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A Colorado business facing legal action from a subcontractor attempted to pay off its $23,500 debt with tons of coins. JMF Enterprises reportedly tried to repay Fired Up Fabrication with over 6,500 pounds of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies -- a move that's being called a "symbolic middle finger" to the subcontractor, CBS Colorado reported.
"I think the thought was my clients would have to accept it and it's a giant waste of time and a major F-U," Danielle Beem, the attorney representing Fired Up Fabrications, told reporters.
According to court papers obtained by the news station, JMF hired the plaintiff to do welding work on an apartment building. Fired Up Fabrications claims they weren't paid for their work and proceeded to file a civil lawsuit against the JMF.
Both companies went to remediation in July, where JMF agreed to pay the $23,500 to settle the financial dispute. Over a month later, Beem alleges she got a call from the driver of a flatbed truck that came to deliver thousands of pounds of "loose coins." The heavy payment reportedly "required a forklift to move" and couldn't be supported by her office's freight elevator.
"Even if I wanted to take this box of coins, I had no way of doing so," Beem told CBS Colorado. "It's petty and a grand waste of time."
Giovanni Camacho, JMF's attorney, wrote in court pleadings that, "the coins, being current coin of the realm, constituted a tender of the settlement funds, and therefore, JMF has complied with the terms of the agreement. The settlement agreement did not outline any specific form for the payment."
The defendant asked the judge to force the plaintiffs to accept the coins, but Beam said the judge found the stunt "malicious" and may force JMF to pay off the debts with a standard form of payment, like a check. No word on the next court date.