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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    2

    Default Civil Demand for Food Eaten at Work

    My 18 yr old son was formerly employed as a grocery clerk at Giant Eagle in PA. He was terminated after he was caught eating food that he hadn't paid for. A stupid and dishonest mistake . He was never formally charged with anything. No police - only LP and management at the store were involved . Now, three months later, he received a letter from an organization called "Youghiogheny Valley Specialty Services". The letter says that his, "... case has been selected for processing through Pennsylvania Civil Law Act 141. This is the law that enables and empowers the merchant or his agent to demand a civil payment of $150.00 plus the value of the item plus a reasonable collection fee from a person detained for shoplifting at his store." The letter states, "Basically this letter is an out-of-court settlement between yourself, the store and our company". They want $150 plus $25 for the collection fee, plus the $4.38 cost of the food ($179.38 total). Is this legitimate? This all seems a little strange to me. Should he pay it? What assurance is there that he will not and can not be prosecuted for this crime if he pays these "fees"? And what if he doesn't pay? Will they really prosecute? Really, for $4.38?" He is a starving college student (pun intended) and it seems clear that the embarrassment of losing his job - not to mention the disappointment of his family and friends - has taught him a very valuable lesson. That said, we just want to be sure that this is a legitimate claim and that there is some assurance that this is the last we will hear about this.

    Thanks for any replies and advise.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Civil Demand for Food Eaten at Work

    He stole. He got a civil demand. If he doesn't pay, he can be sued - and he can expect the amount demanded in the suit to be larger, with an accompanying request for lawyer fees. Some have suggested that stores sometimes report theft offenses if the civil demand goes unpaid, even though they had previously not intended to pursue charges.

    In the alternative he can try to negotiate with this company for a lower payment, or risk that if he ignores them he won't be sued (and/or criminally charged).

    $179.38 may seem like a lot for stealing $4.38 in food, but had the store prosecuted him the lawyer fees, costs and fines would have made that seem cheap, and there's also the criminal record to consider. Even if he pays the entire demand, he got off cheap.

    As the letter probably says, it has nothing to do with any potential criminal case. Paying it means that the civil claim against your son is over, and nothing more than that. But as you say, the store indicated that it isn't pursuing charges and, with three months and no word from the police, they appear to be keeping their word.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Dauphin County, PA
    Posts
    439

    Default Re: Civil Demand for Food Eaten at Work

    I am guessing the reason it took 3 months to finally get to you was that it finally went through all departments it would apply to in the Corporate Office.

    While $179 may seem like a lot compared to it was just a item under five dollars. You do have to see things from the company's side of it and how much they loose out yearly from theft from employees alone. I am sure your son got all the training on SHRINK when he first started.

    The money they loose from shrink also effects the wages of their employees and so on and so forth.

    Hopefully he has learned that stealing five dollars worth of food simply wasn't worth it in the long run.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Civil Demand for Food Eaten at Work

    Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. The legitimacy of this letter/claim seems much less doubtful. We will keep copies of this letter and the cancelled check and expect that this will be the last we hear of it.

    There is no doubt that my son knew what he was doing was wrong. The sting of losing his job and having to pay almost $180 sends a very strong message to him, and any of his contemporaries still working there, that theft of this type will not be tolerated.

    Lesson learned and (hopefully) case closed.

    Thanks again, very much, for your responses.

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