# Customer gives Target cashier a $100 gift card **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862 "2013-12-21T00:21:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/121 "2013-12-26T16:18:30Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > The point was IF she was considered TIPPED, target could claim it to reduce the MW. They aren’t claiming it to reduce the minimum wage, so this is irrelevant. You are attempting to phrase an argument that operates to their benefit - the fact that she is a non-tipped worker paid minimum wage or better - to their detriment. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/122 "2013-12-26T17:19:02Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > The card is her property, regardless of what the handbook states, so yes, IMO, is it THEFT is they insist she give under duress. > > I can see you are no legal expert either, and I never claimed to be one, even in my OWN state. You call yourself “lawbuff” so I was riffing on that. It’s not theft if she signed a contract that said what would happen under those circumstances and management did things by the book. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/123 "2013-12-26T18:15:15Z")
> [@runningdude](#): > > She accepted a form of payment (the gift card) while working as a cashier at a cash register. By pocketing the card, _she_ could have been charged with theft. No, the customer did not pay for his purchases WITH the gift card, that was seperate. The GC was for her. Target received thier money. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/124 "2013-12-26T18:16:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > You call yourself “lawbuff” so I was riffing on that. So what, I have corrected lawyers on forums before, that makes me an expert? No! ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/125 "2013-12-26T18:17:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They aren’t claiming it to reduce the minimum wage, so this is irrelevant. You are attempting to phrase an argument that operates to their benefit - the fact that she is a non-tipped worker paid minimum wage or better - to their detriment. So my Q is, can they demand it inside the law as thiers, period?? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/126 "2013-12-26T18:39:14Z")
She is their employee, so yes. As a general matter, the law says what employers _can’t_ do, not what they can. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/127 "2013-12-26T18:49:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > She is their employee, so yes. As a general matter, the law says what employers _can’t_ do, not what they can. Not sure I agree with that. As a comparison, which of course is not related, in Ohio if I find a$100.00 bill on the floor of a big box store I work at, it is legally mine, not the stores, even if the handbook says I have to turn it in. Therefore, demanding I give it to them as a bailment is not legal. I would think the same applies to a GC? Of course, state laws are specific in nature, we both know that. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/128 "2013-12-26T18:50:15Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > So my Q is, can they demand it inside the law as thiers, period?? If the employee contract spells it out that way, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/129 "2013-12-26T18:52:02Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > Not sure I agree with that. > > As a comparison, which of course is not related, in Ohio if I find a$100.00 bill on the floor of a big box store I work at, it is legally mine, not the stores, even if the handbook says I have to turn it in. > > Therefore, demanding I give it to them as a bailment is not legal. > > I would think the same applies to a GC? > > Of course, state laws are specific in nature, we both know that. Are you sure it doesn’t legally remain the property of the person who lost it, subject to your secondary claim? ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/130 "2013-12-26T18:52:32Z")
It wouldn’t have mattered if the gift was a gift card, a puppy, a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, or a cotton candy machine. If the handbook has a clause against accepting tips/gifts from customers during working hours, she was in violation of their policy whether she knew it or not, and she would have had to hand it over or risk being fired. Every job I’ve had has had me sign an employment agreement with a blurb along the lines of “I agree to follow the rules laid out in the employee handbook and understand that violating them means they can fire my ass” right above my signature. This is a legally binding contract so yes, it is 100% legal for store management to take it from her. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/131 "2013-12-26T18:52:45Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > If the employee contract spells it out that way, why not? As I pointed out in another post, many courts do not consider provisions of a handbook as a contract for employment law purposes, and also, even if it was considered a contract, it may be void as against PP. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/132 "2013-12-26T18:54:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Are you sure it doesn’t legally remain the property of the person who lost it, subject to your secondary claim? It is legally mine and I have a claim against it except to the actual owner, but the law states I do not have to hue and cry in the streets to find them. NOW, if it had an ID in it, like in a money clip, then I know who the actual owner is, so keeping it is theft. