Falsely accused of Theft and terminated. Please help.

[commiecorvus]

I don’t have to prove anything to you or expect that an internet forum will solve ‘my problems.’ All I’m looking for is insight from someone at Target with more experience in retail who can explain how these investigations work—why they needed to create another incident and possibly get me to confess to something when they didn’t have real proof. Your answers are useless. You didn’t believe me from my first post, so don’t waste your precious time on my case. No need to interact here. Thank you.

There is a long history in the US of tacking on extra charges to make sure they get the one want to stick.
They want you to plead guilty to a misdemeanor tack five felonies on it.
If they had only gone with the one small mistake you made, you might have fought that that tooth and nail.
So they tacked something else on there for you to focus on and got you to admit to the first thing easily.
It doesn't matter what you do now.
They did it to trick you into leaving without a fight.
Wish I had better advice here except to say if you are ever dealing with cops say only one word -lawyer- .

 

[allnew2]

I have another job, I am not trying to collect unemployment. I want the second theft to be removed from my file. I wish I had worked in a more organized target, bc EVERYONE had some item for themselves at some point in their cart… everyday I would find open candy, cookie boxes, open chips bags in the OPU cart. I don’t know if they were properly purchased or not, but that was a pattern for sure. I was never told I could not grab something to pay later. I used my good sense and ethical judgment to leave whatever I had on my to purchase outside TSA in a shelf, go inside, return my devices, clock out, get out of TSA grab the item and go pay. On my last shift I found a heater in the parking lot, forgotten in a cart. It was 10:30 pm, I went back to the store, ringed the bell, nobody came. On the next day I drove to Target just to give it back in case the guest comes back. Do you get it why I am no insistent in clear my name somehow? I can eventually laugh at mine distracted personality and tell my kids I was fired bc I forgot to pay for something. I can take a lesson from it. But I CAN NOT accept the theft of the shirt. I didn’t signed anything admiring that.

I don’t get it why you insist on it .Instead I see that you are a follower. You say that others were doing it and used your best judgement. Your best judgement should have been to read what you agreed on when you sign on to work there. Everything you did goes against the purchase policy if you only have read it instead of saying because others were doing it gave you the sense that it was okay.
I’m not trying to say you are a bad person and you did what they say intentionally but you have to understand that perception is everything when people don’t know you.
Target won’t say why they let you go outright but if asked if they would hire you back they way say no and that would be enough for any company.
I would suggest you move on and put this behind you. You already have a new job so is not like target is going around and blackballing you.
I wish you all the best.

 

[allnew2]

You seems someone who knows what you are talking about. I have a foreign legal background, it quite easy to me read and understand legislation, but of course I don’t have training in American Labor
law, so maybe you may be able ton clarify for me: From what I understood, I have the right to a copy of my files and once I make a formal request they have 5 days to answer. Any ideia if they will comply with that? I made the request on Saturday.

General Law - Part I, Title XXI, Chapter 149, Section 52C

malegislature.gov

Your next steps.

 

[Walkonmyshoes]

I don’t get it why you insist on it .Instead I see that you are a follower. You say that others were doing it and used your best judgement. Your best judgement should have been to read what you agreed on when you sign on to work there. Everything you did goes against the purchase policy if you only have read it instead of saying because others were doing it gave you the sense that it was okay.
I’m not trying to say you are a bad person and you did what they say intentionally but you have to understand that perception is everything when people don’t know you.
Target won’t say why they let you go outright but if asked if they would hire you back they way say no and that would be enough for any company.
I would suggest you move on and put this behind you. You already have a new job so is not like target is going around and blackballing you.
I wish you all the best.

You are right. I didn’t read line by line of their policies. I made a mistake as a costumer in the check-line, out of the clock, without name tag or red shirt, but I did get those two damn itens while on clock. It felt “normal” and familiar to act the way was more convenient to me bc I saw others doing. In the end doesn’t matter what the culture of the place is, eventually one or another will be caught and fired for not following the policy. It is hard to move on bc I am hanging on the injustice, the falsely accusation of the second incident. I am 40 years old. I have 4 young children. It is heavy to be called a thief with this baggage. Thank you for you advice.

 

[allnew2]

You are right. I didn’t read line by line of their policies. I made a mistake as a costumer in the check-line, out of the clock, without name tag or red shirt, but I did get those two damn itens while on clock. It felt “normal” and familiar to act the way was more convenient to me bc I saw others doing. In the end doesn’t matter what the culture of the place is, eventually one or another will be caught and fired for not following the policy. It is hard to move on bc I am hanging on the injustice, the falsely accusation of the second incident. I am 40 years old. I have 4 young children. It is heavy to be called a thief with this baggage. Thank you for you advice.

I can understand that. If you want to fight it you have all the right to do so, however just know that they don’t bow down easily.
Any lawyer would not touch your case due to already you admitting and there’s the cctv. CCTV perception would be nothing less that what you already admitted.
Also besides the above points the Etl who said that there’s no rfid tag on a fan central t-shirt was untrue. Fan central are rfid tagged.

I truly wish you all the best in putting this behind you however you decide .

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Just my 2 cents here as a store director. You are termed long before the actual interview in targets mind. The process is that AP has to send any and all findings to the APBP and HRBP (it’s called a cover letter) and they both need to review and approve of said investigation. Once it’s approved they are able to interview you. You are getting termed regardless to admitting to it or not as target has already determined before the interview you should be terminated. That interview is strictly for legal purposes and to further their investigation and support their findings. They are gathering facts and supporting evidence if you choose to sue, if you had someone help and such. You could have said nothing and you still would have been termed.

You spiraling acting as though you got fired because you admitted it or because you said you accidentally stole something means nothing to target. You were fired before you even walked into that room.

Take the loss, move on and grow from it.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

I did not still. That is the whole point of the post. Hard to move on when they fabricate a theft for me. If they had fired me for the 2 items I ACCIDENTALLY forgot to pay, and it is True, I wouldn’t be so upset.

Accidentally forgot to pay for = theft. It may not have been intentional. But it happened.

 

[Captain Orca]

OP it's simple. Stop talking so damned much. Say nothing more. Get your coffee mug from your desk, walk out and go job hunting. No sanctimonious word salad, just go.

 

[sunnydays]

OP it's simple. Stop talking so damned much. Say nothing more. Get your coffee mug from your desk, walk out and go job hunting. No sanctimonious word salad, just go.

they already have another job. aren’t you the one who is always lecturing other users about their literacy?

 

[Captain Orca]

Literacy has nothing to do with what I said. Bullet points for emphasis trump wordy nonsense. They? (plural)? One individual generated the post. The guy got nailed, hope he learned a lesson.

 

[dannyy315]

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you didn’t intend to steal, and that it was a mistake. But as for the thing you’re saying was a false accusation, I don’t know how much it’s worth fighting that. I mean, if you’re worried about that being brought when you put Target down as a reference on a job application, they’re going to have a story about you leaving without paying for merchandise either way. I would just cut my losses and move on, focus on your other job and I guess try to be more careful.

 

[sunnydays]

They? (plural)? One individual generated the post.

they (singular), you insufferable dinosaur. you know, like they used in the bible?

 

[dannyy315]

Literacy has nothing to do with what I said. Bullet points for emphasis trump wordy nonsense. They? (plural)? One individual generated the post. The guy got nailed, hope he learned a lesson.

That’s how you refer to someone if you don’t know what their gender is. How should you refer to the OP? “It”? Or would you just take a guess?

 

[Tacopie]

Agreed. I would be quiet about if I was terminated only for that. But adding another theft on my account and not showing any proof of it was equally wrong. I want to review that accusation alone. The itens I unintentionally toke I already admired to and signed papers on it. I don’t want to have a second theft fabricated so they can “proof a pattern.

