A worker resigned from his job after receiving a mistaken payment of 330 times his regular salary and successfully defended his right to keep the funds in a legal battle.
The individual, employed at the Consorcio Industrial de Alimentos de Chile, mistakenly received 165 million Chilean pesos (£126,860) instead of his typical 500,000 pesos (£385) salary in May 2022 due to an administrative error. Following the discovery of the error, the company requested the office assistant to return the excess amount, stating that an agreement had been reached during a meeting with the human resources department.
However, the worker resigned three days later without reimbursing the money, prompting the corporation to file a lawsuit against him for theft, leading to a three-year legal dispute. If found guilty of theft, the individual could have faced fines and a potential jail term of up to 540 days. Nevertheless, in September, judges in Santiago, Chile dismissed the charges, concluding that the incident constituted an “unauthorized collection” rather than theft.
Since the court ruled it was not a theft, legal proceedings could not proceed further. Despite the court’s decision, the company announced its intention to appeal the ruling in pursuit of recovering the funds.
In a statement, the Food Industrial Consortium expressed its determination to pursue all available legal avenues, particularly through an appeal for annulment, to challenge the court’s decision. The case comes in the wake of reports about a teacher in Germany who took sick leave for 16 years while receiving her full salary without detection by the school.
The teacher, specializing in biology and geography, commenced leave in August 2009 due to chronic illness and psychological issues. A required medical evaluation after three months of absence never occurred, and her sick leave was repeatedly extended for nearly two decades.
Reportedly earning between €5,051 (£4,369) and €6,174 (£5,341) monthly, the teacher remained unnoticed until a change in management in 2024 uncovered the oversight that persisted for 20 years. Dorothee Feller, the education minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, expressed astonishment at the case and announced plans for a thorough examination of the teacher’s health status.
