Okay, now for the punch in the gut. Unfortunately the place I was working was not managed well. My supervisor and I did not get a long, we were too completely different people with completely different interests and personalities. I seemed to do nothing right, and everything I did do was questioned. I followed instruction, but still was called out. Non-the-less, I stuck to it but, was in search of a different job. *Side note...I started 'seriously' searching for a job and apartment in October 2011. It took me until around February 2012 before there was a mere bite!* I knew this wasn't going to be an easy process, but my job was that bad, so I pressed on.
One day in August, just as I was getting ready to leave, my supervisors' supervisor asked me to come to her office. Once there, my supervisor arrived carrying a folder with a smug look on her face. Instantly my stomach tied in knots. I knew this couldn't be good. For the next hour or so, my supervisor laid receipts and paperwork out on the table stating 'there were discrepancies in tallies' demanding I account for them. I did not run the register, but I was there to help the volunteers that did. It was not uncommon for the register to be off, it was almost a running joke, and I was trained to 'make it right'. If there was money off, I was to make it right by using the petty cash. This is exactly what I was instructed to do. Looking back, I see how utterly ridiculous a practice that was, but I am a creature that always believes in the good in people. Since I had no answers for them, I was asked resign from my position, and 'no charges would be pressed, the topic would be dropped'. I was also told that under the circumstances of dismissal, I would not be able to collect unemployment.
Obviously, since I can't stand confrontation, I resigned. I was heartbroken and crushed, shocked beyond belief.
I chalked it up to - I am better off NOT working for an establishment like that, for someone to think I was capable of stealing from them?!
Fast forward about a month. I found a fun job working part time with some great people. I was beginning to flake the mud off my brain and think happy thoughts again. Enter a state trooper...
I was told that despite the fact that I had been told nothing further would come of this, the board wanted to press charges so that 'I wasn't allowed to go someplace else and do this again'. Now, mind you, I have (had) a completely unblemished record (ok...I have one speeding ticket and a couple ridiculous parking tickets - anyone living in Ithaca has at least one parking ticket on their record, especially if they have been on Cornell Campus). In some positions I have held I have had access to large amounts of money, I've handled accounts, I've dealt with petty cash...and have never had this issue.
So, I was advised to come down to the station within a week to give a statement. Completely shaken, I spoke with a few friends with extensive law knowledge and was actually told by a legal secretary 'If you provide a statement, I will personally break both of your knee caps'. The cold hard truth is folks, no matter how desperately one just wants to clear their name, you are not innocent. They WILL find a way to use your words against you, so the best advise is to shut up and let the grown ups talk it out and deal with it. I was also enlightened to the fact that this isn't the first (and most definitely will not be the last) time this establishment had tried (and succeeded) to throw one of their workers under the bus.
A week later, the state trooper came back to my place of employment and walked me to his car, hand-cuffed me, and read me my rights. He was nice enough, tried to make small talk as he drove me to the trooper barracks, but I was tight lipped, fighting tears, reminding myself to breath. All the while, over and over in my head I repeated the words I was told use to respond to any question asked of me 'I will not be providing a statement at this time, I will not be providing a statement at this time....I will not be providing a statement at this time'.
Tim had known this was something that might happen. I had the chance to text him a cryptic half finished message before the trooper escorted me from the building I worked in. When he got my message, he was in the middle of his swim class at school and threw his clothes on, still damp, and road his bike full speed to where I was working. After finding out I was taken in to the station, he met up with my friends' mother and headed there next.
When I arrived to the station, I sat with the trooper filling out paperwork while handcuffed to the side of his desk. I got interrogated by pretty much everyone walking through the office (possibly even the janitor), got finger printed and waited for the judge to be called. Eventually I was brought before him. I was being charged with stealing some odd sum of money ($124.79) - which is a misdemeanor, but also charged with falsifying legal documents (the records from the register) - which is a felony...jail time. Trying to hold the vomit and tears back, I answered his questions softly and respectfully. Bail was set at $500 and I was released.
My name was in the paper from getting arrested and because of such I lost my job. I had to borrow money from friends and family to obtained a lawyer.
From day one, the lawyer was gruff with me...grant it I'm sure that's how they make things happen, but he constantly questioned me and made me feel as though he didn't believe me. Because of my x-ray license I had a lot to lose, not to mention going to jail?! Each month, while the lawyer was 'preparing' and I was doing the foot work to get information for him, my court date was postponed. Each month he would wait until the night before to plea to move the date. Each month I would have to call the court the morning of the arranged date to make sure I was indeed NOT on the list.
Thousands of dollars later, unfortunately, the best thing he did for me was tell me to 'go ahead and apply for unemployment, they will probably contest it, but it's a piece of the puzzle we can use against them'. What did I have to lose? I received a phone call from the unemployment office stating my old employer was disputing my claim. She had the information of why I was let go, and asked me straight out if I did it. I flat out responded 'No'. I was granted unemployment...glad that someone believed me.
I was desperately searching for a job to get me off unemployment...having to prove I was responding to at least two employment opportunities per week anywhere within 90 miles of my home.
I tried to apply for housing help, but was told they weren't allowed to add any more people to the waiting list...they were already past 50 people, and nearly lost my apartment. The final settlement, close to a year later, was that I had to pay back the money they accused me of taking, and I am on probation for a year.
Some times it may seem that the enemy comes out ahead, but it doesn't mean they have won. If you can learn from the fall, pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move forward, you are all the better for it. And that, it a much stronger defeat than they can ever dream of.
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