Walk It Through: The Last Paycheck
Paid in full the day of a firing, treble damages, and deliberate misconduct.
A bookkeeper is called into the office on a Thursday and let go.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One bookkeeper's last day. Pay periods, earned sick time, quits for good cause, and appeals inside the agency are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Treble damagesThree times the lost wages and benefits, which an employee who wins a wage claim is awarded as liquidated damages, with costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.
- Deliberate misconductMisconduct in wilful disregard of the employer's interest, one of the two reasons a discharged person is disqualified from benefits; the other is a knowing violation of a reasonable, uniformly enforced rule.