Montana; M
Jury awards former Farmer Bros. employee
Kathleen Schultz
Staff
186 words
28 January 2005
Great Falls Tribune
2M
English
(c) Copyright 2005, Great Falls Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
By KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ Tribune Staff Writer
A federal court jury has decided a Great Falls man was
wrongfully fired from his job with Farmers Bros. Co., and awarded him
$210,000 plus court costs.
Vincent K. Oleson, 1207 2nd West Hill Drive, was a driver
for the California-based coffee distributor for almost 19 years, working out
of the Great Falls branch office and handling a route along the Hi-Line
until March 2002, when he took over a Great Falls route.
Oleson was fired soon thereafter for allegedly
"falsifying cash invoices and not reporting funds to the company." He proved
during his three-day trial last week that he had not falsified any invoice
and that he had accurately reported all monies received.
He and his attorney, Elizabeth Best, also convinced the
jury that any mistakes Oleson made were clerical in nature and due in large
part to the foibles of the hand-held computer used by company reps, and that
other employees had made similar mistakes, without being fired or even
disciplined.
Document GFTR000020050129e11s0000k