A man involved in a toxic dispute with his former boss has made a surprising discovery on his driveway – an enormous pile of oily coins.
A Georgia man who was having trouble getting the last pay cheque from his employer was shocked to discover its equivalent in pennies dumped in his driveway earlier this month.
Fayetteville’s Andreas Flaten had quit his job at Peachtree City’s A OK Walker Luxury Autoworks in November 2020.
He told WGCL-TV he had been at the automotive repair shop for a year – and had known his boss Miles Walker for eight years – but that “toxic” working conditions had taken a “toll” on him.
He gave his two weeks’ notice, writing a letter of resignation to Mr Walker who reportedly promised Mr Flaten’s final $915 cheque would be paid to him in January.
But, come January, the money never arrived and Flaten said his former boss accused him of damages.
He even called Georgia’s Department of Labor for assistance in the matter, without much luck.
Months later, Mr Flaten and his girlfriend, Olivia Oxley, were leaving his house when he noticed something at the end of his driveway: more than 91,000 oil or grease-covered pennies and an envelope with his final pay stub that was addressed with an explicit message: “F**k you!”
The pennies weigh more than 225kg in total, according to Fox 5 Atlanta, breaking the wheels of Mr Flaten’s wheelbarrow.
Dismayed by the incident, Ms Oxley took to social media with videos of the scene, writing on Facebook that “no one like that deserves to have [a] successful business”.
Mr Flaten called the move “childish” and noted that cleaning the pennies was “going to be a lot of work” for money he had already earned.
Now, his nights are spent cleaning the coins for hours at a time in order to be able to cash them in.
Ms Oxley declined to comment to Fox News on Thursday, explaining that the pair would be focusing their energy on finding resources to be able to get a “real payment” for Mr Flaten’s final cheque.Paying with coins in Australia
Not exceeding 20c if 1c and/or 2c coins are offered (coins withdrawn from circulation but are still legal tender)
Not exceeding $5 if any combination of 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins are offered
Not exceeding 10 times the face value of the coin if $1 or $2 coins are offered
Source: RBA
Mr Walker declined to comment.
Mr Walker spoke with WGCL-TV briefly, stating he didn’t know if he did or didn’t drop the pennies off at Mr Flaten’s house.
“I don’t really remember,” Mr Walker told the TV station. “It doesn’t matter. He got paid – that’s all that matters.”
Mr Walker went on to call Mr Flaten a “weenie”.
In Australia such a payment would be not be legal.
The Currency Act 1965 s 16 (1)(a) states payments in five cents, 10 cents, 20 cents or 50 cents or coins of two or more of those denominations – of more than $5 – are not considered legal tender.
Source: news.com.au/
