Messy desk costs company almost $600,000

According to an article in the November 10, 1998 issue of the Calgary Herald, the Fluor Corp. had a good chance of overturning a pending $562,489 U.S. judgment.  However, they neglected to respond to the lawsuit until well after the deadline expired.

Apparently the legal papers were placed on the desk of the person responsible, during a period of time when that person was absent.

They became buried under the piles and were not discovered until 38 days later.

The court refused the company’s appeal.

The judge awarded a default judgment and more than a half-million dollars in damages.

I found this in an organizing book I was thumbing through recently.  That story ranks right up there with the client of mine who discovered a piece of heirloom jewelry worth around $8,000 in a crusty sugar bowl in the back of a kitchen cabinet.