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  1. #1

    Default Walmart Employee Falsely Accused of Fraudulent Refund

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: FLORIDA

    There is a serious issue plaguing my family and we are in desperate need of help! PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS. WE ARE IN A SERIOUS CRISIS AND I BELIEVE ALL THESE DETAILS ARE IMPORTANT IN HELPING US GET OUT OF THIS HELL. ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED FOR WE ARE DESPERATE:

    My mother has been a loyal walmart employee for 10 years. She was recently promoted and moved to a store in pembroke pines, Fl. About a month ago, her husband passed away, and due to the obvious depression and emotional turmoil that follows, she took a 3 month leave of absence (paid). At first she was denied the leave, so she had to provide a doctor's note. STILL the store manager purposely failed to give the note to HR, and so my mother had to call the manager from the previous store to find out what was going on. After investigating, he was finally able to get the documents to the HR rep. and my mom was granted her leave, very much against the new store manager's wishes.

    One month has passed, and all of a sudden the store manager who had fought my mom's request for the leave of absence is now pressing charges against my mom for "fraudulent refunds." she claims that my mom and her previous manager (the same person who helped the medical documents to the HR rep.) were associates in the crime. that he purchased ink cartridges from another store, and then used my mom to return them to walmart for gift cards.

    according to my mom, (a cashier at the time), this is simply impossible. if an item was not purchased at walmart, the item WILL NOT scan, and the computer will tell you it's not from that company. If it IS from the company, once scanned for refund, it tells you the item's name and its price, which is exactly what happened as she scanned the ink cartridges. even if somehow the ink was not purchased at that store, my mom would have no way of knowing since the computer accepted the bar codes without issues. it's walmart policy to refund an item with or without receipt as long as it was purchased at any of the walmart stores.

    my mother is a single mom with 4 kids who are still dependent on her. Her husband just passed away, and now with these charges, she will lose her job, regardless of her innocence. the manager who pressed the charges gave her two options: resign or she'd open the investigation. since my mom and her previous manager have nothing to hide they agreed to go ahead with the investigation.

    HERE IS MY QUESTION: it is my belief that the manager who pressed charges did so simply out of a grudge. i believe she is using her position to get my mom fired for going against her wishes and taking the much and obviously needed leave of absence. even before the death, she had been giving my mom a hard time day after day. ISN'T THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO IN ORDER TO TURN THIS WHOLE ISSUE AROUND FOR OUR BENEFIT? it seems ridiculously unjust that my mom should lose her job just like that in a time of depression and crisis simply because of a false accusation. i feel that walmart (specifically the store manager who pressed charges) could be doing something extremely illegal by falsely accusing my mom in order to get her fired. her argument is deeply flawed since items not purchased at walmart simply cannot be returned to walmart, therefore her accusations are not even feasible. yet here we are, suffering. ISN'T THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO AVOID HOMELESSNESS AND UNEMPLOYMENT??????????????? can't we retaliate in any way?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    Somewhere near Canada
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    Default Re: Walmart Employee Falsely Accused of Fraudulent Refund

    In a word...no.

    Your Mom need not be found guilty of any crime in order for the Store to legally fire her. Frankly they can fire her for wearing blue shoes.

    The situation described is not only possible, but is actually a not-uncommon scam.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Walmart Employee Falsely Accused of Fraudulent Refund

    well i already know she's going to lose her job regardless. but isn't there anything we can do to maybe win some compensation? there is a manager seriously abusing her position there. i thought that falsely accusing someone of a crime is a crime in itself. can't we sue her for using HER position to destroy our lives? i know those aren't exaclty legal terms but, i've heard of cases where victims of emotional and financial hardship are compensated. and thank you for your response by the way. much appreciated.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    Somewhere near Canada
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    Default Re: Walmart Employee Falsely Accused of Fraudulent Refund

    The thing is, the manager doesn't NEED a reason to fire your Mom.

    If the manager genuinely suspected your Mom of being guilty of something - and you have indicated that she DID allow the goods to be returned, regardless of whether she knew or suspected something was amiss - then there is no false accusation.

    Besides that, it's incredibly difficult to prove.

    However...with that said...there is one important factor at play I believe.

    If your Mom quits, it's pretty much guaranteed that she will be denied UI. If she forces the company to fire her she can then at least apply for UI, and the company itself will then have to argue why she shouldn't receive it (being fired in and of itself doesn't necessarily disqualify her - the company will have to show she was fired for cause).

    It won't hurt Mom to see an attorney at least for an initial consultation, first chance she gets.

    I'm also terribly sorry for her loss.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Walmart Employee Falsely Accused of Fraudulent Refund

    damn that sucks. i can't believe people im big companies like walmart can abuse power like that without consequence. wtf is wrong with people in the world. thanks for your advice. i hope you never have to go through some bullshit like this.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    LA LA Land
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    9,170

    Default Re: Walmart Employee Falsely Accused of Fraudulent Refund

    Quote Quoting photografer18
    View Post
    if an item was not purchased at walmart, the item WILL NOT scan, and the computer will tell you it's not from that company.
    NOT true... When you are scanning an item you are in fact scanning a UPC barcode (U.P.C. stands for "Universal Product Code")... So just because a product description and price came up on the register does not necessarily mean that the item is a WMT exclusive... It just means that WMT, (in addition to other stores) carries that particular product.

    I'm not sure whether the manager can prove that your Mom knowingly issued refunds for items that were purchased at other stores. If they can prove that, then it would be easy for them to establish that she was terminated for knowingly violating WMT policy and she can then kiss her UI benefits good bye...

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