Retail Fraud Civil Demand - When is It Harrassment

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Michigan

Ok, it's kinda a long story, but to make it short I was recently fired from my job at a large retailer for "Misappropriation and/or damageof company assets". What happened was my boyfriend gave me a gift card that was for the retailer, I used the gift card, I was then fired for useing the gift card and arrested for thief. The person who fired me told me that they had me on tape stealing the gift card from a customer. While being interrogated by the police it was discovered that she didn't actually see me do anything on the video tape. They asked my boyfriend what happened and he told them he had found the gift card on he ground in the parking lot. Because I had told him at some point in time in the past that a gift card is "just like cash" He didn't think anything of it. I hadn't asked him where he had gotten the gift card and didn't find out until after I'd already used it.

Now I am being harrassed by a Law office for damages. The cardwas worth 40 dollars and I know there is a MI law that says they can charge you up to 200 dollars extra for these sorts of thing. I was never charged with any crime. Nor have they taken me to court, they just keep sending me letters and calling me saying that I owe them money, the last letter they sent says I owe them 665 dollars now, even though I've never been to court. Every time they call I tell them to take me to court because I have no intention of paying anything. It's gotten to the point where I don't think they actually take people to court, they just harrass people until they cave because they just want to move on with there lives. What should I do?

Just because they didn't charge you criminally doesn't mean that they can't sue you in a civil court. Did you ever sign anything agreeing to pay the store back?

If you ignore the letters, they can take you to court. You should consult with a local attorney.

Civil Demand is state law. Unless you want to see this cost rise or possibly go to court (thus costing thousands maybe) you will sadly pay it

I did sign something saying I would pay back the cost of the gift card, but that was under distress, My Manager handed me a piece of paper, Told me to write down that I would pay it back and told me to sign it, and That it would all be ok after I did that. I was then fired. I'm pretty sure thats illigal.

I was also curious if I maybe have a civil case against them for wrongful termination and defemation of charater, she lied to the cops to have me arrested. I sat in an interrogation room for 3 hours under false pretenses and can never see any of my friends from work again because they all think I'm a Thief. I know Im probably not in the right thread to ask, but just curious.

Oh! And I forgot to mention I really don't mind going to court. It'll give me the chance to counter sue, plus there attourny fees have to be mimimal because they have to go through small claims court, where a lawyer cannot even be present.

You will never win that counter suit and your firing was legal

Well, the state of MI unemployment agency agrees with me that I did nothing wrong, and granted me my unemployment.

So it was legal for her to lie to the police to get me arrested? Just looking for clarification. The fireing, is well, kinda whatever at this point. Back to my original post they have sent me 4 letters in the mail and called me many times, every time, I reply "take me to court" so far, no court, so when is it harrassment?

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Quoting panther10758

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If you can prove she lied to police then Police can file charges against her.

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The OP signed a confession.

The "lie" has documentation provided by the OP that it is the truth.

Wow, I thank you all for your imput, but tbh I have no intention of paying anything. I never "confessed" I wrote exactly what happened and was then told to write that I would pay it back by my superior at work. Again, pretty sure thats illigal.

At far as not having any evidence that my boy friend found it, well, they don't have any evidence that he didn't either. Innocent until proven? Plus no where on a gift card does it say "if found must be returned to <suchandsuch>" In fact, it says "the holder of this card is assumed to be the owner" Otherwise, I could buy anyone a gift card, have them use it, say they stole it from me and then I would get to sue them.

Plus, I was granted my unemployment after it was denied because I was fired for theft. I had to write a letter detailing everything that had happened, and they found that I had in "no way acted against the best interests" of the company.

Lastly, I haven't been "ignoreing" these letters, every time one is written or I am called I reply and tell them to take me to court.

Again thanks for the imput, but sence I didn't do anything wrong, except what I was told to do by my boss, I don't see why I should have to pay these people anything. If a loose, well, at least I fought for what I knew was right.

Honestly, all I wanted to get from this thread was when, if ever, I could file harrassment charges against them for not taking me to court. I know that sounds odd, most of the people in this forum are like "yeah I did it, how do I stay away from court?". But I didn't do anything wrong. And I'm being treated like someone who bought something online and is refusing to pay for it. An almost constant stream of threatening letters and calls.

If they take me to court and I loose, fine. (I honestly don't think I will), but how long can they harrass me and tact on charges before I can say, ENOUGH.

In my first post I said that this was a fairly recent occurance, in legal terms it probably is, but this actually happened back in September and I've been getting calls and letters sence. And every time my answer is "take me to court". So over 4 months of harrassment. How long before I can say, enough?

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Quoting Pepperz42

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Honestly, all I wanted to get from this thread was when, if ever, I could file harrassment charges against them for not taking me to court. I know that sounds odd, most of the people in this forum are like "yeah I did it, how do I stay away from court?". But I didn't do anything wrong. And I'm being treated like someone who bought something online and is refusing to pay for it. An almost constant stream of threatening letters and calls.

If they take me to court and I loose, fine. (I honestly don't think I will), but how long can they harrass me and tact on charges before I can say, ENOUGH.

In my first post I said that this was a fairly recent occurance, in legal terms it probably is, but this actually happened back in September and I've been getting calls and letters sence. And every time my answer is "take me to court". So over 4 months of harrassment. How long before I can say, enough?

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The attorney's office is NOT a credit collector subject to debt collections laws, however, once you tell them to STOP calling and mailing you and to sue you, and they continue to do so, YES, it is harassment and Invasion of Privacy (Torts) and even possibly a criminal violation.

If you stand innocent of the theft charge, even if you signed a statement to the contrary under duress, explicitly explain this to them in a "cease and desist" letter and send it by certified mail, also mailing a copy to yourself by regular mail and keep it unopened when you receive it. OR deliver it in person.

