In 2016, Andreas Flaten from Georgia had a rough day at work — and an even rougher exit. After quitting his job at a local auto repair shop due to mistreatment, he was told his final paycheck would be mailed.
Months passed. No check arrived. He called, emailed, complained. Nothing.
Then one night, he heard a loud clank outside.
He opened the door to find a giant pile of pennies dumped in his driveway — all 91,515 of them, totaling $915 in wages. The coins were covered in oil and grease, making them difficult to collect or even transport.
Sitting on top of the pile? A pay stub, with an expletive scrawled across it.
Andreas spent weeks cleaning the coins, eventually storing them in five-gallon buckets. The story went viral, and major outlets picked it up. In response, the IRS got involved, as the employer was accused of wage retaliation and workplace abuse.
The public was outraged. A coin-counting company offered to pick up the pennies, clean them, and cash them for Andreas — for free. He later said:
“I’d rather be paid in kindness than coins.”
The employer was fined, and new labor legislation in Georgia referenced the case as an example of “malicious compliance.”
