There are some screwy people in this world, and they make me mad! My friend R- has been totally misused and abused by said screwy people. R- is a struggling single momma who is working her way through school. Things were already tight before, but now they're worse.
Yesterday, R- was fired from her job. She recently transferred to a different store (but still worked for the same company). Two weeks ago, there were several voids on the register R- was using, which is understandable considering that it's a different type of register than the one she's used to. That same night, one of the security cameras was malfunctioning. The company decided yesterday that R- must be behind the two coinciding events and must therefore be a thief - even though they did inventory and no merchandise was missing and no money was missing from the register.
So they called up R- and asked (well, demanded really) that she meet the district manager at the store. She gets there, and they have a police officer there. They tell her that they think she's a thief. Then the police officer tells her she has to pay the store $200 right then and there or else he's taking her to jail. He then says "And you know you'll lose your kid if that happens, right?" Remember, they have no evidence which indicates money or merchandise is missing, and are making her pay back $200, even though the total amount of the voids is $150-some odd dollars. When she asked for a concrete reason for her termination, they told her because it "looked suspicious."
So now I'm mad. I know R-, and while she's human and therefore has faults, she IS NOT a thief! I told her to consult the labor board and file a grievance. Her dad is friends with a district judge in Bexar County (where she - and I - live), so her dad is going to talk to the judge about it to see what her legal recourse should be. It's my personal opinion that they were mad because 1) she started back to school so was unable to work every time they snapped their fingers at her like she used to, 2) she's the only single momma working for that particular company, and 3) she's young and expendible.
So, the point of this long rambling rant is to please pray for her! It was already tough on her going back to school to begin with, but now it's darn near impossible. And what with them demanding she pay $200 right there and then, she now doesn't have any rent money for September. So please, pray for R-!
Love you all. Sorry for the five day absence.
Stinkbumps the Wonder Boy: The rants, ravings and ramblings of a lunatic, overachieving single mom.
6 comments:
What a bunch of - oh, I'll keep it clean, but insert about three severe expletives in a row, and you'll know exactly what I mean. I hate the way people like your friend are treated, especially in this country. People should know better than to abuse their power and treat their workers poorly. That's why I'm a union gal. Anyway, I really hope things work out for your friend. Tell her to stick it to the Man and not to give up. Stupid blankety-blank-blank-blankers!
She should most definitely have legal recourse. I worked retail for some...crappy people who did...crappy things, and this takes the cake!
I'm guessing the police officer was not there in official capacity, but was a rent-a-cop, or an off-duty friend in uniform. No way is that legal. NO WAY! Not only should R- file a grievance with the Labor board, she should contact the local TV stations with her story, her Congresspeople (who would love to have such a story during this election year to show their compassionately conservative natures) and an attorney who's willing to take a cut of the big-ass settlement she'll win.
And, no, I'm not exaggerating. Maybe I'll have time to poke around, but what happened at the store seems like a snow job and cruel threats, and NOT anything with any kind of criminal standing. They're trying to pull one over on her and covers their own butts from a discrimination charge from her termination.
I wanted to clarify--what I'm doubting is the forced payment of funds that are not proven to be missing. I think Texas is an at-will state and she can be fired for any reason, but I don't think they can force her to pay funds that are not missing without proof that she took those unmissing funds.
THAT's the reason I think the cop is off-duty, and THAT's the reason she should go to the media. Not many people will want to shop at a store that treats their employees in such a manner.
I'll tell her. One of the local TV stations here has a "trouble shooters" division that investigates miscarriages of justice, bad school policy, etc. It makes me boiling mad that they did this to her. She was working in a low-paying job anyway, so her situation wasn't the best in the first place. Now it's darn near perilous! I just pray that God has a better job or more financial aid money in mind for her to keep her and her daughter on their feet!
Sounds to me like a "big box" store, and a million good people want to stick it to them.
Actually, it was a company that owns a chain of Shell stations in San Antonio. Not all of them, mind you, just a few select stores. I found out which ones that company owns, and refuse to go there. They aren't getting any of MY money!
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