Spyke
lemmy.world

Malicious compliance story.

Friend of mine was paying child support for his kids, his ex wife was claiming no income as she had to look after the kids which he knew was bullshit and she was working in the new boyfriends restaraunt but claimed that she was just "helping out when she could. That stopped for a year when her and her new boyfriend wanted to buy a house, so he gave her a very nicely paid job working at his restaraunt as a "manager". They found and bought a house and immediately she was "fired" and went back to seeking child support.

So he sued to have the child support lowered as she can clearly work when it suits her goals and she fought it kicking and fucking screaming, tried taking away his access to the kids and generally making his life hell. So he went to the tax office with a hot tip "I'm willing to bet that between (insert dates here) this restaraunt somehow took in exactly (insert what ex-wife made + taxes) more than they normally do per year. Id be willing to bet it was their best year ever and I guarantee you will find some very cooked books"

Turns out its really easy to get custody when your ex-wife is being charged with fraud and tax evasion.

192
lemmy.world

So he went to the tax office with a hot tip

You had me up until here. But the idea that a local tax office is going to follow a "hot tip" off of anyone, much less an ex-husband, is laughable. I've had to negotiate with the staff of my local tax office before and they don't move a muscle unless someone up the bureaucratic chain orders it. Maybe this guy was friends with the State AG somehow? Or some other senior bureaucrat? But past that, this sounds like total fiction.

13

I know that this might surprise you: other countries than the USA exist

0
lemmy.world

No matter how you feel about it, he was a fool to make a public post about it.

169

“This profile is a safe space for billionaires…” gives it away.

36

I’m 99% sure that alimony doesn’t work like that in the US. Are there any countries where it does work that way?

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lemm.ee

From my understanding, I believe it does, in that if your income decreased, your alimony can be reduced.

Of course, this is almost certainly a work of fiction.

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kn33reply
lemmy.world

Sure, but once your income goes back up so does the alimony, at least in the US

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psudreply
aussie.zone

Wasn't there a comedian/actor who was/is living in Canada to avoid maintenance payments he couldn't possibly make, as the calculation was done with he had just received about three years income in a single cheque, and he doesn't actually make 3 years income each month

I wouldn't be surprised, based on that, if what matters is income on the day of the court order

4

Dave Foley

Foley married Canadian writer Tabatha Southey on December 31, 1991.[14] They divorced in 1997.[14] The couple has two children.[14] In 2001, an interim child support agreement obligated Foley to pay Southey $10,700 a month, a figure based on his income when NewsRadio was in production. By 2011, Foley claimed that his earnings had declined to the point that the $10,700 sum constituted "literally 400 percent of [his] income" but he was unable to get the obligation reduced in court

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Foley

9
Maalusreply
lemmy.world

Usually it is your "potential". I.e. a programmer can't just decide to drop programming and start something that doesn't bring any money. It's also possible to renegotiate it if you lost a job or the like.

1
lemmy.world

Not necessarily. I recall a court case where an ex-husband tried to reduce alimony payments by quitting a well-paying job in tech to work at a fast food restaurant, got sued by the wife, and was ordered by the judge to continue paying the previous amount because he was clearly qualified and able to retain the job and had created the situation on purpose.

32

He'll still be paying it even if fired. He would need to seek out a job that is at a similar level and would get the alimony adjusted if it pays a little more. But you can't suddenly decide to quit a field you are qualified for, have plenty of opportunities to work in etc, to chase a fast food career. Even if you get fired and do that, the judge will see it as malicious - you wouldn't do that if you had a family to support.

Also, if you prove you cannot find a job and are looking, they'll adjust it too, and will let you find a shittier job in the meantime. It's just if you do it all maliciously where they will say "nope"

5
sh.itjust.works

At least somewhere in southern mainland Asia, yes, but I’m curious about whether this joke would actually work in any countries, India included. Are you affirming that it works in India?

12
embed_mereply
programming.dev

It works because it highlights two issues in India, the justice system being in favour for women and the casual misogynism

6
lemm.ee

Everyone must always affirm the joke in the meme works. You affirm all of your memes, correct?

2

When someone asks a topic-adjacent question, ye. Or I post nonsense to feel like I’m included in the conversation. Why do you ask?

Edit: just realized you took this comment without considering the previous one. I geddit

1

Where I live my father got a solid quote to pay each month. My mother could sue for more, however, when his income rose. So this dude, after posting this online, opened the gate for the woman to sue his employee, at least if it happened here.

11
lemmy.ca

We are aware that the original post is a joke, right? "Safe space for billionaires"?! Though I think the reposter at the top might not have clued in.

96

Thanks for confirming. My comment wasn't really aimed at you, more at the thread as a whole.

20
lemmy.world

I mean, he's got the spirit? Is this chaotic neutral?

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Sanctusreply
lemmy.world

You might have a point looking at the state of society and the legality of that action in their country. But without any of that information it looks like their just serving their and their own's best interest which would fall under the neutral category in DnD. Thus we see why alignment charts suck tarrasque balls.

7
lemm.ee

I’d say if you get married in a place with alimony, then you do ethically owe your spouse alimony in the case of divorce. Part of the understanding under which the relationship commitments were made.

2
lemmy.world

Yeah, I have a friend who's fighting her husband for alimony. He married her knowing she had mental health issues that hindered her ability to work, then a few months after she started working again he decided that he needs to move halfway around the world with or without her. She just wants enough money to not have to give up her animals while building up her income or downgrading her living situation.

And then there are stories like my gf whose ex husband tried to force her to stay unemployed (parrly utilizi his being in the military) while abusing her. She accepted no alimony and getting fucked on child support to get out of the marriage faster and with the kids.

2
lemmy.world

Now the wife has every reason to to seek back pay & take more. She can just tell the judge, what else was he lying about?

31
sopuli.xyz

Depends, is this illegal? Did the employee know they where going to get rehired during the trial. Was it a lie to state they where not employed?

I feel this is morally wrong but not quite punishable. If annything the system is broken for allowing such loophole. Either they owe a part of their income or they don’t. That part can be “zero” bur current employment shouldn't be part of that calculation.

17

Also, alimony isn't a 1 meeting thing and then you're free.

9
sopuli.xyz

I was not a fly in this court but seems like there is no reason to assume they lied about anything.

They where factually unemployed at the time of hearing.

They have the right to remain silent and not incriminate themselves about any potential rehiring.

It could also be setup by the boss without employee awareness, a excuse to rehire them after their business suffers (i fired you for your own good but i couldn’t tell you to not influence the legal system)

1

In general if you're going out of your way to make it technically legal you should run it by your lawyer and they're probably going to tell you it's not a good idea. In general if you feel like you've found a legal loophole in everyday life your lawyer will advise against it

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Maggotyreply
lemmy.world

That is the most generous reading possible of the facts considering the boss and employee talked about the divorce. Are you his defense lawyer or something? Or do you just defend shitbags on the Internet for free?

0

No i have mentioned i find this sort of behaviour immoral, especially considering this is about child support. the discussion is whether any statement was a lie and therefore illegal.

It is my take that the system of law is broken in a way that makes such immoral loopholes possible. I believe the fact that such things are possible is a worse problem then the individual cases where people exploit such.

I didn't know whether or not the boss or employee planned it in advance. Which is what i meant with i wasn't a fly. All i know is a headline triggering my dissatisfaction with the legal system.

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You reached the end