tells Nurse that this is the best possible outcome (Nurse wonders what happened to being found not guilty...), and Lawyer #2 seems like they want to be done with the case and just move on - as they were never really invested in it to begin with. Nurse feels representation is complete garbage, and that lawyer #2 isn't doing a damn thing to actually find Nurse not guilty - was just a cocky SOB and thought they could get it thrown out in a week and get free money from Nurse. Lawyer #1 wanted a jury trial because there is a pretty massive reasonable doubt, and was focused on an acquittal from the start, but was younger and maybe not as well connected as Lawyer #2.

QUESTIONS -
--Is Lawyer #2 right? Is this the best possible outcome, and the legal system just sucks that badly that a piece of shit druggie can accuse a nurse of something, and they get royally fucked so they have to plead guilty to a class 1 misdemeanor?
--Is there any recourse against Lawyer #2 that Nurse can take if Nurse feels representation is inadequate / poor?
--How does that representation relate to the courts - can any further delays be requested due to this, how does that work?
--Could Nurse go back to Lawyer #1? Should they?
--WTF else could Nurse do in this shitty situation?
--How fucked is a Misdemeanor Trespass charge for employment / background checks in the future? Obviously a felony charge is game over in the US...

TL;DR
BS Felony Possession Drug charge to home care nurse who picked up a different Sched 4 medicine for an ill patient, pharmacy gives Nurse sched 2 drug without Nurse knowing. Druggie patient calls police over a week later that Nurse stole drugs from him. Lawyer #1 seems OK, but just very slow to communicate, Nurse gets Lawyer #2. At first, lawyer #2 seemed super confident, that they knew what they were doing, etc. Over time, Lawyer #2 seems senile, constantly forgetting things about Nurse and the case, saying the wrong things, etc. Lawyer #2 seems not willing to defend Nurse properly to get not guilty, thinks they are amazing for getting the charge reduced to Class 1 Misdemeanor Trespassing Charge. Doesn't seem willing, or at this point possibly capable, to defend Nurse properly for an acquittal. Nurse isn't sure if they should take the utter BS Trespassing, or what other option they have.

Thanks

Answer: This is why you never, ever pick up, pay for, or possess someone else's medication - spouse or child being the exception.  Why on earth would the nurse do this?Answer #2: This is way too much text for me to do anything but skim. Nurse can take a plea or go to trial. It's her choice. No one can force her to take a plea. If she doesn't like her attorney, she should get another one. If the state believes that they have enough evidence to charge her, getting a straight up dismissal is unlikely.


Title: Autistic Juvenile Charged Due to Student Hearsay

Question:
We have the option of letting it go before the judge or do a plea agreement where he is supposed to get probation no time period given or let the judge decide which may include a detention center, what would you suggest?

IN 14 year old autistic student charged in court with Intimidation as 3 fellow students say he made violent threats toward school. He is on probation but allowed to attend school. He has no access to weapons and is constantly monitored by parents. He has a pending court date and have been advised to take a plea agreement where he pleads guilty even though he says he didn't make the threats. His medical doctor feels he shouldn't have been charged due to his disability but should be monitored as he has no access to weapons, has problems with social skills and interacting with peers and communication and perception skills. This is his first offense. This is a small town. On top of this, He was supposed to go on a class trip but was denied due to this and we had paid over $600 and now they don't seem to want to give our money back as they say the refund time policy has expired. Shouldn't we be entitled to our refund since he was not allowed to go on the class trip?

Answer:
 If the 3 students heard the autistic student make threats, then that's not hearsay.Answer #2: You need a lawyer, and you need to do whatever that lawyer says.

The $600 is potentially the least of your worries.Answer #3: These sound like great questions to discuss with the lawyer who is representing him.


Title: Fake ID found by college campus security in mail

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Have you read through your school's mail policy? Start there.

As for tomorrow: I wouldn't go in there arguing that they *"found"* something as if a nefarious act happened. They saw suspicious mail, opened it, and **found** fake IDs. Listen to what they say and be polite and not defensive, but don't admit anything.


Title: A brother that is 18yo is terorizing our family, demolishing our property etc.

Question:
Details about him: 18yo
                            Has been to an asylum more than once
                             Still in school, but doesn't study.
                               Has been stealing stuff from my sister
                                Never has been in prison.

I'd like to ask for help how to contain him and where is it possible.
Were not rich, but we would be very happy if we could get him to live elsewhere.

Latvia

Answer:
 I am nearly certain we do not have anyone here with extensive knowledge of Latvian laws.  Your best bet will be to speak with an attorney or the equivalent in your country.  I'd assume their advice will be for you to contact the police.

