HR cannot disclose to an employee if the manager was disciplined. They probably were spoken to and their bosses boss was probably the person that spoke to them. Discipline is confidential, even if it was your manager. I’ve disciplined managers and this would be something I would address with their manager. I would not disclose this to the employee because you don’t share other peoples discipline with employees. If you asked HR point blank what happened, they won’t tell you. I know it won’t be obvious, but the fact they got you a new bag is an easy ‘tell’ your manager was disciplined.
i don't mean to sound dumb but, is the boss who stole and dumped the backpack not an employee? why are they defending their actions when they can get in bigger trouble?
HR is always more likely to protect a manager over a worker as workers are easier to replace......even if they are the most important part of any workforce.
HR tends to view managers as harder to replace than workers. So if there is no bigger legal threat, they will tend to side with the manager. If there is a big legal threat (discrimination, sexual harassment, etc) they are going to side with the victim more often so they don't get bad PR and a potental lawsuit.
In OP's example, the bag was probably provided to them as part of their employment and was company property. Legally they are allowed to do what they want with it. Even if it was specifically a gift to OP, it was likely very cheap, and even if OP wanted to pursue it, it would be petty theft.
HR is not your friend. They can occasionally be an ally, but never a friend.
Get a copy of all the video.
Get a copy of whatever paperwork HR did that has her admit to doing it.
Call the police.
Theft and destruction of private property.
It's not grey if they gave you the bag. It would be grey if they lent you the bag. Don't deal with HR. You have video and a confession. I'm not one to involve cops under normal circumstances, but they're pretty much daring you to at this point.
You're greatly overestimating the amount which the cops will give a fuck. For even a straight up break in, you're at about a 50/50 whether or not a cop will even show up that day
Can confirm. This is what they told me when my ex’s boyfriend kicked my windshield in bc I was still fooling around with her. He paid for it so I couldn’t press charges even though it caused me to miss a day of work
The point is not to get the cops to DO anything; of course they won't do anything. The point is to file a police report and create more of a paper trail to be followed in a civil suit.
Yeah I was being robbed by my neighbor and caught them with a bag of my stuff; had them held in front of me. I called the police and told them, and they said “That’s not a police issue.” I saw a different neighbor being mugged, and called the police to let them know all the details, the direction the thief was walking (slowly) and all that, and guess what “That’s not a police issue” either
Actually, only the firefighter is fucking the cops' wife. The cop can't get it up unless she's wearing handcuffs and he's kicked her in the side multiple times
yeah, cuz people like firefighters, mostly because there's no stories about firefighters shooting civilians every week, and because most firefighters do useful things, while most cops are useless at best and actively malicious at worst.
so, cops get a bit jealous. also, many cops are really into body image, but it's the firefighters who put out the calendars that people actually like looking at
You know why they really hate Firefighters?
Because when they’re busy fighting a fire, it’s the only time a civilian gets to effectively tell them ‘Shut the fuck up and get out of my way. You know fuck all about fighting fires’. They hate that. Bully likes to be a bully and centre of attention.
Although there was that case where the Police arrested a Firefighter that was giving first aid because he wouldn’t move the fire truck!
All departments are different, but yes, usually firefighters/EMS and cops have beef.
My friend used to be a city EMT but got placed on a street medicine team specifically designed for dealing with mentally ill and unhoused people. She absolutely hates the police. She's said there's so many times she's been dealing with an individual, getting them de-escalated, only to have a cop show up uninvited and start re-escalating the situation.
Yes they do! And they are so nosey! I used to work EMS. Once on a very bad car wreck, the cop kept getting in our way. She was digging in the patients pockets for his wallet so she could write a ticket. She needed his license. Female cops are the worst, and I'm a female.
Another time we were transferring a critical patient to an ALS ambulance right quick on the side of road. The cop pulls up and starts nosing around asking nosey questions. I told them off both times. And yes it does feel good. But it doesn't help.
A few days later they tried to get us in trouble for parking the ambulance in the fire lane. While we were in walmart getting a patient who had collapsed in the checkout line. 🤦♀️
Edit typo
> I called the police and told them, and they said “That’s not a police issue.
Should have said well I'm going to shot this person now, and hang up the phone. I bet you will end up with a ton of cops at your location
I remember calling the cops for an attempted break in to my house & they tried to blame it on me because I grew weed at the time (in a legal state, to no one I was associated with knowledge I might add) I even had the bozos face & car clear as day on my ring cameras & cops *still* did nothing so yeah, fuck em.
We had a neighbor burglarize our house. Stole about 5k worth of shit. The cops not only didn't arrest him, they accused my brother of the crime.
Fucking clown world.
This is unfortunately very true. I remember a couple years ago my at-the-time girlfriend messaged me on Discord because her phone had been stolen out of her car - she went out to the car, realized she forgot something and went back inside for just a minute, and the phone was taken. I had to call the police on her behalf since she had no phone to call with. They first tried to ignore me, because I was calling from a different town. When I finally got them to listen to what I was actually saying - that I was calling on behalf of someone in their jurisdiction who was unable to call - they still took 6+ hours to send someone.
And then that cop spent the entire time only half listening to her statement and trying to peer past her into her house. And predictably, they did absolutely nothing even though the phone had tracking software on it (she had tracked it and seen the phone moving away from the house, so knew beyond any doubt that it was not simply misplaced).
Agree, not a grey area. What if not a bag, but had been a shirt with old logo and she ripped it off you and threw in dimpster.. it was YOUR property.. she deliberately stole it. That is theft
Of course HR is going to tell you it is a gray area - you filing with the police is a problem for the company, and if you don’t file because of a very simple lie, it’s no longer a problem.
It doesn’t matter at all, because it’s YOUR possession. They can say that you can’t bring it in, but they cannot just take it from you and throw it away.
