Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

Curious to see how this plays out. There's no way I would have spent that money. Too good to be true....

[countryboy]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

if we can all learn something from this, its that one should always proofread a check before handing it to somebody.

[GAMEC0CK2002]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

if we can all learn something from this, its that one should always proofread a check before handing it to somebody.

yeah. somebody is probably dusting off the resume, because of this.

[J0nnD0ugh]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

I don't see where ND has a case. Especially if she was feeding Charlie Weis. Everybody knows he has special appreciation for a nice spread.

[deaduck]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

Even as a clerical error...Who tips $29.37 ?

Unless the University has a hard line 10% tip only and the bill total was $293.70 and if that's the case...the University has been robbing waitress/waiters over the long haul.

[Whitesox]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

What I think is that she got the check, and decided she should cash and spend it before the University noticed, and just say: "Sorry, you're too late!"

[MassNole]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

She said she did the right thing, but we don't know. I highly doubt messages went unreturned.

If they did though, she should get the money.

Any reasonable person would think something is up when a $29,000 check is the tip on a $300 bill.

In law the word reasonable sets the standard.

Reasonable isn't the standard for the contract law. Notre Dame, albeit mistakenly, contracted to give her $29,000. Perhaps they should show a little good will, own up their mistake and right it off as some sort of higher intervention into her life. I think Notre Dame believes in things like that as a Catholic university.

[MassNole]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

She won't be able to prove these phone calls. And even if she did call them, can she prove she left a message stating her dilema.

I'd wouldn't be quick to trust this ladies story. Yahoo is reporting that she suffers from depression and mentioned paranoia.

Notre Dame also made attempts to contact her in May, less than 30 days after the check was issued. So apparantly she cashed the check and spent the money rather quickly.

Sure she can, subpoena her phone records showing the number called and the duration of the call. Similarly subpoena their phone records to show their outgoing calls and see if she called in but ND never called back out.

I was looking for the $300 number earlier but couldn't find it. If a school with billions of dollars only tips 10%, they deserve to lose $30,000

Agreed, what cheap bastards.

I don't see where ND has a case. Especially if she was feeding Charlie Weis. Everybody knows he has special appreciation for a nice spread.

They really don't, it was there fault this happened, not hers. This is also not a situation where a bank ATM shoots out $500 when you ask for $50, where you contract with the bank mandates you notify them of that mistake. As someone who attended Catholic schools from 5th grade though college, I heard that "The Lord acts in mysterious ways..." more times than I could count. It is time for Notre Dame to practice what they preach.

[ProjectRipCity]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

The woman deserved the money. Probably a hard worker...But no the money always goes to the irresponsible CEO's of major cooperations. This is part of the reason we are in a economic crisis (greed)

Give the lady a break...Let somebody reep benefits. It's what this country needs right now.


ND

[MassNole]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

The more I think about it the more I think Notre Dame should be suing the idiot who signed this check, not the woman who cashed it.

[p_rushing]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

Usually when you have checks over a certain amount at companies, 2 people or some higher ups have to sign/approve them. They would need to know what it was for and probably have a receipt to review. ND really needs to look at their expense reporting software and process.

[fistofrage]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

The more I think about it the more I think Notre Dame should be suing the idiot who signed this check, not the woman who cashed it.

I thought you had a law degree.

[MassNole]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

I do and I know the UCC controls here which doesn't look at the reasonable person. Someone at Notre Dame messed up badly and the school should have had procedures in place to make sure this didn't happen. A check for $29k is a lot of money and any business or academic institution would have a procedure in place for multiple people to have reviewed this check before it went out. If those procedures were in place and the check still went out, shame on Notre Dame and the idiots in those positions. If those procedures were not in place, shame on Notre Dame and the idiots who didn't put those procedures into place to protect from incidents like this. However you want to say it, an authorized agent of Notre Dame signed this check and sent it to this woman. She reportedly confirmed this was not a mistake, or at the very least attempted to confirm and did not get called back (as phone records would show).

An employee can be held liable for gross negligence in the work place, which I could say is mistakenly sending out a check for 1000x what it was supposed to be. At some point the agent of Notre Dame made a substantial error that cost the schools a lot of money (although less than one year's tuition to put it into perspective).

Besides this is a school that pays an awful football coach well above the going rate for someone of his skill level, from there it just makes sense they would similarly over value the services of other employees or independent contractors. Not this woman's fault in any way, shape, or form that Notre Dame is just stupid and far from the most prestigious Catholic school in America as they claim (behind Georgetown, Boston College, and I'd even say Villanova).

