War-Veteran Mechanic Wins a $400,000 Settlement After Calling His Dirtbag Ex-Boss's Bluff

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jan 29, 2024 10:00 AM EST

Not many of us have the financial luxury to sue anybody. Even if we have a case of a hostile workplace or cut wages or unpaid overtime, usually the cost of a lawyer is enough to dissuade us from pursuing justice. Unfortunately, this is how a lot of blue-collar and minimum-wage employees are exploited time and time again. But there are stories of fabled heroes standing up for the little man, where justice prevails and dirtbag bosses get exactly what they deserve. 

This is that kind of story. 

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  • In our next tale, a war veteran was looking for work to simply stay busy and cover expenses. With his finances tied in a neat little bow and no debt to speak of, OP mostly wanted work to keep his hands busy. However, after years of mistreatment and labor law violations, OP decided to stand up for himself and his fellow coworkers. Scroll for all the details of this heroic story of how one man utterly destroyed the local corruption in one small town, simply because he called his ex-boss's bluff.

  • (TLDR at the bottom)

  • 01
    "You gonna sue me? Go ahead if you think you can afford it. I know how bad you need this job."
    via canva
  • 02
    r/r/Malicious Compliance Posted by u/Forsaken-Salad-1623 15 hours ago So sue me...Can do. XL OC I am a military veteran who was injured in Iraq, I mention only because it is important to the story. I worked for this company I say company but in reality it was a guy who owned a few businesses and he was the richest person in a very small town. It's important to say how I made it to this situation, I will try
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 03
    and make it quick so I can get to the steak and taters as it where. I joined the military before I even completed highschool late birthdays and all of that. I choose a military career path that I figured I would enjoy and since I love working on things I became a mechanic. It offered a great sign on bonus so that was a bonus. I went through basic only ever spending money on necessities so saved up quite a lot.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 04
    Saved even more through advanced training for my mos (military job) by the time I was done with both I had half of my sign on bonus and just short of an entire years pay in my bank account. At my age most would have splurged I invested in the stock market Bitcoin and paid off my parents house. A couple of deployments the other half of my bonus and the only thing I really ever spent money on outside of necessities was my hotrod. Needless to
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 05
    say I had some money saved up and invested it also. Long story short when I discharged I was pretty comfortable even after a nasty divorce. Don't get me wrong I didn't/don't have stupid money but because of the divorces a lot of stocks were cashed out split and if anyone follows Bitcoin over the past two decades you know how that turned out.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 06
    After my divorce I worked to recover what I lost and then just to keep busy. Like I said I love working as a mechanic and would bounce around where ever I felt like since a good mechanic can make money anywhere. After a decade of this I decided to set roots in a small town since it would be nice and quiet. By this point I was tired of always working on others people cars and wanted to devote time to working on my car. I
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 07
    bought a small house and saw a help wanted sign at the local lube shop. Figured it would be simple work for me and be something to cover my few expenses. I grab an application from the office getting all kinds of looks from the townies. Btw I am 6'3 since I discharged from the military I stopped cutting my hair and shaving and I have one full sleeve.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 08
    Needless to say most people cross the street instead of walk past. When I went to turn in my application to we will call her Sue the bookkeeper she ask me a couple of questions noticed I checked I was a veteran and puts a y on my application. Later that day sue calls me and ask if I would come back in to meet the owner let's call him Peter. I agree and sue says Peter will be there in an hour so if I come in then we can talk about the position.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 09
    I show up and Peters eyes bulge at first sight but we get to chatting and my southern charm wins him over, he tossed me a calendar that he had made of his car collection and ask me to name of the ones I recognized. There were a couple of mustangs a Ford gt a bricklin sv-1 a judge a demon a Pantera and a mxt. He was impressed that I knew what the sv-1 was and we chatted cars for a bit. He offered
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 10
    me the position and explained that I would be paid $100 dollars a day and that I would work mon-sat from 8-6 no overtime but I would get a full days pay even if we closed shop early for some reason, and eat when I could. I would be off every Sunday and one extra day during the week. Awesome start and work maybe a year no issues. Peter ask if I could help him out by
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 11
    being a relief worker for his other lube shops in neighboring towns, he says he will give me $20 every day for travel and basically I would be covering so guys could take days off at the other stores. I agreed and did this for about a year then disaster strikes Peter meets Karen and falls madly in love in the span of a month they are married and he starts supporting her and her gambling problem.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 12
    This is when all of the problems start, one week I notice my paycheck was only $250 and ask about it, sue tells me apparently there have been some changes and I should really speak to Peter about it. Sure no problem I call up Peter and ask if we can talk about somethings. He shows up with Karen in tow and when I asked why my pay was short he tells me it was because of the bad weather and us closing early affected the business, I would have
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 13
