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Thursday, October 15, 2009
Ind. Courts - Notre Dame sues former employee over tip
Alicia Gallegos reported yesterday in the South Bend Tribune:
SOUTH BEND — A former catering employee for the University of Notre Dame accused of wrongfully taking a $29,000 tip appeared in court Tuesday for the first time.Sara Gaspar, 47, represented herself at a status hearing before St. Joseph Circuit Court Judge Michael G. Gotsch. An attorney for Notre Dame also attended.
The case against Gaspar revolves around a mistaken gratuity that was placed in Gaspar's bank account while she was a Notre Dame employee.
On April 17 of this year, the former catering employee was to be paid a gratuity of $29.87, but because of an error court documents say a total of $29,387 was deposited into her account.
Instead of returning the money, the recent lawsuit filed by the university alleges that Gaspar spent the extra cash on bills and a new car.
Gaspar admits to spending the cash, but said previously that she tried to alert the university about the large sum that showed up in her bank account, but that her calls went unreturned. The woman said she believed because the money was a gratuity and not wages, she was entitled to keep it. * * *
Gotsch told Gaspar that she may want to obtain legal counsel as he could not give her any type of legal advice.
"I have to hold you to the same standards as a lawyer," he told her. "...That puts you at a disadvantage compared with someone (having gone to law school)."
Gaspar told the judge she still wanted to hire an attorney and planned to keep looking.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 15, 2009 08:28 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts