So, the mother of one of the kids I train stopped in to pick up her son. She was looking particularly distressed, and I made the mistake of asking if she was having a bad day. That's when she unloaded on me. Apparently her son, who is a good kid, looking to the military as a career choice, works as a waiter at a local pizza joint. The owner called her and her son in for a "talk". Apparently her son has not been charging customers for their drinks. The owner says he is considering having her son arrested and charged, which would more than likely derail his military aspirations. The owner demanded that the lost revenue be paid back, around 5k. Her son turned 18 just yesterday, and has not worked a shift since becoming of legal age. So, I understand the owner's frustration and outrage, but can he demand that he be reimbursed? From what I could understand there is a record of the tables he waited, but any estimate as to the amount lost would be a guess. Also, since all of the offenses occurred when he was a minor, would this impact his military eligibility? I'm not looking for any definitive legal answer, just something to offer them. She is a single mother, and as I said he is a good kid. Just something to give them a direction to look to, or just bite the bullet and find the cash to pay the owner. Thanks.

The owner proving that would be difficult unless he has video. Couple that with being a minor, gonna be tough haul. Trial alone would take forever. Kid should man up and go work for free for a while. Old school, make him wash dishes to work it off. It will teach him to be a man.

No idea on the legal implications, but I would think it would matter if he was being accused of pocketing the money, rather than simply not charging. To me the latter is merely incompetence or poor training, which is not a crime. If he's being accused of stealing, that's a different matter.

quote:

Originally posted by bigarms:
Also, since all of the offenses occurred when he was a minor, would this impact his military eligibility?

Potentially, yes.

In most states, juvenile records are supposed to be "sealed", except under certain serious circumstances. And that may be true, in a perfect world. But I can tell you that in the real world, juvenile criminal records still sometimes show up on background checks, even if they're sealed. Especially with government agencies, like the military or law enforcement agencies. I've dealt with this before, with kids who had juvenile records but were wanting to join the military.

Unlike most civilian employers, the military isn't just looking for adult felony convictions. They want to know their whole record, juvenile stuff included.

Now, his recruiter could still try to get him a waiver for his juvenile record, and it would likely be easier than with an adult criminal record. But it's still possible that an arrest as a juvenile may derail his military plans. Especially considering that his offense could be a felony. And at the very least, even if he gets a waiver to join, it may affect his job choices in the military, as it could become an issue when it comes to obtaining a clearance.

1) Giving away product intentionally is absolutely theft by unlawful conversion, just like any other, but good luck proving $5K in damages.

2) I represented a 17 year old on a reckless driving charge. Trial was scheduled two months before he was supposed to head off to Parris Island. Kid was squeaky clean other than this ticket. Obviously would have gotten probation before judgement from the judge, but he hired me because his recruiter told him in no uncertain terms that a PBJ, while great for you and me, would have royally screwed him up with the Corps. (I managed to convince the state's attorney to nol pross the charges and he was on his way.)

-Rob

5K in drinks at a pizza place? Like someone said, good luck with that.

No case - owner is pushing an elephant uphill.

Ridiculous

I have lots of relatives in the biz, and it's pretty common for the help not to charge friends and lovers. The hard part is to prove it, and by the time you are done in court, it may have cost you more than you can recover. $5k sounds like a hell of a lot of drinks over a long period of time. If each drink was $5 (less for beer, more for premium booze) it's still 1000 drinks that nEver got rung up, so he was not alone in this. Sounds like the owner is either new at this or is bluffing. How can he prove the amount?

How can he prove it was this kid or several other employees on several shifts doing the same thing. No register, no proof. If he had to order/request the drinks from a bartender, how did he get the drinks without ringing them up or paying them? Is the bartender pocketing the money and not ringing it up??Even a video is tough to use unless the camera is focused on the register display. And it only shows what is punched in unless the additional food and drink are entered every time some thing is added.

Usually people are reamed out and asked leave or just quit and go elsewhere. Good luck.

quote:

I would think it would matter if he was being accused of pocketing the money, rather than simply not charging. To me the latter is merely incompetence or poor training, which is not a crime. If he's being accused of stealing, that's a different matter.

As somebody who has been in the business of selling drinks, this is where I am.

On top of that, there's no way that somebody could give away (or steal) that much product without it throwing off the numbers enough that it would have been caught much earlier. Sounds like incompetent management.

As others have said, $5k worth of soda pop stretches credibility.

Is it possible there is something else going on with the owner of the place? Is he trying to mess up an otherwise good kid for his own selfish reasons? Maybe an issue with the military?

I'd start asking questions -- quietly!

Can a 17 yo serve alcohol there?

Most places minimum age is 18.

5K is a lot of lemonade and ice tea.

Regardless of how much revenue was actually involved or whether it would be possible to take legal action against the offender—and assuming that the allegation was true to any degree—the important thing about all this is that he’d better learn a little more about right and wrong before he takes the enlistment oath. Not only are there are far more possibilities and temptations in the military for overlooking things for friends or others than when working in a pizza place, the penalties are far more serious than having to pay back an inflated financial claim. Being in the military is a grown-up activity with grown-up rules and grown-up consequences.

quote:

Apparently her son, who is a good kid

Good kids don't steal from their employer. Also $5,000 worth of booze is a crapton. That could easily be an entire weeks worth of drinks for every patron that walks through the door. Restaurants run really thin margins how could this go unnoticed?

Has the kid admitted to anyone that he 1) actually did what the owner is saying he did and 2) did it intentionally to provide free drinks to customers when he knew he should have been charging them?

I would say, and this is separate from any legal/military consequences, if he knowingly gave away $5,000 worth of his boss's product then he needs to find some way to make that right. But again I'm looking at the ethical side rather than the legal side. And you may never get a straight answer to the two questions I posed above.

First things first. Did he say he was charging for drinks? If not, why was he not charging for drinks?
Soda runs about 2 bucks here so we are looking at around 2500 folks not paying for drinks, WHY?
Did he think he would get better tips??

Where's Monte Hall when you need him?

Or

I can hear Sidney Bernstein (Gilbert Godfrey) in Beverly Hills Cop 2.

Let's make a Deal.....Say $500 makes this disappear.

Dealing with recruiters was part of my job back in my department. They come in with a waiver from the recruit and they get access to the juvenile records. But unless it was something serious, they usually weren't that concerned.

quote:

Originally posted by bigwagon:
No idea on the legal implications, but I would think it would matter if he was being accused of pocketing the money, rather than simply not charging. To me the latter is merely incompetence or poor training, which is not a crime. If he's being accused of stealing, that's a different matter.

It is stealing. One of the things that an unscrupulous server will do is not charge for drinks because the patron will sometimes tip more. They also do it with appetizers and desserts if they can get away with it.

That's a felony in NC.

16 is an adult for criminal law in NC.

Depending on the evidence, or his admission, that would probably get charged, then likely pled down or even dismissed.