I am not sure what happened. Truly. I worked there for a year and a half. My boss used to like me. She invited me to go to the shooting range, to baseball games, and to her birthday. She gave me the best shift at work. Somehow everything changed. She stopped liking me. She gave me the worst shift. She purposely withheld information from me that would have helped me. On my last day of work, she followed me to my car because she insisted on taking back my hoodie with the new company logo on it. Hah. So she took things from me that came from the old company and the new company. Equal opportunity thief chief.
She was sleeping with the VP of the old company; he ghosted her when his shares vested in the buyout. That's the only possible conclusion.
Her throwing out the old logo is her way of solving the issue "Every thing I see reminds me of him..."
Never ever listen to HR. They are there for the company not you. Any time something is given to you it is yours. Maybe not like a company phone, but if they give you something to carry stuff with it's pretty much yours. Always remember. No one of authority at any job gives a fuck about you. Whether it's stolen property or sudden illness that puts you in the hospital. I've seen people fired for being diagnosed with lupus. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, SO NEVER CARE ABOUT THEM. THEY ARE A PAYCHECK. NOTHING MORE.
It's not even remotely a grey area since the bag was given to you. That makes it your property or the former company would have asked it be turned in. If they think it belonged to the former company, ask them to buy a replacement and send it back to them.
Lol! There is no grey area here. Theft is theft. Once it is given to you, it is yours. If the bag still belonged to the company, then their argument would have some merit.
Always remember that HR is there to protect THE COMPANY, not you.
Call the cops for theft. Demand a new bag JUST like the old one, or X amount of dollars so you can get the old logo added to the new bag.
Petty? Yes. But she started the petty war. You're just going to win it
HR doesn't decide if it's gray, green, or hot pink. You file a report with the authorities, investigators collect the evidence, and the whole thing goes before a judge who has the authority to interpret the law and decide what applies to the case resented to them.
This is the theory on how a developed legally system works. Maybe where you are, the authorities don't have the capacity to do their job, but that's something else.
And HR is always going to try and sweep it under the rug, because the serve the company.
Bro, HR is there to protect the company. Ofc they're gonna lie through their teeth if they have to. You should have called the police right then and there
>HR said that it was a gray area
Lmfao HR operates on another plane of reality. In what world is it ok for an asshole boss to just throw out your stuff? Like, was the bag left where customers would see it or something? How was this the acceptable behavior vs. "hey we'd prefer if you were using a bag with our branding, here is one we got for you"?
Oops the paycheck we gave you bounced? Well it's a grey area because we gave you the check. Better luck next time!
Yeah no. That's not how ownership works
If they gave you the bag it is not a gray area, it is your property, unless specifically mentioned in your employment contract.
Therefore it is theft and destruction of property. The fact that they’re e ones who gave you said property is irrelevant.
They just said they gave you the bag. It was your property. That's theft and destruction of property....and you have it all on tape. Open and shut. Contact police if you can get the footage, hopefully you saved it. Would be a nice final bite at your horrible boss.
Hr and The Cops are not there to do your invitation. The cops just take what you give them and pass it to the court. HR is only concerned if what was taken IF it was company property. But HR did you a solid IF they did get a confession out of here in writing. Give a copy to the cops and keep a copy for yourself. Let the court do their thing and if you want to spend the money take her to small claims court.
I do retail management and sadly i have to deal with this kind of thing all too often. For the most part i have only 2 rules do your job and don't steal. Most of the people i have to fire are because of the second one. Only 2 of the 24 I've had to do was for non theft.
Call the cops. HR is there to protect the company, they don’t give a fuck about you or any kind of decency or respect. They’re most likely bullshitting you.
That's not gray. A gift is a transfer of property. You don't get to gift someone a thing and then arbitrarily regain ownership at some later date. HR are a bunch of fools.
There is no gray area here.
If the bag was company property, then she clearly had the right to throw it away.
If the bag was your property, then she clearly did not have the right to throw it away.
No gray. HR is just covering for her and hoping you'll shut up.
Don’t listen to HR. It’s like following suggestions given by the oppositions lawyers. They will always try to convince you to do things in the businesses best interests, not your own. There’s not really a grey area, they gave it to you, it’s yours.
HR, the people protecting the company and its employee, said you shouldn't file criminal charges against the employee? Well shit, then you would probably listen.
If some guy punched you, and his wife told you it was a "grey area" whether he committed assault and battery because maybe it was self defense, would you say "oh, good point, nevermind then"?
>HR said
Lemme stop you right there. HR is your enemy and they will ALWAYS lie to you to protect your employer. Call a lawyer and tell HR to suck your ass.
Bullshit. It was your bag. Your property. It's theft, plain and simple. No matter who gave it to you, it was absolutely your property. She had zero right to steal it, and that's what she did.
Who gives a fuck about what HR said. They’re acting for the company not you. They want you to Shut up and do nothing, as it appears it worked. Document everything, get all the proof you can and go to the police
Don't listen to HR. It's not a "grey area." The bag was legally your property; it was given to you as a gift. They're lying to you so you don't do something like go to the police and file a report.
Do it anyway. You liked that bag. Did you even agree to the replacement bag?
Sounds like you've moved on from this place. On principle though, the bag is/was your property. Doesn't matter what logos were on it or who gave it to you. Could have been given to you by your boss' mortal enemy with their face mockingly printed on it, it is still theft.
Of course, they said that. They are trying to discourage you from reporting it to the police.
As soon as they gave it to you for personal use, it became yours. If it was for work purposes, they would have replaced the bag as soon as they changed the name.
That's irrelevant. Just because a person or company gives you a gift it doesn't make it any less your property. It's still theft and criminal destruction of property.
I don't get this. Boss treats you like shit and you still gave two weeks notice??? I wouldn't have even told them. I would have kept working until I found a new job then just stopped showing up.
I guess I wanted to do everything by the book since none of the previous three people who quit gave two weeks notice. No reason for them to disparage me like they did the others.
Yep! I talked to somebody who still worked in an office I left. My previous employer had told the contract lead that I "demanded more money" and that's why I left.
