> It's the social construction of crime thing. Stealing $140k is egregious. But because it's an employer stealing from their employees it's being treated as more of an administrative error than a great crime.
It's not as if someone subtracted $140k off of one guy's single paycheck.
This was nickeled-and-dimed, likely for years. And while I have no inclination to give the benefit of the doubt to a place that hires a fake priest to give confession about skimming the till, it's not that difficult for such a thing to be an administrative error. Rhonda in payroll keys in a wrong number somewhere, and you're getting the $8/month deduction for hemorrhoid insurance without actually getting that insurance. Or the punch on the mechanical time clock is bent, and shaving 5 minutes from the start of everyone's shift. Or a hundred other things.
Hell, maybe that's even an excuse, and it was always deliberate. But good luck proving it.
There are tradeoffs here, and if punitive justice is something you absolutely must have, then go for it. But don't start whining when the other stuff gets worse.