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/133 "2013-12-26T18:59:25Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Are you sure it doesn’t legally remain the property of the person who lost it, subject to your secondary claim? Here is a case I have in my head on MISLAID property, but it discusses LOST property also; The law is not exact in this case on who is the owner of lost property, but I have read that before in Ohio Jur. 3rd. In contrast, “lost property” is defined as follows: "\* \* \* property which the owner has involuntarily parted with through neglect, carelessness, or inadvertence, that is, property which the owner has unwittingly suffered to pass out of his possession and the whereabouts of which he has no knowledge. \* \* \* [1 Ohio Jurisprudence 3d 22, Abandoned Property, Section 12.] “\* \* \* [A]rticles which are accidentally dropped in any public place, public thoroughfare, or street, are lost in the legal sense. \* \* \* [1 Ohio Jurisprudence 3d 23, Abandoned Property, Section 13.]” (Emphasis added and footnote omitted.) The substance then, of this court’s analysis, must be a determination of whether the property in question is legally “lost” or legally “mislaid.” > **[RAY v. FLOWER HOSPITAL | 1 Ohio App... | app3d127190 | Leagle.com](https://www.leagle.com/decision/19811281ohioapp3d127190)** > > CONNORS P.J. This cause comes before the court upon an appeal from the granting of plaintiff s motion for summary judgment...app3d127190 ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/134 "2013-12-26T19:03:55Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > Not sure I agree with that. > > As a comparison, which of course is not related, in Ohio if I find a$100.00 bill on the floor of a big box store I work at, it is legally mine, not the stores, even if the handbook says I have to turn it in. > > Therefore, demanding I give it to them as a bailment is not legal. > > I would think the same applies to a GC? > > Of course, state laws are specific in nature, we both know that. But if you sign the employee agreement for BigBoxCo. you’re agreeing to play by their corporate rules, and the handbook rules would come before state law. There’s nothing to stop you just quickly stuffing it into your pocket and hoping no one saw you but if you were caught, “I found it! Mine mine mine you can’t have it!” isn’t going to work very well as a defense. It’s like on this very message board. I can’t say “fuck off and die, PosterXYZ!” because that’s against the rules I agreed to follow when I registered here, and I’d get warned for it. Squawking about free speech and whatnot wouldn’t do any good because on the SDMB, we follow the SDMB rules. Out in meatspace, I can indeed tell people to FOAD without breaking any laws. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/135 "2013-12-26T19:13:25Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > But if you sign the employee agreement for BigBoxCo. you’re agreeing to play by their corporate rules, and the handbook rules would come before state law. No, I definately disagree with that legal premise, handbook policies not not override/pre-empt law, federal, state or local. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/136 "2013-12-26T19:20:00Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > No, I definately disagree with that legal premise, handbook policies not not override/pre-empt law, federal, state or local. You’re correct in general, of course. Is there a law that says that tips and/or gifts must be accepted? ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/137 "2013-12-26T19:26:53Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Is there a law that says that tips and/or gifts must be accepted? If you are a tipped employee, you must accept tips, as your MW payout from the employer is calculated on that. I used to work in a grocery store and a woman left her purse in the cart, and I ran it out to her, she insisted on giving me a tip, I said no, but she stuffed it in my shirt pocket and left. I could not very well stuff it back on her! ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/138 "2013-12-26T19:43:07Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > No, I definately disagree with that legal premise, handbook policies not not override/pre-empt law, federal, state or local. Yeah, I shouldn’t have have put it in terms of handbook vs law. I stand behind my overall point though, which is if their corporate policy requires you to turn in found money/valuables and you don’t follow it, they are 100% justified in either confiscating the money or firing you if you won’t hand it over. Because you agreed to follow those rules when you took the job. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/139 "2013-12-26T20:02:23Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > If you are a tipped employee, you must accept tips, as your MW payout from the employer is calculated on that. Of course but as you well know, cashiers are Target are not tipped employees. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862/140 "2013-12-26T20:14:58Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > As a comparison, which of course is not related, in Ohio if I find a$100.00 bill on the floor of a big box store I work at, it is legally mine, not the stores, even if the handbook says I have to turn it in. Why do you keep throwing up irrelevant comparisons; lost money, minimum wage requirements for tipped employees, etc? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/customer-gives-target-cashier-a-100-gift-card/676862.md?page=8)