I have a long story that I am desperate for advice on and I am hoping that you will read it all...






I have a question that I am desperate for help with. My husband was recently accused of taking money from his work. He works for a gas station and has been employed there for 3 years. Before that he worked at another gas station part time for about 10 years as he was also working in childcare... before the store was sold and was given great referances to his new job. My husband said that his boss called both employees in for a meeting, there is only two emplyees that work there besides the owner who works there himself. My husband who has been there 3 years and another employee just started about 2 months ago.



At the meeting the boss basically said that money was $4000 short!!! My husband's boss who had no idea who was taking the money said that he was going to charge $2000 to both my husband and the other guy. Both my husband and the other guy said that they were not going to pay the money back because they work hard for their money and it is not fair, etc. Finally my husband's boss told him that he would charge just him the $4000 and my husband so NO and so his boss said that he was going to call the cops and my husband said that is fine to call the cops because he didn't do anything wrong and his boss said that someone has to pay for taking the money. He then grabbed the phone to call the cops but didn't do it, he put the phone back down and threatened my husband saying that they will come and put him in jail for 20 years and call the cops immediately unless he agrees to pay him the money back. My husband finally agreed to pay the money back because he was scared but he did NOT do this.



I have known my husband for 7 years and I know that he is not capible of taking a dime from anyone. My husband is a youth pastor for our church and I would stake my like that he did not take any money at all. That is how much I know my husband that he could not do this!! His boss has trusted my husband so well, he has gave my husband 10,000 to take to the bank for him and has let my husband use his own personal car to go pick up stock from Sams Club and so many other things because he knows that my husband is trutworthy. For 3 years it was just my husband and his boss who would run the store and my husband worked 7 days a week and there was no other employees but recently he hired a new guy so that he could have time off. My husband thinks that it is the other guy that is taking the money but he is being blamed by his boss for some reason because he can. Or my husband sais that it may be because his boss thinks that he can use him to get money out of him or something because he knows that he will pay the money.



Also the owner of the store is an indian guy and my husband is american and the other employee is indian also and my husband said that his boss said that he hates american people (I guess he was mad) and so he said this. I sinced this the whole time my husband worked there because of his attitude towards a lot of things and the way that he looked at me. Plus the only reason that he hired my husband was because he didn't have anyone at all working at the time and was desperate plus he came with good referances. Everything was fine for 3 years and he hired a new guy and my husband told me a month ago that he sinced and had a feeling that since his boss hired a new guy that he may not want him to work anymore because the new guy is indian and he is not. His boss likes indian people better because he thinks that they work better are more honest, etc. My husband has been like a slave to this guy working 7 days a week and doing many favors for him also. He wants to accuse my husband because he is american and doesn't want to blame the other guy. I have wanted my husband to quit for a long time now just because of this guys attitude towards a lot of things. He would also call my husband in to work in the mornings, evening and throughout the day whenever he needed to go somewhere or make errons and my husband would always come in. It is funny how since the new guy started working that he is now making up excuses to fire my husband and to try and make him pay $4000 back.


The other guy basically refused to pay anything and I am sure that he is the one stealing but my husbands boss just wants his money back and I can understand that but why blame my husband to get what he wants. I have told my husband to not pay the money because it is rediculous to pay money that he doesn't owe. I need advice because I don't know what to do about this. How can he have my husband arrested with 0 evidence?? My husband said that there can NOT possibly be any evidence against him because he did not do anything wrong but my husband thinks that his boss can have him arrested any way because he is the boss and they can use his word. Is this true? I am scared and my husband is scared. My husband just wants to pay the money so that he will not have a criminal record.. My husband has no criminal history what so ever and has a clean record.



My husband is afraid that this will hurt his future because he has worked greatly in child care. He has worked for GA Baptist Childrens Home as a Counselor, Social worker and many other places he has worked with children. I am so angry that this guy is trying to use my husband and I want to know if there is anything that he can do. I personally think that all he is doing is lying because he wants money. I don't know if I believe that money was stollen at all because he didn't even call the cops but I know in my heart that my husband would not do this and I would stake my entire life on it. What can the cops do because there is cameras in the store but there is no evidence on the camera at all of who took the money. The only evidence that his boss has is that his paperwork sais that from over a period of like a month money has been took a little at a time and to a period that =$4000. So that means that someone has took a couple hundred dollars at a time from about a month or so and his boss obviously knew this and still let both my husband and the other employee work and take money. There is a few things that his boss has said that have led me to believe that he is lying out of his mouth and I hate him so much for the pain that he is caused. I just want to know what is the best thing to do, I feel my husband shouldn't pay a dime to this horrible man but at the same time I am also scared that he will be arrested and will have a record. My husband is so honest and is like a gullable baby and I think that his boss really scared him in to agreeing to pay it back. I honestly feel that my husband is the type of person that doesn't speak up for himself. I don't know how to explain it to you but I hate to see anyone try and take advantage of him. We are both so upset about it so I am trying to get any opinions on this.

Illusion

It sounds like you are very upset over this whole thing - as I would be. Your husband's boss is very unreasonable - his whole premise that "someone" has to pay back the $4000 is absurd. If the money was stolen - and obviously it was - then he needs to file a complaint with the police. The police could then interview everyone. However, he has no proof of your husband taking the money. How would he prove it? Does he have fingerprints? Does he have a video? Did someone else see your husband and tell him? If so, who and when? What evidence does he have against your husband? He has no proof that your husband did anything wrong. He cannot be judge and jury here. He has scared your husband into submission by telling him he could get 20 years or even be arrested.

It is not this man's decision of who should get arrested and how or when or even to decide that a crime has been committed. The police make that determination. He is also not a Judge in a Court of law to decide that the punishment is 20 years. This guy sounds like a real bully.

It appears he knows your husband will not stand up for himself and is taking advantage of him. Your husband must find another job and move on. Do not wait. This is terribly abusive of this man to do this after your husband has been a good, dedicated employee. If he is going to accuse your husband of a crime, then he must provide proof. So far, he has made accusations only. Is it possible you can consult with an attorney at a Legal Aid office - just to ask advice on this situation? Would you be afraid to talk to the police and explain the situation, the threats this man is making? Would you be afraid to ask for advice on how you should handle this?

Basically what this man is doing is blackmailing your husband into paying back money he did not take. He is extorting money thru fear. This is a crime. He cannot take the law into his own hands.

If he was robbed then why hasn't he called the police? Why hasn't he filed a police report? How is it possible that he wants his money back but has asked for no proper investigation? People who have been robbed have an urgent need to find out what happened, they don't just make accusations and demand that "someone" give them their money back.

Of course this is scary, this man is terrorizing your husband, his life, his future. Be of good heart, you need courage now. Your husband needs to get out of this job. It sounds like you have enough to defend yourself and that the law would be on your side.

I will pray for you and ask that all works out in your favor.

brandy681

I appreciate your advice... Today my boss called my husband back to work for him but I don't know what my husband is going to do and what games this guy is playing. My husband said that he thought that he may do this. He called this morning and said that he wants him to come back to work and that he will charge my husband all of his pay check $500-$600 until it is paid off in two months. I told my husband to not dare pay him back or come back to work!! I heard them discussing it on the phone and my husband said that he is very irrisponsible in keeping up with money and my husband said that his boss told him that he would look in to the money situation and his paperwork to see if there is a mistake. My husband thinks that his boss is also mad because someone recently won a lot of money on the machiene the other day, his boss pays out money on the machines which is suppose to be illegal here in GA now but a lot of gas stations don't care and pay out cash anyway and someone won $3,000 on a machiene, right before that someone rigged the machiene and stole money also and his boss is very upset about it. My husband wasn't on the job when that happened though or he would have to pay that also even though it wasn't his fault that someone rigged the machiene to win and I don't even know how this was done. This is how I know that he is a mean person!... My husband is honest, there has been times on rare occassion where people have run off with gas while my husband was on the job and my husband pays the money out of his on pocket but if he didn't his boss would make him pay it back anyway I am sure of it. I am thinking that his boss is angry because he recently lost money on the machines and is trying to take it ot on my husband and I am so angry at him and now especcially that he wants my husband to come back and work to use him.

Fr_Chuck

There is not proff, the police can not arrest him without some proof, your husband needs to leave there and go to work somewhere else. Also if he stays and the owner trys not to pay him, he needs to sue them for his pay, and report them to the dept of labor. They can not legally just take his pay.

And he needs to report the machine to the authorities, since he is helping with illegal gambling by working there and paying out when someone wins anything. ( not a good witness for anyone in church work)

Your husbands boss is a crook, obvioius from the gambling machines and the threats of his workers, he just needs to move on to somewhere else to work.

Illusion

I agree he needs to sue this man for his pay if he should this. Also, this man needs to be reported to the Better Business Bureau and the Labor Commission. There are State laws protecting employees from this type of harassment.

It is just abusive what this guy is doing.

RubyPitbull

Brandy, in case you need a third voice on this, I am chiming in. The above quote from you is very important.

All of a sudden, after 3 years "boss" is accusing your husband of stealing? AND, he never went to the police to report the missing money? Do everything you can to dissuade your husband from agreeing to go back to work for him and paying him a penny. I believe that he is looking to your husband to replace money that he himself took from the business. He needs to balance his books now and is looking for an escapegoat. Tell your husband, please, walk away from this NOW. If he doesn't, he will be working for free for quite a while. It will also show the bossman that he can push your husband around, and will keep intimidating him. I wouldn't be surprised if at the end of how ever many months that it will take to pay this absurd request off, that more money will come up missing or he will attempt to convince your husband that he is wrong about how much he has paid back and still owes him.

