Suspened for now...HELP!!!

[magic1010321]

California.

hi all!

today i was brought into a room and was accused of stealing. My story, i had bought a game for my little brother as a gift but it was on the wrong system. i bought it on xbox it was suppose to be on xbox360. so i wanted to exchange for the same game on xbox360. the only difference is there's a price difference of $10 for the xbox360. so i asked the electronic guy if i can exchange it for the xbox360 and pay the difference, he wasn't sure. later in the day i saw the head AP guy (asset protection) and ask if i can do he he chuckle and said "i don't know, you've worked here for a while what do you think?" so basically he wasn't sure either and i said "yeeeeesss?" because in my opinion you should be able to. so after work i went to costumer service and ask if i could do this even if the price is different, the two girls at costumer service said yes, i'll just pay the difference. so i went to get the correct game and handed it to her showing the bar code for her to scan. she took my credit card to do a receipt look up and did the return and exchange and i thought she did everything right but she didn't after being interrogated ap and seeing the transaction. what i'm being suspended for is not paying for the $10 difference in price, i don't know what she did but from the transaction log she apparently changed the price of the xbox360 game from 29.99 to 19.99 i did not know she did this. i didn't give her my credit to charge again because if you paid with a credit card at our retail store we can do a receipt look up and recharge the credit with out swiping it so that's why i didn't give her the credit card nor did she ask for it. i did pay attention thought the transaction and wasn't aware of her mistake, when she handed me the final receipt i placed it in a bag and walked out and placed it in my trunk. today ap interrogated me and had me write a statement...did not allow me to give my side of the store...now my faith is in the hand of HR. can they fire me for this, a mistake in the Costumer service prep? and if they do what action can i do, obviously i did not steal because if i did the cops would be in the room too and plus they have me on camera the whole time. please help i don't think i can sleep...waiting for HR to call me in .

thank you in advance!

 

[cbg]

I wish I could help you sleep by telling you that you cannot be fired for this, but in fact you can.

If they do, you can file for unemployment and look for a new job.

 

[magic1010321]

wow so i could get fired for someone else mistake? even when i'm not even working? so in the future when I'm working in a retail setting and on my days off or when i'm not working and i decide to buy something i'll always have to watch the cashier's mistake? as in my example or if the cashier gave me the wrong change or if the cashier didn't scan an item and i did not realize it they still can fire me? thank you for the advice though it just really seem unfair and employee are really getting the bad end of the stick.

i have one more question, since the CS rep made the mistake by changing the price of the item (no influence by me i just stood there and waited for the transaction to finish) and i got fired and she didn't get fired can i take any legal action? the HR, AP, and CS rep are of Hispanic background and I'm Asian. basically i'm a victim of someone's mistake...

 

[cbg]

I didn't say it was fair. I said it was legal.

What evidence do you have that they are holding you responsible BECAUSE you are Asian? Just being a different race is not sufficient for you to have legal recourse.

 

[magic1010321]

i mean this scenario hasn't happen but i am just curious...but wouldn't me being fired and she getting off safe basically suggest something? when she was the one did the whole mistake? by them firing me for this they're saying I'm stole something and that is false! it'll be in my report, i probably wont get any UC because i "stole" an item and why would new place hire me when i "stole" in the past. it'll basically destroyed my reputations would this be defamation? basically i don't want that AP guy to get away with this...because he doesn't like me, i mean he'll do this to whom ever he dislike cause he has power. i can't prove that he doesn't like me but i know just by the way he speak to me in a demeaning me way.

 

[cbg]

You're getting WAY ahead of yourself.

First of all, the law does NOT say that all employees have to be treated exactly the same. It says only that differences in treatment cannot be BECAUSE OF race, religion, national origin etc.

IF you get fired and IF she doesn't, that doesn't automatically mean that it's because of race. It could mean that they believe her and not you. It could be because she's been with the company longer, or shorter. It could be because you instigated the transaction even if she made the mistake. It could even be because they like her better than you. All of the above would be legal. It would be only illegal if there were valid and supportable reason to believe that you were fired and she wasn't BECAUSE OF the difference in your race.

Secondly, firing you is NOT saying you stole something. It's saying that they are dissatisfied with the way the transaction was handled. It is LEGAL to fire on suspicion. It is even LEGAL to fire you because you didn't catch the mistake. It is NOT saying that you stole. And no, firing you is NOT defamation.

Third, UC is geared in favor of the employee, not the employer. It's not automatically denied because the employer says so. At this point, you don't even know if the employer will contest. They don't have to prove misconduct to legally fire you but they do have to prove misconduct to prevail in an unemployment dispute. You don't have to prove you didn't steal anything. They have to prove you did. Again, they can legally fire you without proof, but they need proof before unemployment will be denied.

So calm down already.

 

[magic1010321]

thank you cbg for your knowledge..i'm understanding more and more now. employment law do suck...if you're not in a union or contract. i have to be more careful about the future as my boss could just snap one day because of outside problem like relationship problem and take it out on their employese and give any reason. have people in past tried to change the law? any advice on how to protect myself in the future...kinda scary...if i do get fire...i know its going to affect me cause in the back of my mind i know i could get fire for any given reason even if its false. i will tell you guys how this turns out tomorrow!