Good luck


Title: Company threatening legal action on me after I filed a dispute against them with my bank...

Question:
Hey guys. Apologize in advance for a lengthy post, but details are important right?

Ok, so on May 6th of this year, I placed an order from a company online that does custom carbon fiber and vinyl work for cars. I ordered (sorry if you don't know about car terms but again, detail) a carbon fiber front license plate delete, carbon fiber fender badges, and vinyl emblem overlays.  Their site does say up front that orders may "take up to 6 weeks."

Ok, that's fine. I place my order on May 6 and forget about it.  Around the end of May, I ask for shipping information. On the first of June, they reply back with a tracking number, and I get my license plate delete on June 4th. So far so good, although there are flaws in the piece. I don't mind much because I'm not incredibly picky about things, but there is a bubble underneath the resin on it that is very visible. I ask about the fender badges, wondering if they're on the way.  They tell me on Thursday, June 4th that they're still working on them and that they'll ship the following Tuesday, June 9.

Ok, they gave me a reasonable reply and timeframe.

On June 16th, I had not received the fender badges, so I send an email inquiring about the status. No response. I wait for a week, and email again on June 23rd following up on my inquiry on the 16th about the status.  They reply back saying they made a mistake and that they would send the correct shipment out that Friday, the 26th.  I received no tracking information or confirmation of shipment, so I reply back on Wednesday, July 1 asking for a tracking number or shipment confirmation.

Again, no reply.  I wait 6 more days and send another follow up on July 7 saying that I haven't heard or received anything.  Two days later and still I have no reply.  I send an email on July 9 indicating that it has been more than two weeks since I last heard from them and that if I got no reply or information on my shipment by that Friday by end of day, I would start a dispute with my company. He replied saying that they 'just finished everything up' and they would have tracking available in the morning.

I send an email at the end of the day Friday asking for any information, and once again receive no reply so I start a dispute with my company.

Short recap to this point: I ordered a license plate delete, fender badges (set of two) and emblem overlays (set of two). It has been two months now and I have received (after consistent communication on my part) only the front license plate delete.

So I go through the dispute process and my bank starts taking care of things and issues me a 'temporary credit' for the full amount into my bank account.  A month later, on August 10 I randomly receive a tracking number from them with no comments and a few days later receive my fender badges.  One isn't formed/contoured as much as it should be, so it doesn't fit in place of the car's OEM one and looks weird, and the other one has the wrong color paint on it for the logo.  Still no emblem overlays.

So fast forward to today. I get an email from them stating this:

>Your order has been updated to the following status:
Chargeback
The comments for your order are:
Attention Legal Department,
Customer is attempting second charge back for items delivered. We have provided 2 sets of tracking numbers showing proof of delivery. Customer (killthehighcourts)  will be responsible for all legal fee's incurred from this point.
Please direct all inquiries to (company owner).
Please reply to this email if you have any questions."

So I replied back with this:

"Hello,
Technically I STILL haven't received all items I paid for. I have never received the vinyl badge overlays for my front and rear emblems.

The fact that communication has been sorely lacking this much and that my order hasnt been completely fulfilled, as well as inconsistencies in the product all led to me pushing this claim. Inconsistencies being: there is a bubble in the print on the front license plate delete. The STi logo on the fender badges are different colors. One is the correct WRB color, the other is a noticeably different flat blue color. The drivers side emblem has inconsistent moulding and doesn't fit well. The passenger side fits fine.
I will drop it if I receive all my items but it's been 5 months now and I haven't, and that is unacceptable."

What should I know or be on the lookout for? Am I in the wrong and actually subject for legal action here? They haven't fulfilled the entire order that I paid for.

Thanks for help in advance!

Topic:
Business Law

Answer: You should send everything back to them. Right now you have things you haven't paid for. Sounds like they did a piss poor job anyway so why would you want them?Answer #2: Send all their crap back as they did not fulfill your order to the agreed upon specifications and accept your chargeback. There are no legal fees to incur as this is an arbitration type resolution process with your credit card company that they are contractually bound to by accepting the credit card payments.


Title: Temporary change in custody agreed to due to major surgery with 4 week recovery time; dad is asking for money for 'lost wages'. Also worried about him claiming abandonment and trying to get full custody. [NJ]

Question:
We have had joint custody since 2011, 50/50 week on, week off. We do not pay each other any child support with the exception of him paying me half the insurance premium because I carry the insurance, and we each pay half of his medical bills.