What the boss is doing is illegal and is akin to creating an indentured servant situation. You husband needs to know that the boss cannot do ANYTHING to him. Those are empty threats. The police will not look too kindly on a man that never reported money missing. The longer he waits to report it, the more he will not be believed. When something like this occurs, honest people go to the police and file a report. They don't intimidate, harass, and threaten employees. That man needs to be stopped in his tracks. It would be very wise to follow the advice of both posters above. Your husband should be filing a lawsuit against this man with the help of your State's Attorney General's office and/or Department of Labor. Your husband won't have to pay for the legal advice. Your husband is owed for whatever work he performed. Tell him to call one of these offices NOW and get advice on how to proceed.

excon

Hello brandy:

No, I didn't read it all, because most of it is story, and I don't need the story. I did see several times your mention that your husband wants to lie down for this guy because he doesn't want a record.

Huh?????

Uhhhhhh, in this world you GET records when you lie down. You don't AVOID them. Read that again!!!

I understand some people being meek. I don't understand lying down so you can be trampled - I just don't.

The reason I didn't need the story is because the advice is so simple: He needs to quit his job and hire a lawyer. That's ALL - NOTHING ELSE!

excon

brandy681

Thanks for all the advice. Today his boss called and basically tried to bargain with him to come back to work and said that he would still pay him $100 a week and then take all the rest out of his pay, which would take about 3 months or a little longer to pay off. That is totally crazy because my husband works 70 hrs a week and is the hardest worker there. There is one other guy that works there part time and the boss himself also works some too.


I told my husband the exact same thing that I reviewer said. I told him that if he continued to work for this guy and pay him off then afterwards more money would become missing and he would keep owing the guy. This is crazy, but true! The guy that owns the store is only like 28 years old and is younger than my husband and he owns the gas station and their is a chicken run located next door/ connectd to the store that he partially owns but he doesn't manage money there and also a brand NEW game room next door that he partially owns and it is a game room that has poker tables and slot machienes... But again he doesn't manage the money from there either but I think he gets a percentage of profits.


Since my husband is the main worker at the gas station, he is using him so that he doesn't have to pay anyone.. accept one other employee but again he only works part time. Like I said the owner is 28 and has owned the store since he was 24 and he is rich, owns several almost new cars and a home, etc and for a 24 year old indian man I guess he gets rich off of using people and illegal gambling.


I have only saw his boss twice and he is mean, his attitude is horrible. I remember the first time I walked into the store and my husband introduced me and I said hi nice to meet you, he didn't say anything at ALL and always has a "mad" face constantly and my husband even sais that he don't ever smile. My husband told me that customers complain to him about the boss's mean and snobby attitude..My husband on the other hand is totally opposite of this and is very friendly to everyone.


He also has nothing to do with the gambling or the NEW game room next door but of course he knows what is going on. I think my husband should get him in trouble for that if he tries to extort money from my husband! I keep telling this to my husband but all he sais is that he will be punnished and that God will punish him eventually for what he is doing. I tell him the same thing over and over and he sais the same thing, that he will be punnished and and for me not to worry but at the same time he is worrying. I really feel bad for him because I am more angry than anything and I have to watch him worry about this. He is a good person and don't deseerve this, I hate the guy for this and for his whole stuck up attitude. I am trying to look in to a a lawyer because my husband is doing nothing about it but just ignoring the situation.. I am basically trying to see what a lawyer will say because we don't have the money to hire one.



I honestly don't know how someone with so much money that is doing well in the business can be so greedy and evil... There would be days that my husband would come home and tell me how busy it was at the store and he would tell me how the boss would always complain about money issues and customers, etc. How can someone that has so much money complain so much and try and steal money. He is never happy + he has so much money so why would he try and steal it from my husband who works hard for his money. If you met the guy you would not believe that there are people in the world like him! I hope that we never have to see him or deal with him again.. I still do not know what my husband is going to do about this and he hasn't told me anything else. He doesn't know that I wrote this blog but I do appreciate everyone's opinion on this. Thanks

LadyB

Are equivalent paying jobs scarce in your area? Why would he continue to work for a crook and a liar and an illegal gambling hall owner...or even consider for one minute paying back money he didn't take and may not even be missing?

He needs to quit, and get another job, and call the state labor board and Attorney General about the multitude of crimes you have described here...extortion, defamation, gambling. Anything else is collusion.

mr.yet

Call the Labor Commission in your state, file a formal complaint, speak to an attorney today.

If a crime has been committed, than the owner should file charges, It sound like he has no proof.