Comments on: ‘You’re laid off — and you owe us money’

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:10:44 +0000

Well said Judy!

By: Judy Buckley

Judy Buckley — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:50:28 +0000

I agree with Paige. Human beings (in this case bank employees) do make mistakes. I don’t agree with Nivek that the bank did anything unethical in asking for the return of this money. You can bet your last dollar that if the situation were an exorbitant fee or bill (we’ve seen the stories of the $100 thousand plus utility bills) the recipient would have been on the phone in a New York minute to get that straightened out. This man allowed himself to succumb to temptation. Anyone should know (aside from the basic honesty issue) that the bank would catch that error pretty quickly.

By: Paige

Paige — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:59:56 +0000

Nivek, that was a silly post. He was more than “not necessarily innocent” he was downright guilty! The bank didn’t mistakenly but $10.00 in his account – it was $10,000. Anyone in their right mind would know the mistake would be discovered eventually and would be crazy to spend the money. Also, any honest person would definately report it immediately. He should be put in jail for stealing even though the bank was at fault for depositing the $10,000. There was NO WAY the bank should even consider letting him keep the money. What idiot would think it was a gift from the Heavens?

By: Nivek

Nivek — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:00:19 +0000

Basically this whole thing is like a story I once read in the Times Tribune about sixish months ago. It goes like this: A man wakes up one morning, checks his ATM balance, and finds an extra ten thousand dollars in his checking account. He sees it as a gift from heaven in troubled times and spends it paying off his bills, buying creature comforts, or whatever. His bank, who made the mistake, wanted their money back and sued to get it back. They made a mistake, and he was at fault.

Long story short they made a mistake and punished a questionably innocent man for it. Is it legal what they did? Yes. Is it also unethical as well? You guessed it baby it was very unethical. Basically if I hire someone to juggle bricks for five hundred dollars an hour and accidentaly pay them seven hundred dollars an hour, I have the right to my money back because of employer/employee agreement. Or in the case of the man and his bank contract of services and incessant fine print that gives everyone headaches.

Alas I digress, the man himself was not necessarily innocent. His inability to check with the bank concerning his unearned and rather excessive funds caused him to be guilty by means of inaction. He could have avoided the whole situation and lived with his less than ten dollar account balance simply by calling his bank and reporting the whole deal. Arguably the employees are also guilty for not noticing the error in their severance pay.

C’est la vie, people are greedy by nature. Long story short: you are responsible for keeping track of your finances and not spending money you didn’t earn just in case an employer/uncle sam/banks/the crazy creole beatnik chef/etc. overpays you.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:49:28 +0000

SUE –

Forward the e-mail they sent you about the overpayment to be taken from future checks right back to them and ask why this has not been done.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:46:37 +0000

I actually had this happen to me. Well… there were a few differences, 1st I am still employed with this company. It is a work at home type company. They have thousands of employees I am told. I have never talked to anyone in HR. My only communication is by email. When the overpayment occurred, we were told that the amounts would come out of the next few pay checks. As they did not consider the legal ramifications for the part time people, they still have not taken the overpayment and it is now 6 months later. The total amount is about $40 and change. I just received an email that explains that this is going to collections Since I have failed to repay the amount due. Personally I am at a loss. The over pay me, they don’t pull it back out of future wages, and now it goes to collections???

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:58:36 +0000

You bet that everyone that got shorted would be jumping up and down!! MS at least contacted the people. If it had been the government that over paid, they would have just debited your bank account for the over payment. It happens with SS checks that are paid to people that pass away before the 3rd of the month, every month. I am not saying they should have used more thought, they should have

By: JDK

JDK — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:38:26 +0000

A similar thing happened to me with a previous employer. I was overpaid $10,000 on my severance check. I contacted my former employer immediately and many times over the next 7 months before they finally reconciled it. Friends told me, “go ahead and keep it, it is their mistake”, “they’re a big company, they can afford it”, etc. Ethically, I could not have done it any other way, although I believe that if I had not repeatedly contacted them, they would never have caught it.

By: mike R

mike R — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:34:59 +0000

After reading all the comments: it appears that if an ex-employee is in possession of money or equipment that belongs to the company, the only way to get it back is to ask or take to court and hope for a judgement. And if a judgement is issued, hope that the individual will be able to pay (they are unemployed now).

I find it interesting how many find that the company management should “forgive” these errors when they are found. I guess it is because the harm to the company seems much less than the harm to the individual. However, this money is not a manager’s to give or take. It belongs to the company which has an obligation to its shareholders/investors. Sometimes to avoid a lawsuit or to avoid negative PR a company may “forgive” such errors. The same goes for the CEO or other executive who spends an ellaborate amount on office decorations or a party. If the return on this investment cannot be justified, it shouldn’t be happening. When I see the current economic crisis, I see so many people hurt by losses in their retirement accounts (investments) due to a bunch of managers who did not manage their companies to make a profit. Well, I suppose a few managed their companies so THEY would make a profit, but I meant the company’s bottom line.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:58:50 +0000

A number of the responses on here are the very reason the world is in this major recession.

Too many people have this sense of entitlement – the world owes it to them.

Earn your way through life –

You do not deserve anything that you have not earned!

me me me me me me me me me – Shut up – work hard and be happy!