A Georgia auto repair shop owner, Miles Walker, has been ordered by a federal judge to pay nearly $40,000 to a former employee and several coworkers for back wages and damages. The dispute began when the employee, Andreas Flaten, contacted the U.S. Department of Labor after Walker failed to provide him with his final paycheck. In retaliation, Walker paid Flaten his wages of $915 in the form of 91,500 dirty, oily pennies, along with a pay stub marked with an expletive. Furthermore, Walker published defamatory statements about Flaten on the company's website.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Batten ruled that Walker not only violated wage laws by retaliating against Flaten but also failed to pay overtime wages to Flaten and eight other employees. The judge ordered Walker and his business, A OK Luxury Autoworks, to pay a total of $39,934, including back wages and liquidated damages. In addition, Walker was instructed to remove any references to Flaten from the company's website and social media pages and to prominently display the judgment at the repair shop.
This instance is just an example of the disdain that the capitalist class demonstrates towards the workers who perform the necessary labor and create their profits. The retaliatory measure of paying a worker in pennies was taken against the employee when wages were not received and the employer acted in a petty and vengeful manner to cause as much inconvenience and trouble to the employee as possible. The bourgeoisie feel contempt for the workers yet their wealth is created by the workers who they exploit to the maximum degree. Workers must learn and organize under the principles of Marxism-Leninism in order to end the exploitation of labor and end the exploitation of man by man.
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