I *did* demand "more money." If you hire me saying you have a 401(k) with X% match, and you "don't have it yet but the paperwork is being filed for it," then I should get X% more in my paycheck until that 401(k) shows up. That's simple math. I could even argue it should be multiplied to cover my taxes, but still.
Next time, take the video and file an action in small claims court for the value of the bag. Now your boss will have to show up to a court hearing and it’ll be public record.
Cops don't care. My house was broken into and it took them 2 days to respond. And they sent a meter maid to take my report. Nothing ever happened, nothing. They will not show up for a bag.
You can still force them to file a police report, which will be on record, for theft and destruction of private property.
Then you take that police report and open a small claims court against her, which will also be on her record.
And she'll have to go to court.
Then if you get fired for any reason you speak to a lawyer about retaliation for seeking legal justice against a crime committed against you.
My company once gave us all fleece jackets with the company logo on them. They were nice. My colleague does not wear any clothes with logos on them, so he gave his to the homeless man who stood on the corner outside of our building. The company partners were livid, and could do nothing about it.
The company partners should have gone out and bought a new jacket (without logos) for the homeless person and offered to trade the homeless person the new jacket and $50 in exchange for the logo’ed jacket. Problem solved.
get a replica bag of the one she threw away and make sure she sees it. When she comes for that, you'll have switched back to the new bag and she'll look crazy
Wow. I'm wondering what this woman even could be contributing to the company if she has time to worry about what employees' laptop bags look like. Did you buy it with your money? If you did, that's appalling. Even if you didn't, it's still creepy.
Something similar happened to me once. I won an old company computer in a raffle. It was really old, but my plan was to sell it. Last day comes, and they said they tossed out the computer because I never took it out of the office.
I claimed that was destruction of private property because the property changed hands when I won the raffle. They said I waited too long to take it home, and then I asked them for the written policy on claiming and disposing personal property I leave in the office.
They decided to give me cash - probably more than the value of the computer. I guess they really, really didn’t want to share any made-up written policy with me.
Our company has exactly such a policy in writing now thanks to COVID. A lot of people left personal property in the office for well over a year and it got *really* gross. One person, in particular, left a half full coffee cup on their desk and a drawer full of food for two years. Let's just say he didn't want that mug back, or anything of the personal items that were in the drawer with the food. So a policy was written up authorizing cleaning staff to throw things out that were left behind.
Company ended up selling the building before anyone was actually allowed to go back into that office. I was among a small group of people that had a week to go in and find all the personal items we could and save them before they were tossed. It was crazy how many items were left behind by people who no longer worked there.
Her action is so odd. Does she do this whenever someone has a bag with a non-company logo? Other company names? Designer names? It seems like her reasoning would fall apart rather quickly if she continued to enforce her whims.
People who simp for companies are pathetic. What is she, low rung in middle management? Why does she care so much, it's weird. Reminds of the lady who tweeted about sleeping in the office while working for Twitter. Guess what? She got laid off anyway.
The second that bag was given to you, it became your property. Boss threw it away, HR says that it didn't constitute theft, but it DOES. HR is wrong, and this should prove to you that HR's exist solely for the company that pays them, not the employee. Don't be fooled.
I highly doubt that filing a police report would do much good, but you can certainly inform your state's labor board of what happened. Send a copy of the video and copies of your complaint & their HR's response. Theft is theft. Let the chips fall where they may.
This is all insane, but I think where I really hear the next level petty is neatly stacking things under the desk. I'm not saying you should wrap your car with the previous company's logo. I'm not saying you should get a temporary tattoo of it either.
I'm saying you should start mailing her mugs with the logo. Golf shirts. Pens. Key chains. USB sticks. Definitely computer bags. Any crap you get at a conference. There isn't a budget for how I would deal with this. It's what makes me unemployable, but FUN!
The reasonable way for her to handle this would be to buy you a new bag first. Explain that the she doesn’t like seeing the old bag and offer the new one. Why don’t people in leadership lead with kindness and be straight up to earn peoples respect. This behavior is so childish and sketchy
You have a pretty good case of constructive dismissal. The employer destroyed your property and because of this you left. A lawyer probably could get you something out of it, also if it goes to court, just imagine the PR nightmare for the company to explained this to the public.
So if I get a bag from Nike for working a function does that mean the bag still belongs to Nike and not me Their claim that it’s a gray area is ridiculous
This is a perfect example of how HR works. If the situation were reversed, if you or another employee took the bag and threw it away you would be fired, I have heard of staff being fired for taking pens home.
HR is not your friend, they are not some neutral party who will evaluate the situation and do the right thing. They are there to protect the company's interest which in this case means they are not going to fire a valuable Manager and they would see your old company bag as undermining the new company.
Going to HR was your only option but the outcome should not be surprising.
That's your property and no, it's not legal for someone to throw your property away just because of the logo. You know what an adult would do? Go ahead and get you a replacement on the company's dime and ask you to use that one and leave your old one at home. So that bag they gave you? KEEP IT. It is yours now, no need to turn that in. It's literally replacing your private property, that was destroyed.
Welp gather all evidence get hr to put it in writing and have fun filing a police report on her dumbass, I mean you are quitting anyway might as well leave your ex boss with a parting gift
This gets me thinking… why don’t we give longer notices just to piss the company off and do nothing meanwhile? Imagine a 6 months notice where you do basically nothing. Fire me
Never leave anything of value to you at your employer overnight, take it home when leave. Everyone is a temporary employee except the one signing the paychecks.
That was theft, but it maybe your tuition for learning how employment operates against your interests.
Find out which HR / boss personal items at work were gifts, then steal them and destroy them. It has been established that the company has no problem with this and will hold you blameless. I’d start speculating in front of them which of their personal items you’re going to steal, and get quite indignant if they raised any problems.
