A petty decision to pay an employee his final paycheck of $915 in oil-covered pennies, will end up costing a Georgia auto shop a lot of money. That’s the decision in a case brought against AOK Walker Luxury Autoworks and its owner Miles Walker by the U.S. Department of Labor.
If the oil-covered pennies sound familiar to you, that’s because we covered the story back in March 2021. The sum was given to Andreas Flaten after he resigned his position, citing a dispute with his employer over his need to perform childcare duties—an arrangement they had agreed to before he started working there.
Following his decision to resign, his last paycheck was delivered to him on his driveway, in the form of 91,500 oil-covered pennies. On top of the pile, there was a pay stub marked with an expletive and the company published defamatory statements about Flaten on its website, according to a news brief from the Department of Labor.
More: Autoshop Manager Paid Final Salary In 91,500 Oil-Covered Pennies
What was perhaps more concerning to the department was its determination that Miles Walker, the owner of AOK Walker Luxury Autoworks, had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying Flaten and other workers overtime. Instead, it paid them a flat rate, even after they were legally required to pay a higher rate.
As a result, the court has ordered the shop‘s operator to pay $39,934 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to nine workers. The shop must also remove photographs and references to Flaten, and never post about him again. It must finally post the consent judgment in its facility, as well as a fact sheet about employee rights.
“The court has sent a clear message to employers such as Miles Walker who subject employees to unfair wage practices and outright intimidation and retaliation,” said Tremelle Howard, Department of Labor regional solicitor. “Employers who mistakenly believe they can willfully violate labor laws at the expense of employees and competitors must understand that we will do everything within our rights to bring them to justice.”
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