LARSmith217
New Member
I provide telephone tech support for a small privately owned company which employes 10 support personnel. Recently a customer phoned me and indicated that she and her husband wished to express their thankfulness for the quality of support they'd rec'd in the past 12 months. She told me they were sending in one package for all the office staff and were sending in a special gift, addressed specifically to me. She instructed me to call her back if I'd not rec'd the gift in a week's time. Three days later, a gift package arrived, filled with an assortment of different gourmet pastry items, individually packaged in decorative boxes. I was aware of the package but not aware of the sender @ the time. My boss later approached me and asked me to phone the customer back to thank them for the package and it was then I was informed that the package was indeed from the company with whom I'd spoken. I called that customer ( a company named Halo Financial ) and the women with whom I'd spoken the previous weekend asked me if I'd gotten my gift. I told her that I'd not been informed that any gift was for me & it was then she informed me there had been a $100 gift card, addressed to me, with a letter of thanks.
I later learned from the company owner that a letter ( which the company owner threw in the garbage ) and $100 gift card had been addressed to me and over-nighted, had been rec'd by my office manager who'd opened the mail, decided that it wasn't "fair" that one employee should be singled out by this company for a gift. She later told me that it was "immoral" for me to get such a gift. She had gone to the company owner to express these concerns & the decision was made to use the gift card to "buy lunch for all the office staff". She informed me that there had been "an unspoken policy" in place regarding gifts to individual employees and that that policy had "taken effect today".
In a later discussion with the company owner and office manager, I was informed that other such gifts had arrived to the company, over the past years, and tho they were addressed to me, had been distributed to all employees. This was an eye opener for me, as I'd been aware that different companies had sent in assorted packages of pastries, fresh fruit, etc but did not realize that they'd been addressed to me nor that a decision had been made to place the items in our dining area ( at work ) for "general consumption".
Were their actions re: the $100 gift card legal ? Are they actionable ? If illegal, how "serious" were their actions ? ie: was it mail fraud ? "simple" theft ?
I later learned from the company owner that a letter ( which the company owner threw in the garbage ) and $100 gift card had been addressed to me and over-nighted, had been rec'd by my office manager who'd opened the mail, decided that it wasn't "fair" that one employee should be singled out by this company for a gift. She later told me that it was "immoral" for me to get such a gift. She had gone to the company owner to express these concerns & the decision was made to use the gift card to "buy lunch for all the office staff". She informed me that there had been "an unspoken policy" in place regarding gifts to individual employees and that that policy had "taken effect today".
In a later discussion with the company owner and office manager, I was informed that other such gifts had arrived to the company, over the past years, and tho they were addressed to me, had been distributed to all employees. This was an eye opener for me, as I'd been aware that different companies had sent in assorted packages of pastries, fresh fruit, etc but did not realize that they'd been addressed to me nor that a decision had been made to place the items in our dining area ( at work ) for "general consumption".
Were their actions re: the $100 gift card legal ? Are they actionable ? If illegal, how "serious" were their actions ? ie: was it mail fraud ? "simple" theft ?
Last edited:
