[deemazzi]

I live in New Jersey. I am an at will employee at a casino. I was terminated for theft when a gaming chip popped out from the front of my body, most likely, lodged in my belt buckle when bending over the table to make a payout. The surveillance tape does not show me taking the chip, only that I touched my body without clearing my hands. That was, according to them, the only logical explanation. It was missing from a full stack of chips on my game and from the bottom stack, impossible to take without maneuvering in some manner to get it out of there. Surveillance would have had to see it. When I left my game , I never took a break, I had extra work to do in setting up tables to count the chips for the night. The chip fell off my person while I was doing all of this. I know it because I felt it as it came from the front of my body while working doing other things casino related. I had every opportunity to take a break and hide it, but took no break , I had no reason to think it was even there! My first manager, when I was first suspended pending investigation, told me he viewed the tape and at no time did my hands ever enter the rack to take that chip. When I went back 3 days later surely thinking I would be fine since I knew I didn't do it, they fired me for attempting to remove property without authorization . It was a freak accident and I know that they did not look at that tape closely enough to see the point of entry to the front of either my shirt of the buckle of my belt. I know for a fact I did not take that chip on purpose, it wasva very freaky accident, but an accident. With theft being the reason, it will ruin my good name and reputation of 35 years in the gaming industry and also, stop me from getting any unemployment! I am beside myself! I did not do this, that tape was never taken frame by frame to actually see when that chip went missing! I was accused of something I know for a fact I DID NOT do! Do I have any recourse here.

[smoothy]

Can you afford to hire a lawyer and fight this knowing you might not win in the end?

[ScottGem]

They know the chip was on your body. That they have no video showing you put it there is probably not sufficient to overlook it.

As smoothy said, you can hire an attorney, but you don't have a strong case here.

[AK lawyer]

...As smoothy said, you can hire an attorney, but you don't have a strong case here.

The understatement of the day. As OP indicated, it is employment-at-will.