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Quoting Pepperz42

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I did sign something saying I would pay back the cost of the gift card, but that was under distress, My Manager handed me a piece of paper, Told me to write down that I would pay it back and told me to sign it, and That it would all be ok after I did that. I was then fired. I'm pretty sure thats illigal.

I was also curious if I maybe have a civil case against them for wrongful termination and defemation of charater, she lied to the cops to have me arrested. I sat in an interrogation room for 3 hours under false pretenses and can never see any of my friends from work again because they all think I'm a Thief. I know Im probably not in the right thread to ask, but just curious.

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IF she LIED to the police to get you arrested, no question for ambiguity, YES, you can sue the daylights out of the company. You need to consult an attorney who specializes in employment law.

If you signed a confession though, what was the detailed LIE she told, can you share that.

Thanks very much Bor, that was very helpful. :) You said that it might even be criminal for them to continue, if that is the case can I go to my local police department and file charges or does it have to be through an attourney?

Should I maybe just go there anyway I see what would consitute as a criminal action on there part? I'll be honest, I don't really want money, I just want my name cleared. Thanks again.

Oh sorry, Missed your last question. I wouldn't exactly call it a confession, I wrote down that yes I did use the card, why wouldn't I? It was given to me by my boyfriend and I didn't find out until after I had used it that he had found it on the ground. So no stealing was involved. I signed this and handed it to her. She handed it back and said, "Ok now you just need to write on there that you are willing to pay it back, and that should do it. " within 5 minutes I was fired. Little did I know, "that should do it" ment I would be getting harrassed for the next 5 months.

If she had fired me first and then told me to say I would pay her back, I would have told her to shove it, only reason I added it in there was because she made it sound like it was the only way to keep my job.

BAH, I still didn't answer your question :P sorry, long day, the lie was:

She told the police, the company and all of management, that I was caught on tape actually stealing the card from the customer. Fact of the matter was The customer never came through my line, and I never had ANY contact with him whatsoever, in fact I'm not sure they could show in the tapes that I was even working the day the person claimed there card was stolen.

All they had on video was me useing the card, she had spent a good week combing through the videos and thats all she could find, so when I didn't deny using the card, she had nothing. and was going to have to explain to her boss why she had spent a week investigating this. I'm pretty sure if management had actually heard the real story, I probably wouldn't have been fired. and even if i had, i wouldn't have been arrested. I know that for a fact, from talking with the police officer.

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Quoting Pepperz42

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Thanks very much Bor, that was very helpful. :) You said that it might even be criminal for them to continue, if that is the case can I go to my local police department and file charges or does it have to be through an attourney?

Should I maybe just go there anyway I see what would consitute as a criminal action on there part? I'll be honest, I don't really want money, I just want my name cleared. Thanks again.

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I have not found the telephone/telecommunications laws for MI yet, however, IF you tell a person to STOP calling your # and they continue, it is unlawful. I or you or anyone needs to verify that by law first, but I don't see it as uncodified.

If the police call you to "talk" about a crime, and you say do NOT call back, I have no desire to talk to you, and they do, that person is guilty of telephone harassment under color of law.

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Quoting Pepperz42

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Oh sorry, Missed your last question. I wouldn't exactly call it a confession, I wrote down that yes I did use the card, why wouldn't I? It was given to me by my boyfriend and I didn't find out until after I had used it that he had found it on the ground. So no stealing was involved. I signed this and handed it to her. She handed it back and said, "Ok now you just need to write on there that you are willing to pay it back, and that should do it. " within 5 minutes I was fired. Little did I know, "that should do it" ment I would be getting harrassed for the next 5 months.

If she had fired me first and then told me to say I would pay her back, I would have told her to shove it, only reason I added it in there was because she made it sound like it was the only way to keep my job.

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If you admitted NO theft, just a "pay back" under duress, it is not a defacto confession then.

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Quoting Pepperz42

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BAH, I still didn't answer your question :P sorry, long day, the lie was:

She told the police, the company and all of management, that I was caught on tape actually stealing the card from the customer. Fact of the matter was The customer never came through my line, and I never had ANY contact with him whatsoever, in fact I'm not sure they could show in the tapes that I was even working the day the person claimed there card was stolen.

All they had on video was me useing the card, she had spent a good week combing through the videos and thats all she could find, so when I didn't deny using the card, she had nothing. and was going to have to explain to her boss why she had spent a week investigating this. I'm pretty sure if management had actually heard the real story, I probably wouldn't have been fired. and even if i had, i wouldn't have been arrested. I know that for a fact, from talking with the police officer.

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IF she told the police you were caught on tape stealing when you clearly did not, or any falsehood of similar legal import, and this was the probable cause the police based thier arrest on, she is in deep doo doo.

Did the police, you know of, view the actual tape in question before the arrest OR did they accept the word of the complainant/agent only?

From what I understand they did not view any video before I was arrested and he just took her word for it. The whole thing went down very strangely, I didn't know the police had even been called until I was being led out by the officer. His words when I was first being interrogated were "they have you on tape! how can you deny this?" After talking for a while I just kept repeating my story. plus he found something in the paper work that didn't make sence, the transaction that I had supposedly stolen the card from the customer from, didn't have my name on it, which it would have had to if I had been on the video taking this persons card. he called her one the phone and she said "well, we didn't actually see her take the card"

At this point, now, I'm like, why wasn't she charged back then? Why didn't I scream at the top of my lungs WHAT?! :wallbang: But tbh, I had been so tramatized by the whole thing, never been fired from a job before, never been arrested before. I wasn't really thinking straight.