Wrongfully Accused and Fired for Theft!

[swyfty]

My son worked for one of the major electronics retailers and was first put on Administrative Leave (12 employees put on leave) for investigation into store theft. After 2 weeks of Administrative Leave they fired him because they said they had him on Tape "giving" away merchandise. He denied the accusation and asked for proof and to see the tape. They will not tell him "what" he gave away or give him any proof.

He has just received a letter from their Civil Recovery Service. The letter is vague and just states that they are acting on behalf of the previous employer in connection with the taking of him of merchandise from one of its stores without their consent.

They are asking for 100 for the merchandise plus 100 Penalty for a total of 200.00 within 30 days. The letter does not state was taken just asks for 200.00. It then states that this "demand" does not take the place of any fines or punishments which may be handed out by criminal courts.

It also says that he should be advised that state law does permit "employer" to bring a civil action.

My question is..is this normal? Legal? Can they request money without providing proof. We still have no proof and they won't tell us what was supposedly given away. If we pay, does that just incriminate him? They only tell us to consult a lawyer.

 

[lookingforinfo6]

Well, I used to work for security in a major department store in new england, and I know for a fact that in order for there to be criminal charges, they would need to prosecute while your son was still an employee. However, they can still go after you in civil court and get what they have coming to them. Whenever we would apprehend an individual (customer or employee) we would NEVER show them any footage or evidence that we had, because we were not police, and by showing the evidence we gave away our edge. This is a tactic that is used for them to get their money without them having to pay to go to court. They are not legally obligated to show you anything, and that letter you were sent is fine, although it is a little unseemly. You really should consult with an attorney at this point, because your option is to not pay anything and let them take you to court to see if they really do have any evidence, or pay them hoping that they won't take you to civil court.

But the main answer is, yes, they can do that.