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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4

    Default Employee Interrogation

    My wife was recently fired from her job as a pharmacy clerk for theft. The store had noticed that her discount card had been used by family members, and used this as grounds to call her into an interrogation by a loss prevention officer. While the discount card was supposed to be used by only by immediate family members, my parents had used the card while with us (i.e., we were in the line with them and they offered to pay on their credit card.)

    The loss prevention officer accused her of taking cash from the register, removing merchandise from the store, and giving away her employee discount to "make friends." He also said to her "I know you are from country X. Do you think it is OK to steal there? etc " I'm not sure why her nationality has relevance here.

    Being a recent immigrant she was very initimidated and humiliated by this, and told him "if I stole anything from the store, tell me what it was and I'll pay it back". She also said that one time she took some bottled water on her 10 minute break, intended to pay when the line was shorter and forgot. Although she does not read or write English, he made her sign a confession and promissary note for $100. She was then terminated without any further discussion.

    She loved her job and the store, and was a very good employee. Although she only earned minimum wage, she would have liked to stay there as a career. She had made her first friends in the US in that store, and even invited everyone to her birthday party (part of the charges on her discount card). Now she is totaly distraught about her treatment. To add insult to injury, we now received a letter from the stores lawyer demanding an additional $300 in civil recovery.

    I am outraged about what happened and would appreciate any advice on how to deal with this. Thank You.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    CA
    Posts
    101

    Default

    The LP may have been rude to your wife but there was nothing illegal about whay they did.

    If the discount card was indeed misused and your wife did take a bottle of water without paying for whatever reasons, I don't think it is worth fighting for this.

    Is your wife a citizen yet? If not, that is another reason you shouldn't do anything. My understanding is your wife is not being charged with shoplifting criminally. Just a civil demand from the store. If you fight for this civil demand, and the LP did have enough evidence for a shoplifting case, this may turn into a criminal case and if your wife is a noncitizen, it could have immigration conseqences for her.

    Consider it a bad experience and move on.

    Just my opinion.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    CA
    Posts
    101

    Default

    But $300 sounds a little steep.

    Maybe you could negotiate it down.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Thanks. The $300 dollars seems very steep to me, considering the situation. I guess it makes sense, though, not to complicate the matter with her immigration status.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    CA
    Posts
    54

    Default

    Moviejim is right, the fact is she did a few things worng and got caught, or confessed. Some LP know how to get a confession by being nice, some know how to get one by being an ass. Either way your wife gave up the information. Not much you can do at this point. If your wife ever finds herself in a room with Loss Prevention again, she should get up and walk out. Only three things can happen, she will loose her job, she could go to jail or nothing will happen. These same three things could still happen if she sits there and talks. She'd have a better chance if she just walked out. She can not be forced to be there, unless they have the evidence to place her under citizens arrest, and if that's the case, she was screwed before it even started.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    121

    Default

    It does sound like the LP did a few things wrong. First of all there was no reason for him to mention her nationality. All that would do is give her a defense of discrimination if she decided to take it to court. Also, you cannot get someone to sign a document that they do not understand. If she cannot read or write English and the document is written only in English he would have to have it explained in a way she can understand. Now, it also sounds like your wife may not have told you the complete story. Not saying she deliberately lied to you about anything, but may not have told you everything. I do not see (unless he's just completely a crook) why he would make the promissory note for $100 unless he had evidence (confession or otherwise) of a $100 theft. Also, keep in mind the LP can use deception when interviewing an employee in order to get a confession. He cannot use coercion, which would be a bribe, physically force, threat, etc. And he cannot use deception to get her to sign a document (i.e. saying the document means something when it really means something else). As for the civil demand, $300 is not all that steep for a $100 theft. The amount of the civil demand is based on the amount of theft. This civil demand goes to pay for the loss prevention department, does not go to pay for the loss (that is covered by the promissory note). A lot of money is spent in investigating and interviewing employees for theft. The company has to have some way of paying the loss prevention employees to investigate the theft and pay them to interview so the theft can be recovered. Also you have cost of supplies that are used during the investigation and interview that have to be covered. Considering employee investigations take many months to complete, it likely cost the loss prevention department far more than $300 to investigate and interview her. The company did have the choice of filing criminal charges as well. You would've then been stuck with court fees, and whatever punishment the court would've given you, which would've likely been a fine. So in that case you would've been paying for the court fines/fees, the promissory note, AND the civil demand. Also, as mentioned above if she is not a citizen there could've been complications with her immigration status as well. Consider your self lucky!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Thanks. The $100 dolllar amount came from my wife. The investigator pressured her into giving a dollar amount for the losses she caused the store. She pulled the amount "$100" out of thin air, thinking that she needed to answer him to get through the interview.

    The whole time she has worked there, there has been talk in the store about money missing from the registers. Personally, I think they could solve any problem by accounting more carefully (such as keeping only one person at one register and logging the times the manager gives discounts to customers that complain). I think they spent so much time investigating her because of these other problems they are having.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    San Antonio, TX
    Posts
    121

    Default

    In the way you say it you make it seem negative that the LP pressured her into admitting her guilt. Yes, he may have pressured her into admitting guilt, but that is what you must do to get someone to admitt to commiting a crime. If your wife was not guilty of anything why would she admitt to a crime. He does not have to be "nice" to anyone who has committed theft. If he went aroudn asking all the employees "Sweety can you please tell me if you stole something and if so how much was it worth" he wouldn't get anywhere, so he has to be firm with what he does. We're not dealing with "customer service" in LP. There is a big difference between being respectful to someone and being nice to them. We must be respectful, but we don't have to be nice. If your wife did not understand what the LP agent was saying to her she should've asked. Also, she has the right to walk out of the room or have someone represent her if she wished, which the LP agent would've explained these rights to her at the begining. If she did not step up and say she wanted to excercise one of her rights then that is completely her fault. Also, if your wife did not understand the laws and customs in this country and this is partly why she conffessed to such a large amount, then that is again her fault. It is her responsibility to know those types of things. She should've known that she didn't need to admit to $100 theft if she didn't commit $100 theft. It is her responsibility to know the laws of the country she is in and in the chance that she did not understand something that the LP agent was asking her or telling her, if she would've asked him he would have most likely given her the answer.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4

    Default

    LP, thank you for your advice. You are probably correct that the best legal action is to pay the fine and move on. I am not looking to argue with you, but I disagree with some of your statements.

    You ask "why would anyone admit to a crime if they were not guilty." The fact is that under a real or percieved threat, most of us will admit to anything. High pressure interrogation tactics are known to produce false confessions. The minor transgressions she was involved with, I believe, do not warrant such a response. They were used because the loss protection division is obviously under pressure to account for other problems in the store, and to justify their existence. This store has been sued for this in the past.

    In fact, the store manager and assistant managers, who worked most closely with her, all said they would "hire her again" and provide references. I would not hire somebody again if I believed they were stealing. Unfortunately, these employees are aware they could be put in the same situation anytime.

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