[fistofrage]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

I do and I know the UCC controls here which doesn't look at the reasonable person. Someone at Notre Dame messed up badly and the school should have had procedures in place to make sure this didn't happen. A check for $29k is a lot of money and any business or academic institution would have a procedure in place for multiple people to have reviewed this check before it went out. If those procedures were in place and the check still went out, shame on Notre Dame and the idiots in those positions. If those procedures were not in place, shame on Notre Dame and the idiots who didn't put those procedures into place to protect from incidents like this. However you want to say it, an authorized agent of Notre Dame signed this check and sent it to this woman. She reportedly confirmed this was not a mistake, or at the very least attempted to confirm and did not get called back (as phone records would show).

An employee can be held liable for gross negligence in the work place, which I could say is mistakenly sending out a check for 1000x what it was supposed to be. At some point the agent of Notre Dame made a substantial error that cost the schools a lot of money (although less than one year's tuition to put it into perspective).

Besides this is a school that pays an awful football coach well above the going rate for someone of his skill level, from there it just makes sense they would similarly over value the services of other employees or independent contractors. Not this woman's fault in any way, shape, or form that Notre Dame is just stupid and far from the most prestigious Catholic school in America as they claim (behind Georgetown, Boston College, and I'd even say Villanova).

Banks make errors all the time that recouped. I can almost guarantee that every business entity that has any volume has cut a check for an incorrect amount within the last five years. I know this because I was an auditor.

Its silly that people see Notre Dame and immediately say "Well their coach is fat so screw them. We hate ND"

When you say its not that woman's fault in any shape or form. No its not her fault she received a check in error. It is her fault for acting wreckless with it. Notre Dame found their error within 30 days and tried to rectify it. She refused to communicate with them so they had to try to resolve this through the legal process.

I would hope that as a lawyer, you would throw your personal biases out and just look at the facts. If you think this lady is completely innocent and acted correctly in spending money that she did not rightfully earn, then good luck in your legal career. You should represent this lady Pro Bono and let me know how that works out for you. I'd love to see how the "Notre Dame pays an awful coach well above the going rate.....Not this woman's fault in any way, shape, or form that Notre Dame is just stupid" defense plays out.

[MassNole]

Re: Notre Dame Suing Caterer After Mistakenly Giving $29k Tip

How many businesses made errors where checks went out for 1,000 times the amount they were supposed to?

Want to see the lawyer side come out then fine, under UCC Article § 3-402(a)
"If a person acting, or purporting to act, as a representative signs an instrument by signing either the name of the represented person or the name of the signer, the represented person is bound by the signature to the same extent the represented person would be bound if the signature were on a simple contract. If the represented person is bound, the signature of the representative is the "authorized signature of the represented person" and the represented person is liable on the instrument, whether or not identified in the instrument."

The check was presumably signed by an authorized representative of Notre Dame, I don't think that is under any debate. Under § 3-406(a) "A person whose failure to exercise ordinary care substantially contributes to an alteration of an instrument or to the making of a forged signature on an instrument is precluded from asserting the alteration or the forgery against a person who, in good faith, pays the instrument or takes it for value or for collection." Under § 3-407(a) alteration is defined as (i) an unauthorized change in an instrument that purports to modify in any respect the obligation of a party, or (ii) an unauthorized addition of words or numbers or other change to an incomplete instrument relating to the obligation of a party. Ordinary care is defined as "in the case of a person engaged in business means observance of reasonable commercial standards, prevailing in the area in which the person is located, with respect to the business in which the person is engaged." under § 3-103(a)(9).

In this case, the woman demonstrated good faith by attempting to confirm that this check was valid. Notre Dame failed to demonstrate ordinary care in ensuring that this mistake did not happen, hence forth Notre Dame is precluded from using the alteration defense against this woman. Under § 3-418(a) or (b) Notre Dame can challenge the note by arguing that the payment was a mistake, but if she counter argues she acted in good faith under § 3-418(c), then those remedies available to Notre Dame cannot be enforced. Here she acted in good faith when she confirmed the amount of the check.

As for arguments as to why she may have believed the check was presented in good faith could include the school's propensity to vastly overpay employees for the quality of the work performed and their level of skill in doing their job. Here, Notre Dame has a history of vastly overpaying under qualified and under performing coaches huge sums of money. Furthermore I'd go after the belief system of which the school is founded on. I'd make those arguments here but it would be a TOS violation. She acted properly, Notre Dame screwed up and should probably drop this case to save whatever shed of dignity they have left from a public relations point of view.