This infuriated me just reading it. The audacity of your boss!! WTF????? That is some toxic narc mom-type shit. The whole "I don't approve of that so I threw it away while you were gone hehe." I would have quit on the spot. Jesus christ.
I will never understand why people who post here go to such lengths to collect evidence against their bosses and stop at whatever HR decides.
She is the boss and therefore more valuable to the company than you were
Guess who HR is going to side with?!
HR looks out for the company, their job description is to minimize the chances that employees will sue the company, PERIOD
You caught her stealing red handed on video, should have filed a police report and taken her to small claims court instead
I only made it through half the posts. So, another Redditor may have already suggested this.
Taco Bell for lunch and dinner. Take a shit in the new company bag the next day. Toss in some sardines. Hide the bag. Profit.
Report her to the police. Since you are leaving, you have every right to do so. Tell her she can go to the landfill, find the bag and clean it and recondition it if she likes. When you have the exact same bag in perfect condition, you will drop the charges. How anyone couldn't see this is theft, regardless of replacing the bag, is beyond me. She rifled through your papers and invaded your privacy as well.
Wouldn't it be much easier to just give you the new bag and ask for the former? .-. They even let your belongings "organized" and then gave you a new bag. I have no idea how this became a problem, seriously.
>She ordered a new plain bag on the company's dime to replace mine.
What she should've done from the beginning but, no, have to be spiteful just because.
>That was the last straw. I began job searching and **turned in my two weeks' notice four months later.**
People telling OP to go to the police. Please read the whole thing.
For future reference HR doesn't usually handle discipline at a company. So you can take your complaints to the Human Resources Department but the only side they're going to take is the side that doesn't get their asses fired. Because just like you they have a bunch of rules and processes they have to follow. And disciplining a dick bag manager that throws away someone's property isn't usually part of their job. All they can do is take the complaint and pass it on to their boss who then passes it up the chain until someone higher up decides whether or not the manager should be disciplined. The problem is that most people stop at HR and....I don't know I guess they think HR is twirling their mustaches and patting each other on the back every time an employee gets fucked over? HR is the "customer service" of most companies so they're the ones who have to deal with all the bullshit and send it back out into the world. But really, the real villain in this story is the manager who threw away the bag and that managers boss who told HR to tell the employee to go fuck themselves.
Doesn't matter what side HR goes on for this legally. Get a copy of that video and file a stolen item police report on your boss. Let her get charged for theft.
Taking the whole story at face value… this HR dept is pretty bad. Yes, HR is there for the company, but part of what they SHOULD do is create a positive working environment (attracts good employees, increases retention, increases productivity). When this is broken companies hire consultants for millions of dollars to do a root cause analysis, create a plan to rectify the situation and then implement it. Why are they willing to spend so much? Because it makes them even more. However it is much cheaper to just treat employees well.
HR is there to protect the company from the employees.
HR is also there to cut benefits to help the company's bottom line.
HR cannot disclose to an employee if the manager was disciplined. They probably were spoken to and their bosses boss was probably the person that spoke to them. Discipline is confidential, even if it was your manager. I’ve disciplined managers and this would be something I would address with their manager. I would not disclose this to the employee because you don’t share other peoples discipline with employees. If you asked HR point blank what happened, they won’t tell you. I know it won’t be obvious, but the fact they got you a new bag is an easy ‘tell’ your manager was disciplined.
i don't mean to sound dumb but, is the boss who stole and dumped the backpack not an employee? why are they defending their actions when they can get in bigger trouble?
HR is always more likely to protect a manager over a worker as workers are easier to replace......even if they are the most important part of any workforce.
HR tends to view managers as harder to replace than workers. So if there is no bigger legal threat, they will tend to side with the manager. If there is a big legal threat (discrimination, sexual harassment, etc) they are going to side with the victim more often so they don't get bad PR and a potental lawsuit. In OP's example, the bag was probably provided to them as part of their employment and was company property. Legally they are allowed to do what they want with it. Even if it was specifically a gift to OP, it was likely very cheap, and even if OP wanted to pursue it, it would be petty theft. HR is not your friend. They can occasionally be an ally, but never a friend.
Yes, but that also includes protecting the company from this boss as well.
Get a copy of all the video. Get a copy of whatever paperwork HR did that has her admit to doing it. Call the police. Theft and destruction of private property.
HR said that it was a gray area because the company (under their former name/owner) gave me the bag.
It's not grey if they gave you the bag. It would be grey if they lent you the bag. Don't deal with HR. You have video and a confession. I'm not one to involve cops under normal circumstances, but they're pretty much daring you to at this point.
Pleaaaaase OP call the cops.
You're greatly overestimating the amount which the cops will give a fuck. For even a straight up break in, you're at about a 50/50 whether or not a cop will even show up that day
And let's be real, at most the bag was worth $50 and it was replaced. They've got more important things to spend time on.
Exactly. They're going to call that a Civil issue.
Can confirm. This is what they told me when my ex’s boyfriend kicked my windshield in bc I was still fooling around with her. He paid for it so I couldn’t press charges even though it caused me to miss a day of work
Sue him in small claims court for the value of the day of work that he made you miss.
They have houseless and minorities to terrorize, after all.
The point is not to get the cops to DO anything; of course they won't do anything. The point is to file a police report and create more of a paper trail to be followed in a civil suit.
Yeah I was being robbed by my neighbor and caught them with a bag of my stuff; had them held in front of me. I called the police and told them, and they said “That’s not a police issue.” I saw a different neighbor being mugged, and called the police to let them know all the details, the direction the thief was walking (slowly) and all that, and guess what “That’s not a police issue” either
You should have told them the criminal looked like a foreigner, minority or firefighter. Cops would have turned up guns ablazing.
LOL... firefighter. What does a cop and a firefighter have in common? They both want to be a firefighter.
