- The auto shop owner was ordered to pay about $40,000 in unpaid wages and damages.
- Miles Walker once dumped 91,000 pennies in a former employee’s driveway.
- The US government sued him for repeated nonpayment of wages and unlawful retaliation.
An auto repair shop owner who dumped about $91,500 in a former employee’s driveway has been ordered by a federal judge to pay the employee about $40,000.
Miles Walker, owner of A OK Autoworks in Peachtree City, Georgia, has to pay $19,967 in unpaid wages and an additional $19,967 in damages.
He was being sued by the U.S. government for repeated nonpayment of wages and unlawful retaliation against former workers, according to a lawsuit seen by an insider.
Former A OK employee Andreas Flaten filed a complaint with the Labor Department in January 2021 after Walker failed to wire up his last paycheck of $915, an insider previously reported.
When Walker was contacted by the ministry, he said he would not pay Flatten a dime. He then dumped about 91,500 pennies of oil in Mr. Fratton’s driveway in Fayetteville, Georgia.
Walker left a copy of Flatten’s salary and a pile of pennies with swear words written on it.
Mr. Walker was ordered not to “threat or intimidate” or “retaliate or discriminate” by verbal or physical means against current or former employees of A OK.
He was also ordered to remove images and references to Flaten from A OK’s website and was prohibited from posting any references to him online.
Walker had a page about himself company website The post-hit penny stunt went viral to criticize coverage of the incident, insulting Fratton, who he didn’t name but called a “substandard ex-employee.” This page is no longer available on his website at the company.
Fratton told an insider at the time that he didn’t mind Walker’s insults, saying he “just ignores them” like when dealing with an “angry toddler.”
“The court sent a clear message to employers like Miles Walker who exposed their employees to unfair wage practices and outright intimidation and retaliation,” said Atlanta Department of Labor District Attorney Tremmell Howard. rice field. media statement June 13th.
OK Autoworks did not respond to an insider’s request for comment outside of normal business hours.