Employee theft - would you prosecute?

[ATXBowhunter]

I own a small business, and one of my employees has been stealing from me. She initially denied it until I showed her the video footage, and then she admitted to it. She offered to pay me back, but has since gone silent. It amounts to about $750 of inventory (not cash). The employee is young and I know she lives paycheck to paycheck with no savings. After reviewing the details, my attorney said he could file charges and place a lien but it would cost me $2,500 in legal fees. Ultimately he advised me to simply walk away as I likely wouldn't see a dime from her. Interestingly, he also said it would be a waste of time to file a police report as they likely wouldn't do anything.

It's frustrating as I and my staff gave her multiple chances to stay with us - she consistently was late to work or sometimes not even show up. My other employees are really upset as they all feel protective of the business and she was brazen in her theft.

What would you do in my shoes?

[Walker]

At the least file with the police so there is a record. Stupid laws say you can't mention the charge on any job reference she might request of you, but if a prospective employer does a background it will show up.

[BlackHogDown]

Half of me says keep her emplyoed (if she's willing) and garnish paychecks $50/wk until paid back IF you need the help. The other half says to simply ****can her, make an example, and carry on with life.

[eradicator]

I own a small business, and one of my employees has been stealing from me. She initially denied it until I showed her the video footage, and then she admitted to it. She offered to pay me back, but has since gone silent. It amounts to about $750 of inventory (not cash). The employee is young and I know she lives paycheck to paycheck with no savings. After reviewing the details, my attorney said he could file charges and place a lien but it would cost me $2,500 in legal fees. Ultimately he advised me to simply walk away as I likely wouldn't see a dime from her. Interestingly, he also said it would be a waste of time to file a police report as they likely wouldn't do anything.

It's frustrating as I and my staff gave her multiple chances to stay with us - she consistently was late to work or sometimes not even show up. My other employees are really upset as they all feel protective of the business and she was brazen in her theft.

What would you do in my shoes?

'merica! Hate that for you, sad times we live in

[Playa]

Sounds like your attorney is robbing you more than the employee…..

than again, it takes a thief to know one

[Aggiehunter08]

Fire her and take the $750 loss versus $750 + $2500 and paperwork.

[Dusty Britches]

First - fire her. Now. Then file a police report with little expectation of recovery. Be glad she only took $750. There have some some great up and coming business that went out of business because of employee theft.

If she was so desperate and had been given opportunities to improve then she should have seized those and life would be much better. But instead, she took you and your other employees grace for granted and insulted it.

[AntlerCollector]

Give her a raise! She barely living check to check and having to steal from you. Dang cheapskate.

[Greenheadless]

File a police report, it’s free and will document the theft.

while you are at it, file one on your attorney for attempted theft as well.

[TKRanch]

I think you file a police report for sure, if for no other reason than to show the other employees there is a risk if they choose to do the same thing. it is amazing how one bad apple can affect the others and change their perspective on things...... sad but true. I hate thieves but even worse ones that I am paying a fair wage to!! Good luck, bad spot to be in.

[Drycreek3189]

When I was half owner of a construction company, we bought some acreage adjoining our yard. We then built a convenience store and it was supposed to be ran by my partner’s son, who BTW, had a master’s in accounting. He was a lazy guy, so he hired a book keeper. A book keeper for a convenience store ! She embezzled $60K from us over a period of a year. My partner and I wondered why we weren’t making as much money as we thought we should, and about that time the son discovered the theft. She had already spent the money and the son and my partner were content to fire her and move on, I was not. So…. I told all of that for context. When we went to the DA, we learned that WE had to hire a PI and a hand writing expert, prepare the case and lay it in his lap in order for him to prosecute. Silly me, I thought that was their job. I thought that’s what they were elected for. Long story short, she had to pay it back in monthly payments and it took two years. Cash layed in your hand is money, little monthly payments, although they be money, ain’t money, if you get my drift.

In your case, I would see if I could get the money back, then fire her. No room for a thief in my world.

[BayouCat]

Take the advice already mentioned and learn a hard lesson that this fine gem of today's society should have been fired when she failed to show up on time or at all. She should've been gone yesterday.

I get giving young people chances, but now you're out $750+ in theft and possibly legal fees.

[tvc184]

I own a small business, and one of my employees has been stealing from me. She initially denied it until I showed her the video footage, and then she admitted to it. She offered to pay me back, but has since gone silent. It amounts to about $750 of inventory (not cash). The employee is young and I know she lives paycheck to paycheck with no savings. After reviewing the details, my attorney said he could file charges and place a lien but it would cost me $2,500 in legal fees. Ultimately he advised me to simply walk away as I likely wouldn't see a dime from her. Interestingly, he also said it would be a waste of time to file a police report as they likely wouldn't do anything.

It's frustrating as I and my staff gave her multiple chances to stay with us - she consistently was late to work or sometimes not even show up. My other employees are really upset as they all feel protective of the business and she was brazen in her theft.

What would you do in my shoes?

Not trying to step on any attorney toes…

Why would you need a lawyer to file charges with the police? In the few years I spent in investigations, I filed many criminal complaints against people and was never approached by a lawyer for the victim, who was being paid money to file charges. The victim came in and gave a statement and I took care of the rest.

I would also like to note that the lawyer said that for $2500, he/she would be willing to file charges and file a lien. He apparently would be glad to take your money for something that he believes will not be prosecuted anyway or money recovered.

Things that make you go hmmmmm….

Also, if the DA takes charges (and I have seen many such cases) it costs you nothing and a plea may likely include restitution. If the police did not do a good investigation or the DA refuse charges, it still would not cost you anything but your time. I am going to go out on a limb and say that if the DA takes charges, they will do everything possible to reduce this to a probation plea deal so she can keep herself out of jail.

if you wished to file charges, it should probably be for punishment and not to gain back money. If you happen to get any money back, that would be a bonus.

You could probably file a small claims court action against her for the property stolen and not worry about the actual theft case being filed with the police being on her record. Neither side needs a lawyer and if you’ve ever watched The People Court or Judge Judy, etc., that is small claims court. It is correct that you might not ever see any money from the person living paycheck to paycheck but she would always have that balance owed hanging over her if you filed a lien. Basically you could probably make her life miserable and possibly teach her a lesson.

Whether you wanted to do any of that is certainly a personal decision. There is probably no right or wrong answer.

Many people do go forward with legal action and rightfully so whereas others have empathy and let it go. How many hundreds of times have we seen in this forum and many others where people say, I hate a thief. Most people would not hesitate in filing every charge possible against a person stealing from them. How many times have we seen people say, if the thief gets caught and shot by a homeowner… oh, well,

That stance gets muddled when you personally know the thief, however,

[dgilbert]

A thief is always a thief, put her *** in jail.

[RiverRat1]

Have her admit in an e-mail she was stealing from the company and then resign/quit. Be sly about it. Then you can not pay her unemployment. You know once fired she'll apply, and they will take her side.