Possibly Getting Removed from the Retail Theft Database

[squeaks]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Florida

Hello,

I have a set of circumstances that i feel may result in me being able to have my name removed from this database, i just wanted to see what anyone else thinks or what some of my options are.

It all started six and a half years ago while i was working for gap inc. i was 17 at the time and i saw a loophole in their return policy. I purchased many items in their clearance section for prices that were below what they rang up as and then proceeded to return them to another store without my reciept getting store credit for the amount that they rang up for. i recieved the store credit in the mail and used it to make a purchase at the store. about 3 months later, 18 days after i turned 18 i was called into the back office where some guy was there to question me about the return. He told me that if i didnt do exactly what they told me that the police were going to come and take me to jail. i was really scared at the time and didnt want my parents to find out anything so i just agreed since i felt like i didnt have any other choice. I didnt know it at the time but one of the things that he made me sign was something for this retail theft database. I have not had to apply for any kind of retail position for the past 6 years but now i needed a temperary job so i applied at a place and just got a letter in the mail telling me that my background check had failed.

This is the first time i heard about this even being on my record, anyway enclosed was a copy of the report which stated the following.

Incident type: Credit Card fraud
Incident description: Return fraud
Verification Notes: Signed admission on file

So now that you know the story here are my questions.

First, why is the term "Credit Card fraud" even on the report since nothing had anything to do with any credit cards.

Second, I feel like they force me to sign this admission (which i didnt know that was what i was signing back then) or i was going to go to jail. In my mind i didnt have a choice.

In the end i would like to have this removed from the database completely, I was wondering if i have any legal legs to stand on since the alleged "crime" was commited when i was a minor so it shoud be sealed but they waited till i was 18 to fire me and make me sign their papers. Also the report is inacurrate since there was no credit card anything. and third i was forced to sign this admission without being informed of what i was signing.

Please let me know what you think and where i should start to have this resolved.

Thanks

[LawResearcherMissy]

Second, I feel like they force me to sign this admission (which i didnt know that was what i was signing back then) or i was going to go to jail. In my mind i didnt have a choice.

You didn't READ what you were signing?

In the end i would like to have this removed from the database completely, I was wondering if i have any legal legs to stand on since the alleged "crime" was commited

It's not an "alleged crime" - it's an actual crime. Retail theft, darlin'. Return fraud. And you're mighty lucky that you didn't end up with an actual criminal record. GAP was awfully merciful.

when i was a minor so it shoud be sealed

No, there's no obligation to seal the retail theft database, regardless of how old you were when you took up the art of thievery and failed at it.

but they waited till i was 18 to fire me and make me sign their papers.

Or, you know, it just took that long to make sure that they had given you plenty of rope with which to hang yourself. Investigations require time, and firing someone requires a solid trail of documentation.

Also the report is inacurrate since there was no credit card anything.

Irrelevant.

and third i was forced to sign this admission without being informed of what i was signing.

Horsepuckey. At 17, you ought to have been able to read, and surely should have had a grasp on the fact that thievery is illegal.

Records in the National Retail Theft Database are eventually dumped. I believe the standard is seven years, but in some instances may be longer.

[squeaks]

your not a lawyer and your apparently arent doing any kind of research on the internet

obviously you dont know what your talking about i took the following quote from the NRMA website

Q: Are Juveniles reported to NRMA?
A: No, the NRMA Retail Advisory Board unanimously voted to not include incidents in which the person was under the age of 18 when the theft incident occurred

second, are you serous that it is irrelevant that they include false information about me and are giving it to employers to base their hiring decision on. thats like saying its irrelivant if theirs false info on your credit report

And no i didnt read it, i didnt have time to read anything i had some guy yelling in my face telling me to sign everything or im going out of here in handcuffs. you try reading while thats going on

[LawResearcherMissy]

I read what's going on just fine, Buttercup.

You're a thief, you're bad enough at it to have been caught, and now you want people to feel sorry for you because you screwed yourself out of an entire sector of possible employment.

They don't CARE when you first started stealing, they care about when you got caught. If it took them until after you turned 18 to get caught, tough.

Rather than throwing a tantrum because no one feels sorry for you, you might consider being exceedingly grateful that your former employer opted not to press formal criminal charges against you.

[Mr. Knowitall]

The entry in a database like the NRMA's is like a credit report entry. You can dispute the entry, and they'll seek verification from your former employer. You can also wait a year, as the entries normally drop off after seven years. You're lucky this didn't affect you before now.

In terms of the incident occurring before you turned 18, your employer may have taken the position (and your confession may have corroborated) that your actions continued past the single date you describe here, or that you were involved in other similar actions involving other people through the date that you were fired. Depending on how you used the credit (card?) you received in the mail (and that may be where the "credit card fraud" allegation comes from - but you would have to check your confession) your continuing to buy things on the credit after you turned 18 could easily be enough of a hook to keep you on the list. It could also be that the only date they looked at when processing your confession was the date of confession, and that they wouldn't have reported this incident but for the mistake - but that's not something we can answer for you, not having the benefit of reading the paperwork.

[squeaks]

thanks for your response

yes the merchandise credit was actually a check they mailed to me. I spent the entire balance of the check well before my 18th birthday. I have contacted the credit reporting agency and they told me that they do not check the validity of the reports it is my responsibility to go though gap inc and have them change anything.

I have contacted gap and was told that it would take 3 weeks for them to send me a copy of my employee file. i also contacted a local lawyer and he told me that it didnt matter when they went to fire me it was related to the actual date the event took place. so he said as soon as i get the copy of my file in the mail we can take a look at everything and see what my options are from there.

Also similarly to the signed confessions in a criminal case being dropped due to the manner in which they were obtained do you think i could have my signed admission nullified as well, since the documents i signed without reading were signed under threats and physical intimidation.