tributestar
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Utah
I work at a company that has a 20 truck fleet and workers that steal alot, so my job is to ensure that the cabs of the trucks do not contain materials or equipment unaccounted for. So a couple days ago, I was fishing around one vehicle and the wind pulled the door open to its full extent and grazed the side of the bumper of an employee's sedan. I immediately went to the employee and brought him to his car, explained what happened, then reported the accident to my boss, the head of the facility.
Yesterday when I got to work, I was pulled into a closed door meeting where it was just me and my boss and he explained to me that the Owner of the company refused to pay for the damages. My boss then told me this: "You need to work with this employee and come to some kind of agreement, quietly, to take care of this." (The estimate for damages was $350). I told him I couldn't afford this and he said I would have to work something out with the employee. I agreed and mentioned that the company should be aware that if I am on the clock, on their payroll, on company property, its the responsibility of the company to cover these kinds of cost. My boss then told me that the Owner was prepared to find 17 (odd) different ways to legitimately fire me if I didn't make it go away quietly. My boss then said he really wanted me to stay and it was out of his hands and that I should do the right thing.
I have no idea what the right thing is, but I feel like I am getting royally screwed here. The other elements to this are that I am a temporary employee and this is the first job in six years that I have found that is paying me more than $10 an hour. My coworker that got me the job told me another dynamic. The employee whose car I damaged, is the brother of the former assistant to the facility where I work and best friend of my boss. Also the company I work for uses a temp agency for all new hires and the manager is the father of the employee of the damaged vehicle (not sure if I should report it to the temp agency or not).
I understand this has the makings of a soap opera but I would appreciate any advice that be of help.
I work at a company that has a 20 truck fleet and workers that steal alot, so my job is to ensure that the cabs of the trucks do not contain materials or equipment unaccounted for. So a couple days ago, I was fishing around one vehicle and the wind pulled the door open to its full extent and grazed the side of the bumper of an employee's sedan. I immediately went to the employee and brought him to his car, explained what happened, then reported the accident to my boss, the head of the facility.
Yesterday when I got to work, I was pulled into a closed door meeting where it was just me and my boss and he explained to me that the Owner of the company refused to pay for the damages. My boss then told me this: "You need to work with this employee and come to some kind of agreement, quietly, to take care of this." (The estimate for damages was $350). I told him I couldn't afford this and he said I would have to work something out with the employee. I agreed and mentioned that the company should be aware that if I am on the clock, on their payroll, on company property, its the responsibility of the company to cover these kinds of cost. My boss then told me that the Owner was prepared to find 17 (odd) different ways to legitimately fire me if I didn't make it go away quietly. My boss then said he really wanted me to stay and it was out of his hands and that I should do the right thing.
I have no idea what the right thing is, but I feel like I am getting royally screwed here. The other elements to this are that I am a temporary employee and this is the first job in six years that I have found that is paying me more than $10 an hour. My coworker that got me the job told me another dynamic. The employee whose car I damaged, is the brother of the former assistant to the facility where I work and best friend of my boss. Also the company I work for uses a temp agency for all new hires and the manager is the father of the employee of the damaged vehicle (not sure if I should report it to the temp agency or not).
I understand this has the makings of a soap opera but I would appreciate any advice that be of help.
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