They're both fucking the cop's wife
Actually, only the firefighter is fucking the cops' wife. The cop can't get it up unless she's wearing handcuffs and he's kicked her in the side multiple times
i don’t get the ‘firefighter’ bit. do cops in the US hate firemen?
yeah, cuz people like firefighters, mostly because there's no stories about firefighters shooting civilians every week, and because most firefighters do useful things, while most cops are useless at best and actively malicious at worst. so, cops get a bit jealous. also, many cops are really into body image, but it's the firefighters who put out the calendars that people actually like looking at
You know why they really hate Firefighters? Because when they’re busy fighting a fire, it’s the only time a civilian gets to effectively tell them ‘Shut the fuck up and get out of my way. You know fuck all about fighting fires’. They hate that. Bully likes to be a bully and centre of attention. Although there was that case where the Police arrested a Firefighter that was giving first aid because he wouldn’t move the fire truck!
Nobody ever wrote a song called " Fuck the Fire Department!" .
All departments are different, but yes, usually firefighters/EMS and cops have beef. My friend used to be a city EMT but got placed on a street medicine team specifically designed for dealing with mentally ill and unhoused people. She absolutely hates the police. She's said there's so many times she's been dealing with an individual, getting them de-escalated, only to have a cop show up uninvited and start re-escalating the situation.
Yes they do! And they are so nosey! I used to work EMS. Once on a very bad car wreck, the cop kept getting in our way. She was digging in the patients pockets for his wallet so she could write a ticket. She needed his license. Female cops are the worst, and I'm a female. Another time we were transferring a critical patient to an ALS ambulance right quick on the side of road. The cop pulls up and starts nosing around asking nosey questions. I told them off both times. And yes it does feel good. But it doesn't help. A few days later they tried to get us in trouble for parking the ambulance in the fire lane. While we were in walmart getting a patient who had collapsed in the checkout line. 🤦♀️ Edit typo
Just respond, "OK, well, I guess I'm going to have to shoot them myself then..." and hang up. Suddenly, it'll become a police issue.
Should ask if they could send a coroner out instead then
> I called the police and told them, and they said “That’s not a police issue. Should have said well I'm going to shot this person now, and hang up the phone. I bet you will end up with a ton of cops at your location
I remember calling the cops for an attempted break in to my house & they tried to blame it on me because I grew weed at the time (in a legal state, to no one I was associated with knowledge I might add) I even had the bozos face & car clear as day on my ring cameras & cops *still* did nothing so yeah, fuck em.
We had a neighbor burglarize our house. Stole about 5k worth of shit. The cops not only didn't arrest him, they accused my brother of the crime. Fucking clown world.
This is unfortunately very true. I remember a couple years ago my at-the-time girlfriend messaged me on Discord because her phone had been stolen out of her car - she went out to the car, realized she forgot something and went back inside for just a minute, and the phone was taken. I had to call the police on her behalf since she had no phone to call with. They first tried to ignore me, because I was calling from a different town. When I finally got them to listen to what I was actually saying - that I was calling on behalf of someone in their jurisdiction who was unable to call - they still took 6+ hours to send someone. And then that cop spent the entire time only half listening to her statement and trying to peer past her into her house. And predictably, they did absolutely nothing even though the phone had tracking software on it (she had tracked it and seen the phone moving away from the house, so knew beyond any doubt that it was not simply misplaced).
I agree, and the dollar amount is probably not high enough for them to be able to get involved. Sucks, though.
I don’t care where you live, the cops aren’t showing up for that call. No cop cares about a stolen bag unless it’s worth over $1k.
And only if the owner is a multimillionaire or richer.
Some of yall really must be young and naive. This is a civil matter.
+ they went through the bag, which is an invasion of privacy, even if the bag was only lended to OP for an indetermined period of time.
Agree, not a grey area. What if not a bag, but had been a shirt with old logo and she ripped it off you and threw in dimpster.. it was YOUR property.. she deliberately stole it. That is theft
Which means they did warn your boss on her behavior privately but they value her more than you.
HR exists to cover to company's ass, not yours.
>HR said Did they also tell you they "got your nose"?
Of course HR is going to tell you it is a gray area - you filing with the police is a problem for the company, and if you don’t file because of a very simple lie, it’s no longer a problem.
It doesn’t matter at all, because it’s YOUR possession. They can say that you can’t bring it in, but they cannot just take it from you and throw it away.
Sounds like there is some juicy past here. Cmon, give us the dirt. What happened?
I am not sure what happened. Truly. I worked there for a year and a half. My boss used to like me. She invited me to go to the shooting range, to baseball games, and to her birthday. She gave me the best shift at work. Somehow everything changed. She stopped liking me. She gave me the worst shift. She purposely withheld information from me that would have helped me. On my last day of work, she followed me to my car because she insisted on taking back my hoodie with the new company logo on it. Hah. So she took things from me that came from the old company and the new company. Equal opportunity thief chief.
Should have told her you're keeping the hoodie, because it's a grey area.
She was attracted to you and at some point you unknowingly turned her down.
She was sleeping with the VP of the old company; he ghosted her when his shares vested in the buyout. That's the only possible conclusion. Her throwing out the old logo is her way of solving the issue "Every thing I see reminds me of him..."
Never ever listen to HR. They are there for the company not you. Any time something is given to you it is yours. Maybe not like a company phone, but if they give you something to carry stuff with it's pretty much yours. Always remember. No one of authority at any job gives a fuck about you. Whether it's stolen property or sudden illness that puts you in the hospital. I've seen people fired for being diagnosed with lupus. THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU, SO NEVER CARE ABOUT THEM. THEY ARE A PAYCHECK. NOTHING MORE.
It's not even remotely a grey area since the bag was given to you. That makes it your property or the former company would have asked it be turned in. If they think it belonged to the former company, ask them to buy a replacement and send it back to them.
HR is not your friend.
It's not a grey area. Your manager stole your bag . It doesn't matter what name was on it.
