Stealing in the Office, UGH!  

Don't worry much about this because in the first place, you did not really steal anything. Someone in your office is doing it and it is not you. I know how you feel about being accused because in that situation all of you are suspects. That is not a good feeling, unless the thief is finally caught. Maybe you should try putting a small camera in your office just to catch the real thief. It is hard to be suspicious of everybody.

Hi G

Sorry to hear about your situation, one which i have been in too. As long as you know that you're not guilty of any of it then there's no need to worry. I am sure it will be sorted out in the end, whether the thief owns up and returns the knives and money, or the police are brought in. In your employers defence i would have to say that they have no idea who the thief is so have to tar everybody with the same brush for the time being, so try not to take it personally.
I worked in a hotel and several t.v.'s went missing from the ground floor out the back door! The police were brought in and we were all piled into the meatwagon (lol.. police van) and taken to our houses to have them searched. I have never been so mortified in all my life! but these things happen.. the innocent walk free.

Alice :)

Unless the supervisor looked directly at you, nobody is accusing you of anything. In fact, right now, everybody, including your supervisor is a suspect. You have been there for 15 years. I'd look more at recent additions and whether the cleaning lady came herself or sent in a replacement. Could also have been an outsider, somebody who visited somebody who works there or a client.

What gives you the feeling that you are under suspicion?

The company I used to work for, well, food kept disappearing out of the fridges. People would put it there for lunch and it would be gone. Sometimes people would go out for lunch and store the leftovers in the fridge, and they were taken. Didn't happen every day, not even every week, but often enough to make people suspicious of each other, especially, when snack food started to disappear out of drawers. Well, we also had this director, who would sometimes asked for a taste of your food actually simply help himself if he was with friends. He definitely knew where people kept their snacks. People did suspect him but thought he is single, earns a huge salary, why would he take peoples' food. He never brought food with him and either went out for lunch or ordered something to be delivered to his office. Anyhow, he left to take a job with another company... and eventually we noticed that no food has gone missing since he had left... You draw your own conclusions.

Therefore, just because somebody seemingly has money doesn't mean they might not take something from the office, even something petty as knives or change out of petty cash.

Even you being the only Hispanic shouldn't have the fingers automatically pointing at you, that's just crazy. You have worked there for 15 years. People should know better.

My advice to you, don't immediately feel suspected. In fact, in this time and age, the way the economy is... well, I'd suspect one of the 'better offs'. The poor have long learned to live on a budget and to do without to make ends meet. The ones who have a lot to lose are those who are in debt up to their eyeballs having afforded themselves fancy houses and cars and vacations... Those are also the ones who want to cover up their misfortune of not being able to pay for it all. Here in my town there have been a lot of cases where those people took money that was entrusted to them as treasurers of clubs or churches.

So, keep your head up, you didn't do it. Keep your stuff locked up, if you can. You don't want your things to disappear. Somebody who has been tempted to take money out of petty cash might eventually take the opportunity to take a wallet out of a purse... Also, keep your eyes open. You might see something that might give away the actual thief!

Sorry you are going through this, but just because of your own background... it's not a reason to feel accused. Hold your head high girl!

It is not personal, she addressed the group because she knows somebody in the group did it, but it is not personal,

try not to take it that way, you did nothing wrong so you have nothing to worry about.