False Claim of Stealing $160 Leads to $2.1 Million Verdict

[Wolfman]

A company falsely accused a man of stealing $160. In the original case, the wronged person was awarded $2.1 million. It was appealed. Yesterday, a higher court upheld the original verdict.

Sound like another story of insane verdicts? Now read the story (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080522.wbeer23/BNStory/National/home). Personally, I think he deserved more.
A $2.1-million jury award to a Brewer's Retail Inc. employee who was falsely accused of pilfering $160 was richly deserved in light of the company's 13-year “charade of duplicity and deception,” the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled Thursday.
Kirk Stevens, a lawyer for Mr. McNeil, said in an interview Thursday that his client had a perfectly legitimate explanation for removing money from the till. A relative had asked him to change $140 in U.S. currency into Canadian dollars, Mr. Stevens said. He said that a portion of videotape police were not given depicted him doing precisely that. In a second episode, Mr. McNeil could be seen removing two $10-bills and two loonies from the till, which he then split with a co-worker. The exculpatory portion of the tape showed him taking $22 from his pocket and putting it into the till.

In a 1994 memo, company officials expressed concerns about the quality of evidence it had given police. The memo indicated officials were reluctant to come clean about the problem they had created because it could result in “long-lasting damage to [its] credibility.”
This guy suffered 13 years, losing his home, his job, and much more. All because of accusations that his bosses knew to be wrong, but refused to admit because they were afraid of being embarrassed by it. They intentionally withheld video that would have entirely exonerated him.

This is absolutely disgusting.

[TragicMonkey]

Shouldn't the people who withheld the other video be prosecuted for obstruction of justice? I'm all for monetary damages, but besides just that guy, there are other victims: the entire citizenry has a stake in the proper workings of justice. I would have thought that a conspiracy to deliberately deceive law enforcement and the courts is a criminal offense, worthy of jail time.

[Wolfman]

Shouldn't the people who withheld the other video be prosecuted for obstruction of justice? I'm all for monetary damages, but besides just that guy, there are other victims: the entire citizenry has a stake in the proper workings of justice. I would have thought that a conspiracy to deliberately deceive law enforcement and the courts is a criminal offense, worthy of jail time.
I believe that the main problem here is that this happened 13 years ago, so the statute of limitations has run out on many of the initial crimes.

[RandFan]

It's disgusting and shameful.

That said, depending on the store's policy the guy should have lost his job or at least been written up. I worked retail for more than a decade for a number of companies and it is a basic rule that you never, ever move money from your pocket to the till or vice versa regardless of reason. If you need to make change for yourself then have a co-worker do it for you. If no co-worker then wait for your shift to end.

What I don't understand is why the guy took $22 out of the till, split it with a co-worker and then put $22 back into the till.

Something is odd with this story.

[Wolfman]

What I don't understand is why the guy took $22 out of the till, split it with a co-worker and then put $22 back into the till.

Something is odd with this story.
Simplest explanation...he owed the guy $11, but only had a $20 bill and a twoonie (two dollar coin). So he takes out two $10 bills, and two loonies (one dollar coins), giving $11 to his friend, and pocketing the remainder himself; and replaces it in the register with his own money.

While, strictly speaking, he should not have done this by himself, I know that I did this type of thing quite regularly when I worked a cash register, and so did most of my friends. As long as the cash receipts matched up at the end of the day, our bosses couldn't have cared less.

[timhau]

Personally, I think he deserved more.

...especially considering that his lawyers will probably take a good chunk of that $2.1 million.

[Puppycow]

It's only Canadian mo. . . Ooops. :o

Wretched weak dollar. Now I can't even take this golden opportunity to mock Canadians for their money! What's the world coming to?!?! :mad:

[Wolfman]

What particularly gets me is just how deliberate and calculated this was...it wasn't just one instance, it was two separate instances in which he did nothing wrong, but video tapes were cut to make it look as if he was stealing.

It says nothing about the original reason for this, but I'm picturing a manager who, for some reason, didn't like this guy, and doctored the videotape and made these false claims in order to get him in trouble. Later, the company discovered that the evidence he'd given was incomplete, and that this guy was innocent...and then made a deliberate decision that, instead of owning up and telling the police he was innocent, decided to go along with the deception, in order to 'protect their reputation'.

Seems that particular decision has backfired on them in a big way.

[Beerina]

I believe that the main problem here is that this happened 13 years ago, so the statute of limitations has run out on many of the initial crimes.

One could argue that, by knowingly continuing to hide the tape, the "crime" continued occuring until only recently.

