Subcontractor Payment of 30 Million Won in Coins... US Company Faces Backlash

US Welding Company Refuses Payment Citing "Substandard" Work
Court-Approved Settlement Followed by Absurd Payment of 3 Tons in Coins
"Still Legal Tender"... Court Deems It "Malicious"

A primary contractor in the United States was ordered to pay an additional $10,000 after losing a lawsuit for paying approximately 30 million won in coins to a subcontractor.

The Larimer County Court in Colorado ruled that the welding company JMF Enterprises' payment of $23,500 (about 31.67 million won) to a subcontractor in around 3 tons of coins was "malicious and bad faith conduct," CBS and other media reported on the 24th (local time).

Judge Joseph Findley gave JMF and its owner John Frank 14 days to pay the subcontractor using traditional methods such as checks.

He also ordered them to cover the legal fees of the subcontractor who filed the lawsuit. In a post-trial interview, Daniel Beam, attorney for the subcontractor Fired Up Fabrication, stated, "We demanded more than $8,000 (about 10 million won) for legal costs."

The case initially began when JMF refused to pay, claiming that Fired Up's work was substandard. Fired Up then filed a lawsuit demanding payment, and the court mediated a settlement for $23,500, which seemed to resolve the matter.

However, when it was time to pay, JMF sent Fired Up a specially made steel box filled with 6,500 pounds (about 2.95 tons) of coins. Beam criticized this, calling it a "symbolic middle finger (insult)."

John Frank, owner of JMF, claimed, "I was just trying to pay according to the invoice," adding, "Anyway, coins are legal tender in the United States." Beam refused to accept the payment, saying, "You can't fit a box weighing over 3,000 pounds into the office elevator, and banks won't accept that amount of coins."

Judge Findley pointed out, "The coin payment was a strategy to make receiving the payment cumbersome and difficult, thereby reducing the plaintiff's net proceeds or frustrating receipt altogether."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.