The things some employers do to get the most out of their workers are oftentimes abusive, if not downright inhumane. Such can be said of one food shop manager in Idaho who wanted their employee to climb into a dark, gunk-filled dumpster in the middle of the freezing cold night to retrieve a trash can. Of course, no one in their right mind would agree to that, so the manager tried forcing his worker to do so by threatening to cut their pay.
The whole fiasco started when the worker, an Idaho college student who was allegedly working illegally under the table for the food shop employer, was cleaning out a very poorly maintained sink during late hours. “I didn’t know it was going to be disgusting until he called me and said that it was going to smell horrible,” the worker explained on Reddit. “He doesn’t even have proper equipment for me to clean it.” Yet, the young employee pulled through, shoving toilet paper into their nose while struggling to breathe due to the stench filling up the shop.
After scooping out the nasty gunk into a trash bag, the worker then balanced the heavy load over the dumpster to throw it away. Weighing well over 40 pounds, the trash bin gave way, falling into the dark, dank recess of the dumpster. Once the boss found out, he was furious, claiming the trash bin was expensive. “He then threatened me that if I don’t get this $130 bin out, he’ll take some of my paycheck to replace the bin,” the worker stated.
In the end, the Idaho worker said they quit their illegal position, as the hassle of dealing with both the paycheck cut and the abusive employer wasn’t worth the mental stress when they have grades to worry about passing. Still, they wonder if they should be taking any legal action about the whole ordeal and asked r/legaladvice on what they should do.
“Call OSHA/Dept of labor,” read the top-upvoted comment. Another user agreed, saying that just the cleaning task without PPE is likely illegal. “He should pay you an extra $130 for doing whatever the heck that task is,” said a third. “That’s lowkey exploitation. You’re not a plumber.” Other commenters chimed in, saying how the employer would likely be in even bigger trouble once the state found out he’s employing workers illegally without proper legalities. That said, if the college student wants to retrieve his last paycheck, he’s going to have some explaining to do to the authorities, but things should hopefully land in their favor.
