Sweet Venus Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I have a friend who owns a nail salon. They keep client cards on file there, with customer names phone numbers etc. She recently had an employee give her notice a few weeks ago and her last day was Sunday. My friend noticed that MANY of the client cards were missing, and happened to be the former employees "clients" who requested her on occasion. Let me say this salon is not a "comission based" salon. She pays her employees an hourly rate plus commission based on a percentage rate on services. Not a shabby deal. So my friend confronted the girl on her last day and asked her point blank if she had taken the cards. She said she had..but promised she would return them the next day. She never showed up with the cards, and my friend has texted her several times asking her to bring them. No reply. So my friend is livid about this because this girl worked for her for almost 3 years which means she had a lot of clients. So my friend is considering reporting these cards stolen to the police. ..because it is physical property of the salon. What do you guys think? Do you think it would be worth it for her to pursue this? Link to comment
SapphireNoir10 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 its phsysical stolen property which is a crime. Your friend could also sue for her stealing business I believe. Link to comment
Sweet Venus Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Thx Blue. I thought so too, but my friend doesn;t want to call the police and end up looking stupid. I told her if she texted her again with the threat that she will indeed report the cards stolen that she may take her seriously. What do you think? Link to comment
SapphireNoir10 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I agree. Give the girl a warning. 'If you dont return the cards I'll report them as stolen property and consider suing for stolen business' Link to comment
Catdancer Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Umm...if she told your friend that she was taking them and would return them tomorrow and your friend said "ok", then that is not stealing. Now, she may be able to make a claims in small claims court for the amount of money that the loss of these cards could cost her. She may be able to sue to get her property back, but stealing, no. Link to comment
SapphireNoir10 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I didnt know this. Surely if its property, and its not returned when agreed it could be considered stealing...but its a good idea to take it to the small claims court as well if you dont wnat the hassle. Link to comment
Catdancer Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I didnt know this. Surely if its property, and its not returned when agreed it could be considered stealing...but its a good idea to take it to the small claims court as well if you dont wnat the hassle. It' an "improper usage". lol Still not stealing because the owner had knowledge that the girl had the cards. Link to comment
Sweet Venus Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 How is it not stealing when she admitted to taking them..and they were not in the salon? She still took them without her knowing..isn't THAT stealing? Plus she already confessed to it, which makes her guilty. No?? Link to comment
Catdancer Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 How is it not stealing when she admitted to taking them..and they were not in the salon? She still took them without her knowing..isn't THAT stealing? Plus she already confessed to it, which makes her guilty. No?? Ahhh...OK...I thought that you said that the owner CAUGHT her taking them (as in cards in hand) and she agreed to bring them back the next day and the owner agreed to this (knowing that she had the cards in hand). Yes it does sound like she stole them and got caught and then said she'd bring them back. Did someone witness this whole conversation? It's one person's word against another if not. Also, she can call the police station and ask if what the girl did constitutes stealing because those cards would cost her ALOT of money if she lost those customers from her database. Link to comment
Alezia Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 She agreed to give her the cards in the first place so i don't think she could sue for "loss of business" after she said "ok, bring them back tomorrow". I don't think she would want to start sueing for paper....? I've heard of employees take stock from the backroom of a chain store ex: Walmart, and bring the inventory home.... (obviously stealing intents). The employee claimed they were "storing" the inventory because the backroom was full. The store had to put a sign saying to not bring out inventory of the store in order for it to be legally claimed as stolen in future cases. Link to comment
Sweet Venus Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Mousty no one GAVE her these cards. They were kept in a file cabinet AT the salon. The employee went INTO this cabinet and took the cards HOME. NO one KNEW she had them. She isn;t going to sue for "paper" she is going to sue for LOSS of business. Link to comment
Alezia Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Well no one from the store told the employee he was aloud to take out the inventory either.... he just took the stock back home and said his intentions were to bring it back. Because it was not explicitly written that he was not allowed to, the store could not sue. When she agreed that she could bring back the cards, that's bascially telling her that it's ok for her to have them for the 24 hours - therefore not stolen. Link to comment
Casey13 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Is there a rule in the salon that prohibits existing employees from removing client cards? If not, then it's not considered theft. She can argue that she borrowed them in which case she will have to just simply return them. It doesn't help that when the owner of the salon confronted her and found out she took them she just replied "Oh okay just bring them back tomorrow" If she rendered that theft she should have said so in the first place and called the police then. By then she can easily make copies, return the cards and the result will just be a mountain of court fees. She can deny taking the cards in court in which case, if the owner had no witnesses to the conversation (disregarding hearsay) then it would be her word against the former employees which would result in dismissed charges as we are innocent until proven guilty after all. Her best bet is to find a way to contact her and persistently keep calling, emailing until she has had enough and returns the cards. Link to comment
russ978 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Tell your friend to buy a scanner next time. I'm sure she has insurance for if her building burns down, she should have had a backup list...after all, without customers, the salon fails. I'd tell her to call the police to at least see if anything can be done. Link to comment
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