Subscribe to The Ledger for expert weekly analysis on fintech’s big stories, delivered free to your inbox.
Quitting a job sometimes results in some bad blood, but the corporate breakup of a Georgia man and a car repair shop has taken things to new heights.
Andreas Flaten said his former employer dumped 91,500 pennies—that’s $915 worth—in his driveway after he left his job as a manager at A OK Walker Luxury Autoworks in Peachtree City, Ga. The coins, he said, were also covered in an oily substance he suspects might be power-steering fluid.
The cash drop was discovered on March 12. Flaten told the New York Times he believes the action was taken as a punishment after he quit his job and demanded the company pay him his final paycheck.
Miles Walker, the owner of the repair shop told CBS46, an Atlanta TV station, “I don’t know if I did that or not, I don’t really remember. … It doesn’t matter. He got paid. That’s all that matters. He’s a f*****g weenie for even bringing it up.”
More employees from A OK Walker Luxury Auto shop have come forward to talk about the toxic work environment. So I went to ask the owner about what started the whole conversation, paying employees in thousands of pennies. #peachtreecity @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/rTZtCC7Lv9
— Jamie S Kennedy (@Jamie_S_Kennedy) March 17, 2021
More employees from A OK Walker Luxury Auto shop have come forward to talk about the toxic work environment. So I went to ask the owner about what started the whole conversation, paying employees in thousands of pennies. #peachtreecity @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/rTZtCC7Lv9
Flaten said he quit the job because of broken promises over when he could leave each day to pick up his child from day care. He gave notice that he planned to quit late last year, but left earlier after further disagreements at the job. When he did not receive his final paycheck, he filed a claim with the U.S. Department of Labor, which reached out to the repair shop three times.
Flaten said the pennies were delivered by someone who he believes to be a current employee of the shop at 7 P.M. ET on March 12. The load, which weighed more than 500 lbs., came with a short, obscenity-ridden note, he said.
Labor department officials tell the Times that, while unusual, there’s nothing illegal about paying someone in pennies. With a little luck, the last laugh could be Flaten’s, though. Two years ago, an ultra-rare penny was found and sold for $204,000 at auction.
More must-read finance coverage from Fortune:
- The massive bull market rally is officially one year old. Where will stocks go from here?
- Intel’s CEO reveals new strategy: Go big or go home
- TSLA at $3,000? How Tesla could make—or miss—Cathie Wood’s new sky-high price target
- Commentary: “Open banking” tech could make the economy truly inclusive
- You could soon be paying $3 per gallon of gas