I have to have a hysterectomy due to endometriosis, adenomyosis, and an abnormal biopsy of the uterus (aka, cancer...). Recovery time is 2 to 4 weeks, and hopefully I should be fine after that without needing any chemo or radiation (I hope :( ). I asked his father to take our son for at least the first week that I would have him after the surgery, and he eventually agreed to take him for the whole month.

I offered to give him money for extra gas and food. He said it wasn't food and gas he would be asking payment for, but for 'lost wages' due to having to confine his working hours between James' school and after-care. He works in construction, sometimes under his own business name and sometimes for other contractors.

My first question is, can he do that? And how is a fair amount determined if he does?

Second question is, can he claim I 'abandoned' our son during this time I do not take him when it is "my turn"?  The custody agreement only states joint, 50/50 custody - not a specific schedule, nor what to do in the case of an incapacitated parent.

Thanks a lot. I have tried looking online for an answer but haven't found a single thing for NJ.

Answer:
 If you're actively making efforts to ensure that your child is cared for, you have not abandoned your child. Given that your co-parent appears to be unwilling to work with you and is using your medical needs to try to lever custody and child-care concessions out of you, you may be better off seeking alternate child care (with a friend, or with a professional nanny service) for the duration. He's not under any obligation to work with you, nor you with him, unless your order says otherwise.

Talk to the lawyer who handled your custody case and see if they have any recommendations on how to document whatever you decide to do.


Title: Boyfriend of 2 years lied about being married whole time. Can I sue to get medical records and other damage? (MA)

Question:
Hi, thank you for reading and your feedback.

My ex of two and half years lied to me during the whole of our relationship. When we met he had told me from day one that he was single and that he wanted to be with me and not too long into our relationship he said he wanted to marry me. In the early stages of our relationship I asked him to get checked for STDs just to be safe as he wanted, since we were exclusive, to be intimate without condoms. He said he did and that the results were negative. I never thought anything as he only spend two out of the seven days away from me and our relationship seemed very strong. He continued up till the end (I think wife might have found out as it ended abruptly) that he was madly in love with me and wanted to marry me. We also started planning a future together which led to me buying a home with him saying that we would be married and it would be ours. But after finding out he was married the whole time (him and wife are from India and I think she lives there with there two daughters). I am wondering if I can sue to see his medical records as I am petrified that I might have been exposed to something as I am sure that he has, was and is seeing other sexually (outside his wife). I am so scared that he might have given me something that could prevent me having children of which he claimed at the time of dating he wanted to have with me and he knew was a huge desire/ life goal of mine.

Can I do anything legally about his deception or is this just a terrifying test and retest and pray situation?

Thank you.

Edit: I had been tested twice (I do as most women do yearly) and so far negative.

Answer: No. Just move on and get your own STD tests (as you should anyway).


Title: Can I sue online casino in small claims court? [NJ]

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Sure, you could.

1. Good luck serving process.

2. You'd be admitting to a crime unless the site is on [this list](http://www.nj.gov/oag/ge/gamingsites.html).


Title: I spontaneously moved out and left with all my documents am I legally allowed to have them in my possession? TL:DR at the bottom :)

Question:
So some backstory;

I recently left home on impulse after a lot of mental abuse that would soon take its toll on me. I am 18 and fresh out of highschool. I took all my legal documents such as passport, social security and even my birth certificate. I am not sure if I am legally allowed to have those under my possession or if my parent is supposed to have them until I am fully independent. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!

**TL:DR Moved out without notice and took all my documents. Parent says I stole them. Am I allowed to have them?**

Answer:
 As an adult, you are the _only_ person legally authorized to hold your passport for you. Similarly, your social security number is yours alone, and you are the person authorized to hold the card and docs.

The birth certificate is a more complicated case, but your parents are probably better off getting a certified replacement, if they need one, than they are trying to chase you down for their copy.


Title: Jeopardy answer for Federal Crimes for writing a check under $1...

Question:
There was an answer in today's Jeopardy show under the category "It's a federal crime!":

For writing a check for less than this listed amount of money, you can  be fined or "imprisoned not more than six months, or both"

It seems like this is in reference to 18 USC 336, but isn't the intent to circulate as money the important part of this law?  Did Jeopardy get this wrong?

Answer: So, the check I got in a bankruptcy settlement for 14 cents could get the check writer in trouble?  I would love for that to happen.


Title: Is it legal to explicitly only hire men for certain positions?

Question:
New York State.

I had a friend turned away at the door of a very (very, very, very) popular local restaurant she wanted to apply for a higher-paying job she is otherwise qualified for because she was told they only hire men for that position. It doesn't seem right but we're not sure if there's something we're missing. Can an employer actually do this?