You seems someone who knows what you are talking about. I have a foreign legal background, it quite easy to me read and understand legislation, but of course I don’t have training in American Labor
law, so maybe you may be able ton clarify for me: From what I understood, I have the right to a copy of my files and once I make a formal request they have 5 days to answer. Any ideia if they will comply with that? I made the request on Saturday.

You are (were) an “At-will” employee at Target. They can fire you for any reason or no reason at all. Also you have no rights to look at your files or to have your files after termination.

 

[Captain Orca]

Original poster, who the hell cares what gender they are? Don't play the deflection game. Stay on the theft topic. He, she, they, them? Pick a trendy pronoun, it's tbe liberal thing to do.

 

[commiecorvus]

Original poster, who the hell cares what gender they are? Don't play the deflection game. Stay on the theft topic. He, she, they, them? Pick a trendy pronoun, it's tbe liberal thing to do.

STOP! If anyone is running this off track it's you.
Just jump off and stay out of this thread.
Stop picking fights.

 

[dannyy315]

Original poster, who the hell cares what gender they are? Don't play the deflection game. Stay on the theft topic. He, she, they, them? Pick a trendy pronoun, it's tbe liberal thing to do.

You derailed the topic originally…

 

[FlowTeamChick]

A few thoughts -
1. Doesn't matter what the norm is at a store (other TMs picking up things to purchase later) - it it's wrong, it's wrong and I'm not going to do it. No I don't always FIFO every single box of Advil, but I do follow the rules of my employment. That others don't (things more like inappropriate dress, not stealing) is not my problem. If it was stealing, I'd report it and let the chips fall.
2. You worked there for only 10 months - you didn't have a lot of reputation built up, which means it wouldn't take much to tear it down. Once advised a fairly new TM who said she was taking a travel size deodorant into the restroom by the pharmacy because she'd forgotten to use deodorant while getting dressed that morning. I saw her take it from the Travel bins and walk toward the restroom. Nope, don't do that and risk getting on AP's radar. (She didn't last long - spent a lot of time texting while on the clock, so there were other issues as well.)
3. Yes, I have pushed my cart to my car and while loading bags into the car, found something in my cart I hadn't paid for. I marched right back into the store, waited in line again, and paid for it. There are cameras outside the side as well as inside. (Learned about that when I was part of a jury for an armed robbery trial. The robbers took the credit cards they stole to a Target store and we saw footage of them loading many bags into their car. Target's camera system was a huge factor in their convictions.)
4. You already landed another job, apparently without having to list your Target job as a reference if it's in retail. Or maybe it's such an entirely different field that it doesn't matter. Whatever, it's time to move on unless you truly relish the role of David against Goliath. I get why you're obsessed about this because I probably would be too. But you're using a lot of emotional energy and brain space on something that is very, very unlikely to be changed in your favor. Let it go.

 

[Captain Orca]

Thumbs up w/ FTC. Drop it.

 

[Captain Orca]

To add, I forgot I had a 12 pack of seltzer in the lower level of a shopping cart from a grocery store. Realized it when I got to the car. Yes, I went back and paid for it. Cart was full, I fucked up. 4 bucks cleared the conscience.

 

[redeye58]

He, she, they, them?

Since folks on here tend to remain anonymous, that may also mean hiding their gender.
Nothing trendy or liberal about avoiding discovery.

 

[Captain Orca]

Doesn't make any damned difference what gender they are so backing up to the prior accusation, keep your bullshit to yourself.

 

[redeye58]

keep your bullshit to yourself.

If you're gonna spout bullshit prepare to get it in return.

 

[Captain Orca]

R58 You yet again missed the gist. The BS reference was not directed to you. Had it been, it would have been obvious.

 

[redeye58]

....says the guy (or girl) who quotes Warriner's.....