Colorado judge says company acted "maliciously and in bad faith" in coin stunt
A Larimer County judge ruled late on Monday that a Northern Colorado welding company acted "maliciously and in bad faith" when it paid a $23,500 settlement to a subcontractor all in coins that ended up weighing more than three tons.
Judge Joseph Findley ordered JMF Enterprises and its owner John Frank to pay a subcontractor, Fired Up Fabrication, by a more conventional method like a check, and further ordered the company to pay Fired Up Fabrication's attorneys fees and costs, with the Judge writing that JMF's coin stunt delayed the case being closed, and was intended to annoy and harass Fired Up Fabrication.
JMF's owner, John Frank, and the company attorney, Giovanni Camacho, have not responded to numerous requests for comment from CBS News Colorado.
The case began when Fired Up Fabrication said it acted as a subcontractor for JMF, but the company refused to pay it. The sub filed a lawsuit that went to arbitration. The two sides agreed to settle, with JMF paying its subcontractor $23,500.
But when it came time to pay, JMF sent a flatbed truck loaded with a specially constructed box jammed with coins that weighed 6,500 pounds. The box was filled with loose quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. JMF attempted to have the box delivered in August to Fired Up Fabrication's attorney, Danielle Beem, at her downtown Denver office.
Beem called the tactic "petty and a grand waste of time" and said the coin delivery was "a symbolic middle finger." She said, even if she had wanted to accept the awkward payment, she couldn't since her buildings freight elevator can only hold a maximum of 3,000 pounds. She called the attempted coin delivery "a major F-U."
Findley appeared to agree with Beem's assessment in his four-page ruling. He noted, "The defendants apparently obtained the coins in various denominations in neatly organized boxes but then took the extra step of removing the coins from the boxes and dumping them loosely and randomly into the large metal container. The court finds that the defendants acted maliciously and in bad faith."
Beem told CBS News Colorado, "I appreciate the judge's order. I am hopeful that this will resolve this matter so all parties can move on."
In ordering JMF to pay attorneys fees and costs, Findley wrote the coin stunt was, "a tactic aimed at frustrating and undermining the Plaintiff's ability to receive the full benefit of its bargain by making payment so cumbersome and costly as to reduce the net amount of the settlement."
The Judge gave JMF 14 days to cough up a check, certified bank check or some other standard manner of payment to pay what it owes.
Beem told CBS News Colorado she is asking for more than $8,000 in attorneys fees from JMF — not payable in coins.
RELATED: Colorado business pays debt with more than 3 tons of coins: "A major F-U" says recipient