$10 Tip Gets Two Sanitation Workers A $2,000 Fine

If you are a sanitation worker and ask for a tip for hauling away garbage, it will cost you big time. That’s exactly what happened to two garbage collectors in New York who asked for a $20 tip to get rid of a mountain of trash.

The two men got $10, but they were ordered to pay $2,000 each on Monday for breaking the rules banning municipal workers from accepting tips.

The incident occurred in December 2011 when a resident placed a large amount of trash on his curb. Robert Bracone and Rene Torres approached him and asked for the “$20 that the resident’s girlfriend said she would leave for me.”

“The resident informed us that he had only $10. Bracone and I then removed all the waste, after which the resident gave Bracone and me five dollars each,” Torres said.

Both of the men have since retired from their jobs. Bracone is still apparently upset about the fine. “I don’t want to have anything to do with the city ever again,” he said.

Vito Turso, a spokesman for the city Department of Sanitation, said that residents shouldn’t feel guilty about not leaving a tip for sanitation workers.

“You are paying for their services through your tax dollars,” he said. “There should be no extra compensation.”

Bracone worked as a sanitation worker since 1986 and Torres began working in the sanitation business in 1990. Both of them earned more than $100,000 in 2011 and were considered New York’s strongest sanitation workers.

The agency the two men worked for has a strict policy against accepting tips, and the department said that soliciting is against New York City law.

Do you believe the two sanitation workers should be fined $2,000 for breaking the rules? Or do you think the penalty is too harsh?

[Image via Shuttershock]