    let it go at that because Peter was a nice guy but Karen decided to speak." It isn't very fair to us to have to pay you for a full day if you don't work the full ten hours." I said that would be true if I wasn't on a negotiated day rate and if I get paid for each day I work not hourly that why I don't get paid 19 hrs overtime each week. She claims that's not how it works anymore that from now on I would be paid for the hours I worked and nothing else. Ok what ever you say Karen.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 14
    Fast forward to the next week we had a weeks worth of very busy days were we were open a couple hours later than normal to finish up with waiting customers. And I gave up one of my days off to cover for a sick coworker. So when what should have easily been over an $800 paycheck was only $600 I had some questions. I called Peter and asked him what was going on why I only got paid $600 and he says well that's what we agreed on a $100 a day. I look at him blankly and ask if he forgot about last wee
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 15
    Ok so at this point I am aggravated and that is when Karen walks and and ask so what is he Jabout now. I look at her coldly and say well I worked 80 hours last week and yall only paid me $600 she looks at me and says "you're contracted labor and you agreed to $100 per day so why would we pay you more than that." I look at Peter and ask is that how it is he just says you heard the lady.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 16
    I went home and convinced myself that I was only working to cover my few living expenses anyway the job isn't that hard. The only other things in this small town would have been assembling sheds or slinging chickens at a chicken plant. The next week one of the guys I work with is getting yelled at in front of customers by Karen about what she claims is an OSHA violation. She claims that as part owner of
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 17
    the company it his her responsibility to ensure that all OSHA regulations are met and his apparent violation was him wearing tinted safety glasses. Now this is BS because the bays faced east west and with how the cars pulled in top workers got the sun during the day and the pit worker got it in the evening I shake my head as I am walking in and like a T-Rex in a dinosaur movie it attracted karens attention and she decides to shout at me "you got something to say you big 1" and I just kept walkin
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 18
    I told Sue she needed to have a long talk with Peter before karens mouth wrote checks he would have to cash and she says I just keep the books don't involve me. So this behavior goes on another year and finally I am at my limit. On the day I started my malicious compliance I was in a very bad mood. I had woken up to news that a good friend of mine that was responsible for me surviving being blown up in Iraq was taken out by a drunk driver. Not wanting to deal
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 19
    with anyone I tell the shop I will be working pit all day and to just let me be these guys have been working with me a few years now and know something is up. I never once thought that this would be a day that I would need to deal with Karen, since I was working at the furthest shop from the main shop and it was in the opposite direction of the casinos. But I wasn't so lucky or maybe I was, Peter and Karen show up and she storms into the pit and scream Peter come look at this mess. I
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 20
    have no idea what she is talking about about because I always kept the pit spotless and would clean as I worked were a lot of others would clean at the end of the day. Her complaint was about 50 of the most common oil filters we would use in a day being stacked on my waste drums for easy access to me so I wouldn't have to wait to the top guys to hand me filters. I did this all of the time and Peter knew about it and never cared before he comes
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 21
    down looks around and tells me like he is talking to a teenager "clean up this pigsty. I shake my head and say todays not the day Peter move on and take her with you. This apparently infuriated Karen who of course thought it was the utmost disrespect to her and Peter, and he tells me if I don't like it I am free to leave so I left. Now don't freak out this story isn't over yet that it just the first flap of the butterflies wings that started a massive storm. The next day Peter calls me and
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 22
    ask me to swing by the main store on my way home. I think he is going to apologize about the day before figured one of the other guys might have told him why I was so on edge. No that was not what this was about. Peter was calling me in to inform me that for the next six months I would be on a probation period for my actions and for these 6 months I would only be paid $50 a day and I wouldn't receive the normal $20 a day I received for driving to the other shops. I ask if he is serious about thi
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 23
    This is when peters let his true colors shine he tells me I am lucky I wasn't fired for my constant disrespect towards him and the co owner Karen how if he didn't pitty me for being a struggling disabled veteran (I never once discussed my money with anyone I worked with why Peter thought I was broke and desperate was solely based on my appearance from what I could tell.)he would have fired me long ago.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 24
    Something inside me snapped and I just started laughing he asked me what I thought was so funny and I stood to my full height stepped to him like a drill sergeant about to give some wall to wall counseling and say you should re consider your life choices and who you choose to go into business with. Peter then says "what you gonna sue me or something go ahead if you think you can afford to what do you get from the va like $1000 dollars a month I know how bad you need this job."
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 25
