Being Extorted, not sure what to do

[tributestar]

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.

 

[Ohiogal]

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.

You are NOT being extorted. And the company is NOT responsible for this damage quite frankly. YOU caused the damage and you should be the one to pay for it. Your employer can fire you for any reason not excluded by law if you are not under contract.

 

[commentator]

I'm sorry to have to point this out to you, but you are a temporary agency employee. You do NOT work for the trucking company, you were not on their payroll, and you are not one of their employees, and they don't even have to fire you.

The supervisor who told you his boss said they'd find seventeen different reasons to fire you legally was a dummy when it comes to labor laws, or his boss was, because his company won't be firing you. All they have to do is terminate your work at their company through the temporary agency.

As for you're not sure you should tell the temp agency, you don't have to, the employer, who is the "work site supervisor" can tell the temp agency he doesn't want you back, for no reason in particular, or because you dented a door or any other reason. And you can bet this temp agency will pull you off the job if their client tells them to.

If you wanted to try to keep your job assignment there, I'd say you'd have to work it out with the worksite company employee, and actually pay for the damage that happened from your own pocket.

And regardless, they have all the power to just get rid of you. I agree with you, it feels shady and rotten of them to do this to you, it shouldn't be fair, it wasn't your fault, and it's all about them being buddies with everybody else in this situation.

But that's what happens when people have a company. They get to do what they want to for the most part, give all the breaks to their sons and friends and relatives. They don't have to be fair even to their real employees. For temp workers who work on the site, there is nothing but the pay from the agency. You are a replaceable nonentity.

And even if you pay the money to fix the guy's door, which as you say, feels like you're being extorted, whether you are or not, there's nothing that guarantees they won't fire you immediately after you pay it.

They quite legally can tell your employer, the temp service, to terminate your assignment, at any time. They don't have to have a good reason. Just "we don't want this guy back here."

And when you're out of work, the trucking company is still not your employer. If you are out of work because they get rid of you from their worksite and the temp agency has no more work for you, you can and certainly should file for unemployment benefits, but your separating employer will be the temp service, not the trucking firm.

The unemployment system will not be interested in hearing the whole story about how they tried to get you to pay this money to keep your job. They'll only ask if the temp service has other work available for you and are you still registered with them.

I'd say that you're going to be looking for another job soon, even if you were to cough up the $350. So I might keep my money to help with my job search.

This company sounds a little shady to me, too, which means I feel like you don't need to try to buy your job assignment and keep going through the temp service to work for them. Even though what they're trying to do isn't illegal, they're giving you a pay up ultimatum, threatening you, and may be intending to get rid of you anyhow. But you're the one who has to decide.

 

[Mt_Vernon]

The OP should not pay a dime unless he gets a written promise that he will not be fired.

 

[Eekamouse]

The OP should not pay a dime unless he gets a written promise that he will not be fired.

Oh baloney. They don't have to promise him that. He should pay because he caused the damage to the vehicle. The company he is temping at doesn't have to do squat for him in exchange for paying for the damage to that car.

 

[eerelations]

The OP should not pay a dime unless he gets a written promise that he will not be fired.

Why on earth would they do that? Given that if the employee with the damaged car sues the OP, said employee will win?

Demanding a written promise is probably the best way OP could lose his job.

 

[commentator]

I still think he is soon to be off this job assignment. If he wants to try to work it out and pay for the door in installments or something, he still could do nothing stupider than demanding a letter that promised they wouldn't fire him, which as we've already gone through, he's not even their employee. And I'm repeating that there's no guarantee they won't end his assignment as soon as he has the man paid off. It's a chance he has to take. Maybe they'll agree to a repayment, and let him continue to work, but it's always up to them, they've certainly got all the power in this situation.

 

[Mt_Vernon]

He should pay because he caused the damage to the vehicle.

It was the wind that caused damage. The employee can argue in court that the damage was caused by wind, an act of God.

 

[Mt_Vernon]

And I'm repeating that there's no guarantee they won't end his assignment as soon as he has the man paid off. It's a chance he has to take. Maybe they'll agree to a repayment, and let him continue to work, but it's always up to them, they've certainly got all the power in this situation.

And that's why the OP should not pay a dime unless he is promised that his assignment will not be ended. There is no guarantee that a court will find the OP liable for any damages, and there is no guarantee that the OP will not lose his job even if he pays.

 

[cbg]

There is also no guarantee that a court will find that the wind is responsible, not the OP. Who opened the door in the first place? It wasn't the wind.

 

[TigerD]

The OP needs to notify his supervisor at the temp agency of what happened - from door to threats. Extorting a temp worker with threats of termination may be a violation of hte temp agency's contract with the company.

Regardless, the employee should not want to work for people that take that approach. There are so many things wrong here from business practices to incomplete info. The OP needs to talk to his employer -- the temp agency about the problem on the worksite.

DC

 

[commentator]

And he's unemployed or soon to be unemployed, and he's going to go to court for what? To sue his employer for the cost of the door? I don't think so. He certainly won't be suing them for any employment issue. Even if he has been terminated by the temp service, that was a legal termination no matter what happens with the car door issue, no suing going on there. A "promise' that his job won't end isn't binding in any situation.

If they sued HIM in small claims court, it could go either way, they could say yes, it was the employee's (0r FORMER employee of the temp service's fault, actually) that the door was damaged, and he owes the car's owner $350. Or the judge could say it was the wind and he wasn't responsible. But either way, he's out of work and very unlikely to have the $350 to pay for the damages.