are there laws for minors?

[graco]

My 16 yr. old son, was hired as a cashier in a local chain store, he was only trained 3 hours, then told to work alone on register. His second day of work, he was informed, his drawer was $110 short. countless times during his shift, another employee, would make a drop, (take excess money from drawer). He also was not the one to balance drawer at the end of his shift, he took it to the office, where 3 women, do the balancing. Now he has been accused, and questioned, numerous times, about his knowledge of the missing money? He knows nothing, and is very upset by this, This is his first job experience, being 16 yrs. old. and it has made him feel horrible, guilty, while innocent. No one knows him at this store, he'd only been there 2 days. He didnt have the chance to establish himself, or his character, in 2 days, So his manager, would say, "Oh , its ok, we know YOU wouldn't have done this." He was the new guy! I feel he was set up, big time. There were many people with there hands in the till, and access to this money. The manager hasnt let it drop, and I received a phone call from, someone, without a "last name", who claimed to be from the loss prevention department, who questioned me, about my son, and the missing money??? What can I do about this? My son, has been depressed, can't study, he feels like he's been wrongly accused, and can't prove hes innocent. Hes been under severe emotional strain, since this. I must inform you, his employer, also permitted him to sell cigarettes, at 16 yrs. of age, when it is illegal for anyone under 18 in Ohio, to buy cigarettes, is this legal, I really need to know about the cigarette issue? Thanks.
Nancy

 

[Attorney_Replogle]

Dear Ma'am: I am only licensed as an attorney in the state of California so I can only give general advice of this state. So I would advise you to check the freeadvice.com web site for an Ohio attorney near you, then contact him. To begin with it certainly is within an employer's right to conduct an investigation about any possible theft by its employees of company property. There is no such due process involved here on behalf of the employee unless it is expressly provided for by Ohio law or that employer's own policies and procedures manual. However, surely after a sufficient investigation of the facts has been done, if there is no evidence to support their claim that your son took the money, then they likely do not have a right to contact you and ask where the money is that he took. Nor do they have the right to tell other people in writing or by speaking that he took the money, if they do not have such evidence. For these actions may be actionable as "slander per se". Based on what you have said about your son's current physical and emotional state, it is best for you to consult an attorney immediately and put this matter to rest.

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Mark B. Replogle