Nilla
Jul 18, 2006, 02:43 PM
Hello,
Recently my girlfriend was working part time at a place in the mall. One night a secret shopper (mall private investigator) came by as she and another employee were closing leaving the store to go do the deposit for the end of the night, this lady asked to look through there purses.
They both allowed her to do this. In my girlfriends purse she found a half used lip gloss which she had purchased about a month ago at the same store she was working for and the purse she had was also purchased from the store previously.
The secret shopper then considered it theft because she didn’t have a receipt for either item, even though there were items she’d had for a while and didn’t steal.
She then called the store owner who said it’s considered theft and to proceed to give her a court date with the intention to press charges of theft.
It was mentioned to her when she started working there that she needs to keep all of her receipts for anything from that store, however she didn’t think of it and obviously did not keep them, as these items were both under $10 anyway.
The weird thing is that this store gives all their employees 3 FREE accessory items (no purchase required, ie: no receipt) every day they work. Which means she has no receipt for many things from this store.
Anyway, this case was dropped recently. However they are now issuing another court date for her for a new case which they are trying to again charge her with theft.
The day after the first issue happened my girlfriend had arranged to pick up a bag if items she had bought from another store the day before which she left out back in the store and was not able to go back and get.
Beside the items purchased from the other store she had set aside (NOTE: these items were not inside her bag of purchased items from the other store. They were simply set aside which is what they are supposed to do when they plan to purchase) a couple pieces of clothing from her store of employment which she had planned to purchase.
An employee at this store (who doesn’t get along with anyone) is the one she’d arranged to pick up her purchased items from the next day, told the police officer that the items which were set aside for later purchase were inside of her bag of purchased items (as if she was going to steal them).
So now there trying to charge her for stealing the items she had set aside in the back of the store, saying she had them inside of her bag. Even though she didn’t and even though these items never left the store with my girlfriend.
I should also mention that upon the issue of court appearance the first time they also fired her from the store, banned her from entering any store of that name (for good) and also banned her from the property of that mall for 6 months.
The police officer who issued these court appearances (not the secret shopper) told her that most likely these attempted charges will be dropped as well.
However my question is can we sue this store or something along those lines to bring justice forward because of the fact
#1 That she didn’t steal anything and they can’t prove anything
#2 This has caused embarrassment and stress to my girlfriend because of the thought of conviction which can mess up her career, traveling etc etc
#3 Because they banned her from the mall, fired her from the store, and banned her from entering any property of this store chain.
#4 Because I don’t know what all the laws are but none of this whole issue makes any damn sense and is extremely stressful for my girlfriend as she has a very shy personality and tends to worry a lot, even about this issue knowing she is innocent.
If we can do something, do you think it’s worth it?
I am willing to spend money obviously on a lawyer so that justice can be served and this store owner (and the employee who tried to frame her) will know not to treat employees and/or anyone this way again.
However I also don’t want to break the bank to do so and even if I could sue for enough to break even (paying the lawyer fees and whatnoe) I would be more than happy with that.
I’m not looking to make money here but serve justice, however obviously if it’s possible to sue for more than a break even point I wouldn’t arugue.
Hopefully this all makes sense. I so greatly appreciate your time and responses and would like to thank you in advance.
Recently my girlfriend was working part time at a place in the mall. One night a secret shopper (mall private investigator) came by as she and another employee were closing leaving the store to go do the deposit for the end of the night, this lady asked to look through there purses.
They both allowed her to do this. In my girlfriends purse she found a half used lip gloss which she had purchased about a month ago at the same store she was working for and the purse she had was also purchased from the store previously.
The secret shopper then considered it theft because she didn’t have a receipt for either item, even though there were items she’d had for a while and didn’t steal.
She then called the store owner who said it’s considered theft and to proceed to give her a court date with the intention to press charges of theft.
It was mentioned to her when she started working there that she needs to keep all of her receipts for anything from that store, however she didn’t think of it and obviously did not keep them, as these items were both under $10 anyway.
The weird thing is that this store gives all their employees 3 FREE accessory items (no purchase required, ie: no receipt) every day they work. Which means she has no receipt for many things from this store.
Anyway, this case was dropped recently. However they are now issuing another court date for her for a new case which they are trying to again charge her with theft.
The day after the first issue happened my girlfriend had arranged to pick up a bag if items she had bought from another store the day before which she left out back in the store and was not able to go back and get.
Beside the items purchased from the other store she had set aside (NOTE: these items were not inside her bag of purchased items from the other store. They were simply set aside which is what they are supposed to do when they plan to purchase) a couple pieces of clothing from her store of employment which she had planned to purchase.
An employee at this store (who doesn’t get along with anyone) is the one she’d arranged to pick up her purchased items from the next day, told the police officer that the items which were set aside for later purchase were inside of her bag of purchased items (as if she was going to steal them).
So now there trying to charge her for stealing the items she had set aside in the back of the store, saying she had them inside of her bag. Even though she didn’t and even though these items never left the store with my girlfriend.
I should also mention that upon the issue of court appearance the first time they also fired her from the store, banned her from entering any store of that name (for good) and also banned her from the property of that mall for 6 months.
The police officer who issued these court appearances (not the secret shopper) told her that most likely these attempted charges will be dropped as well.
However my question is can we sue this store or something along those lines to bring justice forward because of the fact
#1 That she didn’t steal anything and they can’t prove anything
#2 This has caused embarrassment and stress to my girlfriend because of the thought of conviction which can mess up her career, traveling etc etc
#3 Because they banned her from the mall, fired her from the store, and banned her from entering any property of this store chain.
#4 Because I don’t know what all the laws are but none of this whole issue makes any damn sense and is extremely stressful for my girlfriend as she has a very shy personality and tends to worry a lot, even about this issue knowing she is innocent.
If we can do something, do you think it’s worth it?
I am willing to spend money obviously on a lawyer so that justice can be served and this store owner (and the employee who tried to frame her) will know not to treat employees and/or anyone this way again.
However I also don’t want to break the bank to do so and even if I could sue for enough to break even (paying the lawyer fees and whatnoe) I would be more than happy with that.
I’m not looking to make money here but serve justice, however obviously if it’s possible to sue for more than a break even point I wouldn’t arugue.
Hopefully this all makes sense. I so greatly appreciate your time and responses and would like to thank you in advance.