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US2 min(s) read
Published 19:37 07 Jan 2022 GMT
A Georgia repair shop owner is being sued after he dumped $90,000 worth of oily pennies in an ex-employees driveway.
The pile of pennies was topped with a note reading: "F*** You."
Employee Andreas Flaten resigned from his position at A OK Walker Autoworks due to a bitter pay dispute in 2020.
Unbelievably, his boss - owner Miles Walker - took their argument to the next level by delivering Flaten's final paycheck in oil-covered pennies, which he dumped outside Flaten's home in March 2021.
Now, The Independent reports that the US Department of Labor has filed a federal complaint against Walker and his company for violating retaliation prohibition.
Walker's retaliation could cost him thousands of dollars, as the department seek back $36,971 for his actions.
Flaten's girlfriend, Olivia Oxley, posted a video of the pennies to Instagram in March 2021 with a scathing review of the boss' behavior.
In the clip, the dirty pennies can be seen piled high on Flaten's driveway.
"My boyfriend's last paycheck delivered at the end of the driveway in pennies....at 8pm on a Friday," Oxley wrote in the caption, before explaining that it had arrived over four months after he quit.
"First things first, when he quit he gave a written resignation letter complete with a two weeks notice.
"My boyfriend respectfully delivered his uniforms washed and in a box complete with another letter as to why he was leaving early.
"Fast forward 3 months and he was refusing to send out the last paycheck claiming damages to the shop."
Oxley then explained the struggle they had faced removing the pennies from Flaten's driveway. In a press release, the labor department confirmed that it took almost seven hours to clear the oily coins.
She finished by naming and shaming Walker, writing: "Bring him down. No one like that deserves to have a successful business."
Now, it looks like the labor department agrees with Oxley - having concluded that Walker violated the Fair Labour Standards Act and did not comply with overtime procedures by failing to pay the overtime rate.
Wage and hour division’s district director Steven Salazar said: "By law, worker engagement with the U.S. Department of Labour is protected activity.
"Workers are entitled to receive information about their rights in the workplace and obtain the wages they earned without fear of harassment or intimidation."