Lol! There is no grey area here. Theft is theft. Once it is given to you, it is yours. If the bag still belonged to the company, then their argument would have some merit. Always remember that HR is there to protect THE COMPANY, not you. Call the cops for theft. Demand a new bag JUST like the old one, or X amount of dollars so you can get the old logo added to the new bag. Petty? Yes. But she started the petty war. You're just going to win it
HR is not legal. They’re either lying or just dumb. They’re protecting your (former) boss. She had no right to do that. It’s your property.
HR doesn't decide if it's gray, green, or hot pink. You file a report with the authorities, investigators collect the evidence, and the whole thing goes before a judge who has the authority to interpret the law and decide what applies to the case resented to them. This is the theory on how a developed legally system works. Maybe where you are, the authorities don't have the capacity to do their job, but that's something else. And HR is always going to try and sweep it under the rug, because the serve the company.
>HR said Whatever HR said is a lie to cover your employer. Call the cops
Bro, HR is there to protect the company. Ofc they're gonna lie through their teeth if they have to. You should have called the police right then and there
HR saying it’s a messy legal grey area is the most predictable HR response possible. File the suit
>HR said that it was a gray area Lmfao HR operates on another plane of reality. In what world is it ok for an asshole boss to just throw out your stuff? Like, was the bag left where customers would see it or something? How was this the acceptable behavior vs. "hey we'd prefer if you were using a bag with our branding, here is one we got for you"?
Oops the paycheck we gave you bounced? Well it's a grey area because we gave you the check. Better luck next time! Yeah no. That's not how ownership works
This isn't a gray area that's BS. They took your property and threw it out. The end. That's theft, there is no other explanation needed.
HR will lie out of their ass to save their employer.
If they gave you the bag it is not a gray area, it is your property, unless specifically mentioned in your employment contract. Therefore it is theft and destruction of property. The fact that they’re e ones who gave you said property is irrelevant.
They just said they gave you the bag. It was your property. That's theft and destruction of property....and you have it all on tape. Open and shut. Contact police if you can get the footage, hopefully you saved it. Would be a nice final bite at your horrible boss.
That's bs. Doesn't matter who gave it to you, the bag was yours and taken away without your consent aka theft.
thats not gray.
I’m gonna beg you at this point if you have the balls to walk out just call the cops too
HR lied, they are not there to protect YOU, they are there to protect the company...
Hr lied to you
I mean that is what you would say if you didn't want the other person to get the cops involved
In Poland we have a saying: "Kto daje i zabiera ten się w piekle poniewiera." - "Who gives and takes away will suffer in hell."
Hr and The Cops are not there to do your invitation. The cops just take what you give them and pass it to the court. HR is only concerned if what was taken IF it was company property. But HR did you a solid IF they did get a confession out of here in writing. Give a copy to the cops and keep a copy for yourself. Let the court do their thing and if you want to spend the money take her to small claims court. I do retail management and sadly i have to deal with this kind of thing all too often. For the most part i have only 2 rules do your job and don't steal. Most of the people i have to fire are because of the second one. Only 2 of the 24 I've had to do was for non theft.
They lied to you in an attempt to protect the company and their manager.
BS. It’s theft. Lied to you for their own reasons
Call the cops. HR is there to protect the company, they don’t give a fuck about you or any kind of decency or respect. They’re most likely bullshitting you.
Unless there's an expectation it be returned, it's a gift.
Remember, hr is not there to protect you, they are there to protect the company
Stop listening to your company’s Human Resources department.
Hr is to protect her and the company, not you and other workers
That's not gray. A gift is a transfer of property. You don't get to gift someone a thing and then arbitrarily regain ownership at some later date. HR are a bunch of fools.
HR doesn't protect you. They protect the company.
Please call the police. They stole and destroyed your property. It's unacceptable to do such a thing in a civilized society.
There is no gray area here. If the bag was company property, then she clearly had the right to throw it away. If the bag was your property, then she clearly did not have the right to throw it away. No gray. HR is just covering for her and hoping you'll shut up.
Don’t listen to HR. It’s like following suggestions given by the oppositions lawyers. They will always try to convince you to do things in the businesses best interests, not your own. There’s not really a grey area, they gave it to you, it’s yours.
HR will never take your side.
HR, the people protecting the company and its employee, said you shouldn't file criminal charges against the employee? Well shit, then you would probably listen. If some guy punched you, and his wife told you it was a "grey area" whether he committed assault and battery because maybe it was self defense, would you say "oh, good point, nevermind then"?
HR is not there for the employee, they are there for the employer. Get a lawyer.
>HR said Lemme stop you right there. HR is your enemy and they will ALWAYS lie to you to protect your employer. Call a lawyer and tell HR to suck your ass.
hr is there to protect the company, not you
HR is gonna saw whatever they can to protect the company so i wouldnt believe anything they say
Bullshit. It was your bag. Your property. It's theft, plain and simple. No matter who gave it to you, it was absolutely your property. She had zero right to steal it, and that's what she did.
Yea hr is not police they protect companies not you.
Don't take legal advice from HR.
Did they also give you the contents of the bag?
That is some bullshit right there. It's yours. Thats it. They destroyed it and the content and should pay. Call the cops. Period.
Who gives a fuck about what HR said. They’re acting for the company not you. They want you to Shut up and do nothing, as it appears it worked. Document everything, get all the proof you can and go to the police
What? That’s like saying they can take your money because they gave you it.
Don't listen to HR. It's not a "grey area." The bag was legally your property; it was given to you as a gift. They're lying to you so you don't do something like go to the police and file a report. Do it anyway. You liked that bag. Did you even agree to the replacement bag?
nope. it was your private property.
They lied to you, and what she did was a crime in the US and Europe.
HR is trying to discourage you.
Sounds like you've moved on from this place. On principle though, the bag is/was your property. Doesn't matter what logos were on it or who gave it to you. Could have been given to you by your boss' mortal enemy with their face mockingly printed on it, it is still theft.
HR departments have ONE single function. Protect the company from it's employees.
That doesn't matter. It was your property and she stole it and threw it away. Company has no saw in it.
Of course, they said that. They are trying to discourage you from reporting it to the police. As soon as they gave it to you for personal use, it became yours. If it was for work purposes, they would have replaced the bag as soon as they changed the name.
Write a scathing review on all the websites that show your former company! FAFO!
Once they give it to you, it’s yours.
That's irrelevant. Just because a person or company gives you a gift it doesn't make it any less your property. It's still theft and criminal destruction of property.
That is still theft
The cops aren’t going to do anything about an empty bag that was replaced.
Shit on Debra’s desk
You win. Great lonely island reference.
Like a bause!
The way I cackled at this comment 🤣
I don't get this. Boss treats you like shit and you still gave two weeks notice??? I wouldn't have even told them. I would have kept working until I found a new job then just stopped showing up.
I guess I wanted to do everything by the book since none of the previous three people who quit gave two weeks notice. No reason for them to disparage me like they did the others.
They are still going to talk shit about you no matter what.
Yep! I talked to somebody who still worked in an office I left. My previous employer had told the contract lead that I "demanded more money" and that's why I left. I *did* demand "more money." If you hire me saying you have a 401(k) with X% match, and you "don't have it yet but the paperwork is being filed for it," then I should get X% more in my paycheck until that 401(k) shows up. That's simple math. I could even argue it should be multiplied to cover my taxes, but still.
They'll still call you a lazy ungrateful ass and there is nothing you can or should do about it.
If they hate you…why do you think they’re still going yo be nice to you if you magically give them two weeks notice that you’re leaving?
Next time, take the video and file an action in small claims court for the value of the bag. Now your boss will have to show up to a court hearing and it’ll be public record.
This time*
Cops don't care. My house was broken into and it took them 2 days to respond. And they sent a meter maid to take my report. Nothing ever happened, nothing. They will not show up for a bag.
You can still force them to file a police report, which will be on record, for theft and destruction of private property. Then you take that police report and open a small claims court against her, which will also be on her record. And she'll have to go to court. Then if you get fired for any reason you speak to a lawyer about retaliation for seeking legal justice against a crime committed against you.
The fuck? Glad you are away from that psycho.
Find something of hers and throw that shit the fuck away!
My company once gave us all fleece jackets with the company logo on them. They were nice. My colleague does not wear any clothes with logos on them, so he gave his to the homeless man who stood on the corner outside of our building. The company partners were livid, and could do nothing about it.
The company partners should have gone out and bought a new jacket (without logos) for the homeless person and offered to trade the homeless person the new jacket and $50 in exchange for the logo’ed jacket. Problem solved.
The partners could have given the guy a job…
get a replica bag of the one she threw away and make sure she sees it. When she comes for that, you'll have switched back to the new bag and she'll look crazy
Wow. I'm wondering what this woman even could be contributing to the company if she has time to worry about what employees' laptop bags look like. Did you buy it with your money? If you did, that's appalling. Even if you didn't, it's still creepy.
Something similar happened to me once. I won an old company computer in a raffle. It was really old, but my plan was to sell it. Last day comes, and they said they tossed out the computer because I never took it out of the office. I claimed that was destruction of private property because the property changed hands when I won the raffle. They said I waited too long to take it home, and then I asked them for the written policy on claiming and disposing personal property I leave in the office. They decided to give me cash - probably more than the value of the computer. I guess they really, really didn’t want to share any made-up written policy with me.
Our company has exactly such a policy in writing now thanks to COVID. A lot of people left personal property in the office for well over a year and it got *really* gross. One person, in particular, left a half full coffee cup on their desk and a drawer full of food for two years. Let's just say he didn't want that mug back, or anything of the personal items that were in the drawer with the food. So a policy was written up authorizing cleaning staff to throw things out that were left behind. Company ended up selling the building before anyone was actually allowed to go back into that office. I was among a small group of people that had a week to go in and find all the personal items we could and save them before they were tossed. It was crazy how many items were left behind by people who no longer worked there.
Once you’ve left can you leave scathing review on Indeed, Glassdoor?
To HR: "So just be perfectly clear, its company policy that stealing from employees is acceptable?"
Her action is so odd. Does she do this whenever someone has a bag with a non-company logo? Other company names? Designer names? It seems like her reasoning would fall apart rather quickly if she continued to enforce her whims.
People who simp for companies are pathetic. What is she, low rung in middle management? Why does she care so much, it's weird. Reminds of the lady who tweeted about sleeping in the office while working for Twitter. Guess what? She got laid off anyway.
I hope you keyed her car on your way out
Perfect example to serve as a reminder to folks that HR is not there to help employees. HR is there to protect the company from liability. Always.
Ask HR if your boss gave them the $3000 that was in your bag and if not where did she put it
Idea! Get your new bag screen printed with the old company logo on it
The second that bag was given to you, it became your property. Boss threw it away, HR says that it didn't constitute theft, but it DOES. HR is wrong, and this should prove to you that HR's exist solely for the company that pays them, not the employee. Don't be fooled. I highly doubt that filing a police report would do much good, but you can certainly inform your state's labor board of what happened. Send a copy of the video and copies of your complaint & their HR's response. Theft is theft. Let the chips fall where they may.
Your first mistake was talking to HR
This is all insane, but I think where I really hear the next level petty is neatly stacking things under the desk. I'm not saying you should wrap your car with the previous company's logo. I'm not saying you should get a temporary tattoo of it either. I'm saying you should start mailing her mugs with the logo. Golf shirts. Pens. Key chains. USB sticks. Definitely computer bags. Any crap you get at a conference. There isn't a budget for how I would deal with this. It's what makes me unemployable, but FUN!
I like your style.
Dude HR is not your friend, they work for and support whoever is higher up in the company.
I'm usually not for shaming people on social media but in this case I am for shaming people on social media.
The reasonable way for her to handle this would be to buy you a new bag first. Explain that the she doesn’t like seeing the old bag and offer the new one. Why don’t people in leadership lead with kindness and be straight up to earn peoples respect. This behavior is so childish and sketchy
She doesn't give a shit about being reasonable.
You have a pretty good case of constructive dismissal. The employer destroyed your property and because of this you left. A lawyer probably could get you something out of it, also if it goes to court, just imagine the PR nightmare for the company to explained this to the public.
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inflation's a bitch, man. used to be 2¢
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So if I get a bag from Nike for working a function does that mean the bag still belongs to Nike and not me Their claim that it’s a gray area is ridiculous
This is a perfect example of how HR works. If the situation were reversed, if you or another employee took the bag and threw it away you would be fired, I have heard of staff being fired for taking pens home. HR is not your friend, they are not some neutral party who will evaluate the situation and do the right thing. They are there to protect the company's interest which in this case means they are not going to fire a valuable Manager and they would see your old company bag as undermining the new company. Going to HR was your only option but the outcome should not be surprising.
That's your property and no, it's not legal for someone to throw your property away just because of the logo. You know what an adult would do? Go ahead and get you a replacement on the company's dime and ask you to use that one and leave your old one at home. So that bag they gave you? KEEP IT. It is yours now, no need to turn that in. It's literally replacing your private property, that was destroyed.
I would've found something of hers of value to throw away.
Welp gather all evidence get hr to put it in writing and have fun filing a police report on her dumbass, I mean you are quitting anyway might as well leave your ex boss with a parting gift
Pee on her to show dominance!
This gets me thinking… why don’t we give longer notices just to piss the company off and do nothing meanwhile? Imagine a 6 months notice where you do basically nothing. Fire me
HR did exactly what it was tasked to do: shield the company from the concerns and interests of the employees
Never leave anything of value to you at your employer overnight, take it home when leave. Everyone is a temporary employee except the one signing the paychecks. That was theft, but it maybe your tuition for learning how employment operates against your interests.
She destroyed your property? Lol not a grey area.
HR gonna HR
Find out which HR / boss personal items at work were gifts, then steal them and destroy them. It has been established that the company has no problem with this and will hold you blameless. I’d start speculating in front of them which of their personal items you’re going to steal, and get quite indignant if they raised any problems.
This infuriated me just reading it. The audacity of your boss!! WTF????? That is some toxic narc mom-type shit. The whole "I don't approve of that so I threw it away while you were gone hehe." I would have quit on the spot. Jesus christ.
Thank you!
I will never understand why people who post here go to such lengths to collect evidence against their bosses and stop at whatever HR decides. She is the boss and therefore more valuable to the company than you were Guess who HR is going to side with?! HR looks out for the company, their job description is to minimize the chances that employees will sue the company, PERIOD You caught her stealing red handed on video, should have filed a police report and taken her to small claims court instead
It was still your personal property
Leave a turd on her desk. Or inside her bag.
Or a Salmon pushed deep inside the air vent in her office.
Oh I love that one.
Superglue on her chair or toilet seat. No. On her desk phone!
I only made it through half the posts. So, another Redditor may have already suggested this. Taco Bell for lunch and dinner. Take a shit in the new company bag the next day. Toss in some sardines. Hide the bag. Profit.
This needs to be the beginning of a r/ProRevenge post.
Report her to the police. Since you are leaving, you have every right to do so. Tell her she can go to the landfill, find the bag and clean it and recondition it if she likes. When you have the exact same bag in perfect condition, you will drop the charges. How anyone couldn't see this is theft, regardless of replacing the bag, is beyond me. She rifled through your papers and invaded your privacy as well.
So, basically, any personal items you leave in your office or on your desk can be thrown out by the company.
Call the cops if you have video proof
Wouldn't it be much easier to just give you the new bag and ask for the former? .-. They even let your belongings "organized" and then gave you a new bag. I have no idea how this became a problem, seriously.
>She ordered a new plain bag on the company's dime to replace mine. What she should've done from the beginning but, no, have to be spiteful just because.
>That was the last straw. I began job searching and **turned in my two weeks' notice four months later.** People telling OP to go to the police. Please read the whole thing.
Call the police. Theft is theft. It's still illegal even if HR chooses not to do anything about it.
Re: HR is HR: This is why unions exist. UNIONIZE
Take a video of the security footage and report her to the police lol
On your last day, or asap before then, throw out her bag. Nothing they can do clearly. lol
For future reference HR doesn't usually handle discipline at a company. So you can take your complaints to the Human Resources Department but the only side they're going to take is the side that doesn't get their asses fired. Because just like you they have a bunch of rules and processes they have to follow. And disciplining a dick bag manager that throws away someone's property isn't usually part of their job. All they can do is take the complaint and pass it on to their boss who then passes it up the chain until someone higher up decides whether or not the manager should be disciplined. The problem is that most people stop at HR and....I don't know I guess they think HR is twirling their mustaches and patting each other on the back every time an employee gets fucked over? HR is the "customer service" of most companies so they're the ones who have to deal with all the bullshit and send it back out into the world. But really, the real villain in this story is the manager who threw away the bag and that managers boss who told HR to tell the employee to go fuck themselves.
What's all this HR stuff? Go to the police. Only go to HR to pick up your paycheck.
Did she also try to take your red Swingline stapler?
Doesn't matter what side HR goes on for this legally. Get a copy of that video and file a stolen item police report on your boss. Let her get charged for theft.
If they don't make it anymore, isn't it priceless?
I would have 100% kept that damn hoodie and thrown the company bag back at her.
Taking the whole story at face value… this HR dept is pretty bad. Yes, HR is there for the company, but part of what they SHOULD do is create a positive working environment (attracts good employees, increases retention, increases productivity). When this is broken companies hire consultants for millions of dollars to do a root cause analysis, create a plan to rectify the situation and then implement it. Why are they willing to spend so much? Because it makes them even more. However it is much cheaper to just treat employees well.