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Twist after mechanic's spiteful act to pay back employee

A global company has stepped in to solve quite a “coinundrum” for a man who received his final pay cheque in coins.

Andreas Flaten’s former employer dumped at least 90,000 pennies on his driveway last month as a form of final payment for his work at an auto shop.

When Washington-based Coinstar heard about his predicament, they decided that change was needed.

A wheelbarrow full of pennies
Andreas Flaten’s former employer dumped at least 90,000 pennies on his driveway as a form of final payment for his work at an auto shop. Source: AP

They picked up Mr Flaten’s coins on Thursday (local time) and rounded up the amount to give him a $1000 (A$1315) cheque.

They also made donations to two charities of Mr Flaten’s choosing: two animal shelters.

“Coinstar has been in the coin business for 30 years and we process approximately 41 billion coins annually – so picking up 91,000 pennies was all in a day’s work,” Coinstar CEO Jim Gaherity said in a statement.

Crude note on pile of pennies

Mr Flaten said his former employer — A OK Walker Autoworks in Peachtree City — owed him $915 (A$1200) after he left his job there in November.

He finally got his pay last month in the form of thousands of oil or grease-covered pennies dumped at the end of his driveway in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Atop the pile: an envelope with Flaten’s final paystub and a goodbye note that bluntly said "F*** you".

Mr Flaten had been spending an hour or two every night trying to clean the pennies, which he stored in a wheelbarrow in his garage.

“I was spending an hour or two a night trying to clean the pennies and probably only cleaned off about $5 worth. I was so relieved and grateful that Coinstar agreed to help me,” Mr Flaten said.

The owner of the auto shop, Miles Walker, told WGCL-TV that he didn’t know if he did or didn’t drop the pennies off at Mr Flaten’s house.

“I don’t really remember,” Mr Walker said.

“It doesn’t matter. He got paid, that’s all that matters.”

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