And I hope someone does.

[RandFan]

Simplest explanation...he owed the guy $11, but only had a $20 bill and a twoonie (two dollar coin). So he takes out two $10 bills, and two loonies (one dollar coins), giving $11 to his friend, and pocketing the remainder himself; and replaces it in the register with his own money. Thanks, yes, I understand. I withdraw my statement about something being wrong. In my defence I didn't know what a twoonie and loonie was.

While, strictly speaking, he should not have done this by himself, I know that I did this type of thing quite regularly when I worked a cash register, and so did most of my friends. As long as the cash receipts matched up at the end of the day, our bosses couldn't have cared less. It's easy to make the cash receipts match the cash at the end of the day and still be pocketing company money. All one needs do is void a sale. Every cash register I've ever worked with is capable of that. There are other ways also but that is probably the most common.

Your boss was rather naive.

[Wolfman]

It's easy to make the cash receipts match the cash at the end of the day and still be pocketing company money. All one needs do is void a sale. Every cash register I've ever worked with is capable of that. There are other ways also but that is probably the most common.

Your boss was rather naive.This was a village of 900 people. Doors were never locked, and people could buy stuff simply by saying, "I'll come and give you the money later". 'nuff said :)

[RandFan]

This was a village of 900 people. Doors were never locked, and people could buy stuff simply by saying, "I'll come and give you the money later". 'nuff said :)I'll grant you that. I grew up in such a town. It didn't make the townsfolk more honest than city folk but those who were caught being dishonest had to pay a high price.

[TragicMonkey]

One could argue that, by knowingly continuing to hide the tape, the "crime" continued occuring until only recently.

And I hope someone does.

Now that I think about it, conspiracy to pervert justice is not just a crime against the nation and its citizens, it's a direct attack on the entire functioning of civilization itself.

Perhaps the death penalty is merited?

It would have to be painful, gruesome, and public to serve as a warning example to others, of course.

(I had a bad day at work.)

[RandFan]

It would have to be painful, gruesome, and public to serve as a warning example to others, of course. Dr. Klahn: "Take him to... Detroit!"

[WildCat]

I believe that the main problem here is that this happened 13 years ago, so the statute of limitations has run out on many of the initial crimes.
But the crime was ongoing for the duration of the lawsuit, yes? The statute of limitations only starts at the date they admitted they witheld evidence.

eta: Beerina beat me to it.

[skeptical]

A company falsely accused a man of stealing $160. In the original case, the wronged person was awarded $2.1 million. It was appealed. Yesterday, a higher court upheld the original verdict.

Sound like another story of insane verdicts? Now read the story (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080522.wbeer23/BNStory/National/home). Personally, I think he deserved more.

You're right, he deserved more. I am not familiar with Canadian tort law, but in the US there are 2 completely different components of a recovery: 1) compensatory - what it takes to "make the party whole" and 2) punitive - designed to punish the wrongdoer for particularly unsavory acts, usually intentional or extremely reckless.

In this case, since the companies actions were clearly intentional, the man would be entitled to punitive damages, which are normally calculated based on the earnings of the company. This is why there are often what people think are "ridiculously" high verdicts against large companies: there is a punitive component to the verdict because the plaintiff was able to show willful conduct and in many cases a pattern of willful conduct.

[LashL]

One could argue that, by knowingly continuing to hide the tape, the "crime" continued occuring until only recently.


But the crime was ongoing for the duration of the lawsuit, yes? The statute of limitations only starts at the date they admitted they witheld evidence.

eta: Beerina beat me to it.

It appears as though the exculpatory part of the video that showed the plaintiff putting the money for the US exchange into the cash register came to light in 1997 and his convictions were quashed, according to the Ontario Court of Appeal decision (http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/2008/may/2008ONCA0405.htm), so that part of the matter is still 11 years old.

It is not apparent from the judgment when the second exculpatory part of the video (showing the plaintiff putting $22 in the cash register) came to light, but certainly it was not until after the criminal case against the plaintiff had ended, and it is clear that the employer knew full well that it existed and STILL continued the prosecution of the man in a second trial in 1997 relating to the sweatshirt incident (of which he was acquitted).

In any event, I am not sure that there is any criminal charge that could be sustained against the employer as a result of its withholding the video evidence from the police, but the OCA certainly made clear findings of deliberate misconduct against them in the civil matter, which is why they upheld the verdict of malicious prosecution.

Mr. McNeil was treated abominably and I'm very glad that the OCA upheld the lower court's decision in his favour, and that he has been publicly exonerated and appropriately compensated.