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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    2

    Post Being Sued by Sears for Theft

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Jersey

    I am 20 years old. I used to work for Sears in New Jersey and while working there everyone had a quota. Usually two of the main quotas would be to make everyone you come into contact with sign up for the Sears credit cards, or have them join our membership club which gives them points. Normally this does not seem like a big deal, however, a few months after hire they started pressuring the workers to do this more and more. It got so bad that they even checked daily a percentage according to each employees transaction of how many people who came into the store was either enrolled or signed up for the rewards program by the employee. If we did not reach our daily quota frequently then our scheduled hours would be decreased, according to the store manager. Since I needed the job at the time, I was freaking out. I was not getting enough credit card applications and I was not getting enough people to enroll, however, all my other coworkers managed to do it without a problem. When I asked how they did it, they told me that for most people that refuse to to give their information, they just use a fake account so that it looks like they are a member, that way the workers won't get penalized. I ran this by my manager to check and even she said that it was okay to do this. So for the next few months after that I used the fake accounts and offered discounts to people who signed up for the credit cards, as authorized by my manager. Although I reached my quotas every shift, I was also warned by one of my coworkers, who has been there far longer than I have, to mix up fake accounts. I was also told to use an account under my number if possible, but to only do it three times every other day and to never use the points. According to my manager and coworkers, it was not considered stealing because the customers are told of the benefits each time they are asked, and so they would not be losing anything that they never would have gotten anyway. But this later became a problem.

    As I continued working I was walking through the store on my day off with my girlfriend and I told her how there was a cool watch I wanted to buy but did not have enough money to yet. Offering to buy me the watch out of love, she went to the jewelry department and bought me the watch. There, the worker who knew me gave me a discount on the watch by helping them raise their credit card quotas up by having me and my girlfriend fill out credit card applications, knowing that we would fail, however, the applications did not need to be approved but only processed. Like I said before, my manager told me this was okay to do and apparently the whole store was doing it as well, so I did not see an issue with it. But then I decided to use the points in order to reduce the price of the watch (Price was about $200 at the time)

    Previously, before going to buy the watch, I had bought products before from the store and accumulated my own points from them. I used the points to remove part of the cost from the watch, which was like $40 or $60 I think, could have been less but not any more, and then my girlfriend used her card to buy it. Fast forward to about 2 months later, I put in my resignation letter to my manager to let her know that I was leaving. The very same day I was called into a back room by Loss Prevention (LP), with the head of LP for the company, the store manager, and an LP officer who surrounded me while I sat in a chair. They told me that I had used the points that belonged to other customers, and made purchases on items like candy and the watch unjustly. I assured them that I only used my points that I earned from continuously buying products there myself to get the candy and watch, but they did not believe me. They had me sign a statement saying what I did, but I put down and told them that I did not steal anything and that the watch was paid for. They told me that they would accept my resignation as that day and that I would get paid for the day. No cops were called and I did not have to sign anything stating that I was not allowed back into the store.

    Now its about 7 months later and I got a letter saying they will sue me for shoplifting unless I give them $209. Although I did use points to deduct the cost of the watch, they were my points that I got through buying products with my own money. I did not shoplift, plus, the points were supposed to have no monetary value, therefore, not being offered for sale which should diminish the ability of the store to say that I did steal. In addition, the majority of the cost of the watch was paid for through my girlfriend's card and she knew nothing of the points, it was just a gift. If I get convicted of it, then it will be my first offense but I do not know what to do. Should I pay the cost and indirectly admit to shoplifting or should I ignore the retail civil demand?

    P.S. I looked up the law for shoplifting and it says that in order to be properly accused it has to be according to whether I changed the price tags, concealed the product, under ringing products, switched containers, or I take the product with the intent of stealing. I did none of these things.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Posts
    19,901

    Default Re: Being Sued by Sears for Theft

    The law on shoplifting has nothing to do with civil suits. If you took items/discounts you were not entitled to, they can prevail on suing you.

    Despite what you claim you were told, you opened accounts and accumulated points you appear not to be entitled to. You then used them and the collusion of another employer to use them to purchase the watch.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    8,238

    Default Re: Being Sued by Sears for Theft

    What exactly did the letter say? If it just said the store would sue, that is a civil action, not a criminal prosecution. If the store wins the lawsuit, it gets a judgment entitling it to collect from you the amount the court awarded in the judgment. That’s it. There is no criminal record, no possibility of jail time or criminal fines, etc. If the store sues, you can contest it and try to convince the court that you only used points that you legitimately earned and that the store lost nothing in order to avoid having to pay anything to the store.

    Next job you get, if the store personnel suggest you do things that sound underhanded or possibly illegal you might want to just walk away from that job. The possibility of having it back fire on you and perhaps getting criminally prosecuted is just not worth it. There are other jobs out there that won’t ask to do things like this store did.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Being Sued by Sears for Theft

    But if I pay the money can they still sue me with it as a criminal act? And so should I pay it and basically plead guilty or ignore it and have to take it to court and plead not guilty? Trust me I understand what I did was wrong and I never listening to anyone again about doing something wrong like this. I just don't want to pay to fix their inconvenience and then they sue me again for the same thing just as a different prosecution. I'm not sure if they can do that but I just wanted to check.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    8,238

    Default Re: Being Sued by Sears for Theft

    Quote Quoting Jlewis19971
    View Post
    But if I pay the money can they still sue me with it as a criminal act?
    The word “sue” is used in connection with civil lawsuits. The store still could, of course, make a complaint with the cops about the alleged theft even if you pay. It would be up to the cops and prosecutor whether to arrest and charge you with any crime out of this. Thus, even if you pay now, you want to be clear that you are not admitting any wrongdoing.

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