How to approach upcoming accusations of workplace theft?
employment attorney California Aug 6, 2026
Location: California I work as a supervisor at starbucks. During individual meetings as part of an ongoing investigation, two of the people who work under me were told that they had been caught on video giving away free drinks, which constitutes theft. Both admitted to this, and I suspect I may be sat down for one of these talks soon. I also have done this, admittedly, but this is regular practice at my store. Many members of the staff give away a few free drinks each day, as it used to be highly encouraged by the company and remains as a bit of a holdover practice to promote customer engagement. During these sit downs with the other two coworkers, loss prevention gave little detail besides telling the coworkers that they know that they are guilty. They told the two that by being cooperative they would make it easier on themselves, but this unfortunately led to them admitting many specific details, including that they are "committed theft", and vague guesses of what they had "stolen" ($1200 and $4000, respectively). The lack of concrete accusations makes me believe that loss prevention may just be probing, and does not have much hard evidence. I do not know how I should approach an upcoming talk with them. Do I refuse to speak without a lawyer? Do I ask for specific details? Do I deny the claims outright, hoping that they were only bluffing? I want to be cooperative if possible, but I don't know how to do so without saying too much. I've already accepted that I will probably lose my job either way, but I hope to avoid criminal charges or fines.
