making me pay

[jester]

my girlfriend works at a currency exchange and makes 8.50 an hour we live in chicago thats not much $
anyhow the manager siad my girlfriend cashed a bad check from someone for $1000 and she has to pay it back or they will put criminal charges on my girlfriend
can someone take legal action against an employee for an honest mistake?

thanks for your time

[milleset]

If you discuss this with any attorney, they will all come to the same conclusion. The only way they can force your girlfriend to either repay the funds or charge her criminally is if they can PROVE that she willfully made the negligient error. The only course of action that they can legally take is to terminate her or place her on probation. If she is terminated and she files for unemployment they must prove that she willfully made the error. The only drawback to this situation is that if she is terminated is getting another job handling money in the same capacity. She is labeled as a risk factor. But then again, the burden of proof is placed upon the employer, not the employee. If she goes for another job there are only a few questions that the prospective employer can ask and the former employer can answer. 1) Length of employment. 2) Is former employee rehireable. That's it...anything outside of that is illegal. They can't even state last pay amount at time of separation. Best advice is for your girlfriend to resign with notice and have another job lined up. Everything disappears under the rug. If legal action is brought against her, remember, they have to prove without a doubt that she was involved in some shape fashion or form to benefit from the error. If they can't then they have absolutely NO case against her. Best of luck friend.

[jester]

Thanks for the reply that is what i thought but she is all worried she quit already now we have to try and get her last check they owe her that should be fun lol

[marineone]

that is easy. Payroll is payroll. If they don't pay her, file a wage dispute with the federal dept of labor. They don't look kindly on employees not getting paid for work performed.