    That wasn't my plan but it kicked in my malicious compliance and since I will always be a solider to go to war. That day I called a labor lawyer paid the 3k retainer and started my lawsuit for unsafe work environment, unpaid overtime, and minimum wage violations. All while continuing to work for him it was glorious but still not enough. It took about the 6months of my probation for the lawyer to get off of the paperwork together and filed
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 26
    slow rolling it on my request and this lawyer was a former marine so I think he had an idea of what I had in mind. After everything was ready my lawyer filed the paperwork and Peter and Karen were served at the main store while I was at work. They read the paperwork and the process server for my lawyer stuck around to be a witness to what I knew would be coming. When they read that I was suing them Karen and Peter flipped Peter shouts I should kick your you ungrateful piece of and Karen screams
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 27
    The process server recorded everything gave it to my lawyer who added to the law suit unlawful termination because it is illegal to fire an employee because they are suing you. The next day I opened up my lube shop carwash combo and started recruiting my former co-workers at higher pay plus commission. They also wanted to jump in on the lawsuit and my lawyer was more than happy to add them to it.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 28
    So 2 years down the road after subpoenas to get security footage from the shops, the books going back five years, and sworn testimonies we go to a mediation to settle they offer a measley 50k to split between the 15 of us on the lawsuit when that didn't even cover the unpaid overtime. We declined then our apache came in to save the day sent by the IRS delivered to my lawyer because of request for the company's tax documents. Peter held each lube shop as
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 29
    it's own individual llc each with it's own tax id and employment record. Peter and Karen thought it would be a smart move to file for a tax credit for employing a veteran at each of the 6 shops. In their filing they claimed that they employed a veteran me as a full time employee working a minimum 36hrs a week at rate of $12/hr. (the government gives a tax brake to companies that employee veterans)
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 30
    At the next mediation my lawyer presented the reports to their lawyer and the mediator and after a quick 20min discussion Peter and Karen came back and agreed to settle at our request of 400k in unpaid overtime to be split between 15 of us all legal fees and a personal settlement for the unlawful termination suit of 20k for each shop I was listed as an employee at as well as unpaid wages for the six months I was only paid $5 an hour. Their only demand was that we all agree to a gag order so that
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 31
    Of course we signed and we took our paychecks. But some how their tax paperwork made its way to just the right person at the IRS and they decided to audit Peter and Karen. And and investigation was opened on them for tax fraud. I sold the shop I opened to the guys that came over and jumped in on the lawsuit they each paid me 8k and I washed my hands of it. I put my house up for sale and moved away.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 32
    I did go back about 8 months later because the guy who was supposed to take care of the lawn had apparently been arrested and the yard went a few months without being cut before the city informed me that they were going to fine me $100 a day until it was brought to code so I went down to mow it my self while there I decided to check in with my realtor to see if there was anything we could do about yard maintenance and who do I see but little ol sue sitting pretty at the front desk.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 33
    Sue couldn't speak fast enough to tell me what all had happened and it was perfect. What I thought was an Apache turned out to be an atom bomb, Peter filed bankruptcy to try and not go broke after making a plea deal for probation for tax fraud and paying a ton in unpaid taxes Karen took off with some dude she met at a casino. I asked sue two questions if she knew who reported the fraudulent tax paperwork to the IRS and what happened
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 34
    with peters car collection she told me I have no idea and to check the parking behind the realtors office before leaving. On my way out I took a peak behind the realtors office to see a safety green sv-1 sitting there. Apparently Peter started selling off his cars early and cheap hoping he would be able to buy them back after filing bankruptcy.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 35
    To this day I have no idea who if anyone actually turned in the paperwork to the IRS. My personal theory is who ever was tasked with compiling it all with their claims noticed something strange and reported it. How ever it happened it couldn't have happened to anyone more deserving.
    via Forsaken-Salad-1623
  • 36
    harrywwc 15 hr. ago fwiw - Sue, being the Book- keeper was probably best placed to let the IRS know where all the skeletons were hidden. Also, she seems clued enough to be able to do it with "plausible deniability" ;)
    via harrywwc
  • 37
    IDICbeliever 14 hr. ago Wow, a lot to take in but I was cheering reading this. Why is it that the people others, violating labor laws, and falsifying IRS returns don't realize that one day they will off the wrong person? I guess you have to have a criminal mind.
    via ICICbeliever
  • 38
    jpl77 13 hr. ago TL;DR: Military veteran works for a small- town lube shop owner named Peter and his wife Karen. After enduring mistreatment and pay cuts, he initiates a lawsuit for unsafe work conditions, unpaid overtime, and minimum wage violations while still working for them. Peter and Karen offer a low settlement, but the IRS gets involved due to their tax fraud attempts. The veteran settles for a substantial amount, sells the business, and moves away, leaving Peter bankrupt and Karen with
    via jpl77

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employment issues boss employee lawyer work court wages underpaid minimum wage lawsuit osha mechanic workplace Horrible Bosses overtime suit bad bosses Reddit blue collar karen win
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