Legal Question in Business Law in California

Cashing a payroll check that was double paid?
Our company paid one of our employees on the last day he worked for the previous week and included the last week worked so he wouldn't have to wait a week to get his money.The check we gave him on his last day had two weeks of pay on it. Our payroll dept recieved the time the following week to do a check run and re-paid him again for his last week worked. He ended up cashing the check and we didn't find out until we reconciled our payroll accounts for June. Do we even have a case to persue this legally if he decides not to pay the money back? Is it even worth our time and effort? Thank You

Asked on 7/19/06, 7:19 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Daniel Harrison Berger Harrison, APC

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Re: Cashing a payroll check that was double paid?

Yes you can get the money back. He has been unjustly enriched. You can take him to small claims court if the amount is low enough.

Answered on 7/20/06, 4:15 pm

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Carl Starrett Law Offices of Carl H. Starrett II

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Re: Cashing a payroll check that was double paid?

If you overpaid the employee, you do have a claim for "money had and received". Yes, you can pursue it. Is it worth it? It sounds like a small claims matter if the amount is less than $5000, so you need decide for yourself how much staff time you wish to invest in this process.

Answered on 7/19/06, 7:32 pm

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