shorthairedpunk
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I am no lawyer, the majority of my legal experience has been as a defendant, but I have a situation where my abusive employer has commited what I think may be criminal against an ex coworker.
Their defense on this will be that it is all sour grapes, which may be so, but nonetheless I think this is criminal in nature.
Here is the rundown:
I will call my ex co worker mike. We work for an ambulance service.
Mike was fired for poor performance, which is understandable. But during the course of employment we were required to purchase uniform shirts on our own. I took the logo to a local print shop and had them make up multiple shirts which I resold at cost to my coworkers.
After his termination Mike still has his shirts, which he purchased with his own money, to which i will attest. The logo on the shirts is non trademarked or copyrighted. The EMS insignia "Star of Life" is not official in that it does not have embroidered edges.
My employers contention is that Mike should return his shirts, to which he refuses. I dont blame him, they are his real property, they have no right to them. Even the implication od medical personell impersonation is voided in that there are FDNY shirts, etc commecially available.
When Mike went to retrieve his final paycheck, the manager refused to give it to him until he returned the shirts. He contacted the Illinois Department of Labor, who fowarded his call to a person who informed him that they could not legally withold his paycheck. They sent him forms to fill out to retrieve his pay. In the meantime, Mike informed The service what he was told and they did give him his check immediately.
The issue at hand now is that during the course of his employment, Mike did electrical repairs to one of the ambulances, which required the use of his digital multimeter. He left it on premesis intending on picking it up his next shift. He was terminated in the mean time.
When he requested his personal proerty be returned, the manager informed him (witnessed) that he could not have it back until he returned the shirts.
n. obtaining money or Property by threat to a victim's Property or loved ones, intimidation, or false claim of a right (such as pretending to be an IRS agent).
"It is a felony in all states, except that a direct threat to harm the victim is usually treated as the crime of robbery. Blackmail is a form of extortion in which the threat is to expose embarrassing, damaging information to family, friends or the public.See also: blackmail robbery theft."
That is the best legal definition of extortion I could find.
The property that the service is attempting to obtain is the shirts, the threat to the victims property is the theft of Mikes electronic multi meter, the intimidation is the position of authority that the manager holds within the company.
Am I correct in my interpretation that the manager, and possibly the company are guilty of the crime of extortion as well as theft?
I can guarantee that if Mike had the companies multimeter, he would be arrested for theft.
Though this is petty in nature, I believe it would still be considered a crime and should be prosecuted.
I have been working on a complaint for mike to send to the Illinois Attorney Generals Office as well as our County States attorney. I am unsure what wording to use, whether to cite ILCS or if I am directing the complaint to the proper authority.
Please let me know what you think about this situation, and whether I am correct in my assumption that this is in fact a criminal act on my employers part.
Their defense on this will be that it is all sour grapes, which may be so, but nonetheless I think this is criminal in nature.
Here is the rundown:
I will call my ex co worker mike. We work for an ambulance service.
Mike was fired for poor performance, which is understandable. But during the course of employment we were required to purchase uniform shirts on our own. I took the logo to a local print shop and had them make up multiple shirts which I resold at cost to my coworkers.
After his termination Mike still has his shirts, which he purchased with his own money, to which i will attest. The logo on the shirts is non trademarked or copyrighted. The EMS insignia "Star of Life" is not official in that it does not have embroidered edges.
My employers contention is that Mike should return his shirts, to which he refuses. I dont blame him, they are his real property, they have no right to them. Even the implication od medical personell impersonation is voided in that there are FDNY shirts, etc commecially available.
When Mike went to retrieve his final paycheck, the manager refused to give it to him until he returned the shirts. He contacted the Illinois Department of Labor, who fowarded his call to a person who informed him that they could not legally withold his paycheck. They sent him forms to fill out to retrieve his pay. In the meantime, Mike informed The service what he was told and they did give him his check immediately.
The issue at hand now is that during the course of his employment, Mike did electrical repairs to one of the ambulances, which required the use of his digital multimeter. He left it on premesis intending on picking it up his next shift. He was terminated in the mean time.
When he requested his personal proerty be returned, the manager informed him (witnessed) that he could not have it back until he returned the shirts.
n. obtaining money or Property by threat to a victim's Property or loved ones, intimidation, or false claim of a right (such as pretending to be an IRS agent).
"It is a felony in all states, except that a direct threat to harm the victim is usually treated as the crime of robbery. Blackmail is a form of extortion in which the threat is to expose embarrassing, damaging information to family, friends or the public.See also: blackmail robbery theft."
That is the best legal definition of extortion I could find.
The property that the service is attempting to obtain is the shirts, the threat to the victims property is the theft of Mikes electronic multi meter, the intimidation is the position of authority that the manager holds within the company.
Am I correct in my interpretation that the manager, and possibly the company are guilty of the crime of extortion as well as theft?
I can guarantee that if Mike had the companies multimeter, he would be arrested for theft.
Though this is petty in nature, I believe it would still be considered a crime and should be prosecuted.
I have been working on a complaint for mike to send to the Illinois Attorney Generals Office as well as our County States attorney. I am unsure what wording to use, whether to cite ILCS or if I am directing the complaint to the proper authority.
Please let me know what you think about this situation, and whether I am correct in my assumption that this is in fact a criminal act on my employers part.