Answer:
 It is legal if the role is something that only men can perform, for example an actor for a male part or something along those lines.  In the case of a restaurant, it would almost certainly be illegal unless it's some sort of gay club restaurant that hires Chippendales performers or something.

See http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/inquiries_gender.cfm for more details.Answer #2: Some places have dual modeling/serving positions. Like bikini baristas, we have a restaurant in town that is like opposite of Hooters. They are all hired as working models, which is how they got around the gender discrimination.Answer #3: It isn't legal, but you need to prove that's why, so unless you can find other women that were turned away because of their sex, then you're probably out of luck.


Title: Brother and I own a mechanic shop. He's set his wages to $127k eliminating the profit to be distributed.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You seem to have answered your own question:

> The LLC was written so all minority owners are silent to decision making


Title: [Colorado] Is it legal to sell a gift card in person at the store it's for?

Question: I have a 75$ gift card and I'm short on cash is it legal for me to try to sell it to someone for a discount in the store, I've tried the coin star exchange machine and it glitches out on me. So I thought my next best option is to sell it to someone at the store the cards for. Is the legal?

Answer:
 Sure, provided the card is valid, not stolen and you are not misrepresenting the value of the card to whoever you are selling it to.

Of course, it's also legal for the store to make you leave for doing that.


Title: Can an employer count idleness as a break? (Indiana)

Question:
Location: IN

I work for a medical transport company that put a strange rule in place about a year ago. Due to the nature of the work, some days are just busier than others, and it is understood in the field that you eat when you can (12-24 hour shifts). However, it was decided that state law mandates a 30 minute lunch period, which I'm fine with because who doesn't like to take a break when you know you have a long day ahead of you? I did find a government website that said lunch breaks are not mandatory in Indiana unless you are a minor in some circumstances. It seems that the more likely scenario is the company compensating for paying slightly more than average. Initially, protocol was that our dispatcher would let us know when our break began. As time went on, it became clear how impractical this was because things get hectic and almost everyday dispatch called back 15 minutes into our break telling us we had a call. The new protocol that I'm questioning came up about 11 months ago. Any "downtime" throughout the day is totalled, and as long as it is equal to or more than half an hour, we are not paid for that time. The problem is that we don't know when our next call will be, so we're often on "high alert" and not willing to start eating or resting. To me, this seems like inherent idleness in the job, not a true break. Can we really be docked pay for a break that starts at an unknown time and can start and stop throughout the day?

Note: I would just ask my boss, but Indiana is an at will employment state and I do not want to stick my neck out.

Answer:
 > Any "downtime" throughout the day is totalled, and as long as it is equal to or more than half an hour, we are not paid for that time.

This is a problem.  For a meal period to be unpaid and considered bona fide, you need uninterruption for at least 20 minutes and be free from the direction and control of the employer.  If this doesn't happen, it's paid work.  They can't take isolated minutes here and there and craft it into a bona fide meal period.

You need to file a complaint with the labor commission.  You will be sticking your neck out but it would be illegal to fire or discipline you in any way for filing the complaint.


Title: General WHY about reporting/turning in child porn (USA)

Question:
Edit, locationbot...Washington State. But it's a federal question.

All the advice I see here about reporting/turning in child porn to the police stresses that having any in your possession, ever, no matter how and how briefly, is a felony and can ruin your life....is there NO provision in the law that takes into account the absolutely chilling effect that has on finding and prosecuting actual offenders?

For example, were I to find CP on, say, a used phone I bought off Craigslist, I would certainly want to turn it into the police immediately.  Why does this place me in the position of having to find, and possibly pay, a lawyer to protect me from prosecution because all I want to do is report a crime?

 Is there any other situation in which doing the right thing automatically puts one in the position of being charged for the very crime one is trying to stop?

Answer:
 Here is the [federal statute](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2252A) that speaks to exactly what you're concerned about:

(d)Affirmative Defense.—It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of violating subsection (a)(5) that the defendant—

(1) possessed less than three images of child pornography; and

(2) promptly and in good faith, and without retaining or allowing any person, other than a law enforcement agency, to access any image or copy thereof—

(A) took reasonable steps to destroy each such image; or

*(B) reported the matter to a law enforcement agency and afforded that agency access to each such image.*Answer #2: The short answer is that child porn laws haven't bern updated for the digital age.  They were written when accidental possession was pretty hard to do.Answer #3: My two cents, can't cite statute but:

Because all it takes is an officer to not believe you, and then he can arrest you for possession of CP. Plus, even if they believed your story enough to let you walk out of the station, you're still a suspect, and if contacting the original seller falls through, you can be damn sure that they're coming back to you.