Opinion ID: 2638938
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Truck Loan Payoff

Text: [¶49] Diamond B Services argues that it was entitled to deduct the amount it paid to satisfy Mr. Rohde's truck loan from the wages due to him. Mr. Rohde went to work for Diamond B Casing in 1998. He testified that Randy Burry had contacted him when he was living in Grand Island, Nebraska and asked him to move to Pine Bluffs to work for Diamond B Casing. In order to entice Mr. Rohde to accept the job offer, Randy Burry agreed to pay off his pickup loan and to purchase a car from Mr. Rohde. On October 27, 1998, Mrs. Burry wrote a $3,330.07 check to Mr. Rohde's lender on a Diamond B account. Mr. Rohde did not repay Diamond B Casing, Diamond B Services, Diamond B, or the Burrys for the loan payment. [¶50] The hearing officer ruled that Diamond B Services was not entitled to deduct the amount Diamond B paid to satisfy Mr. Rohde's pickup loan from Mr. Rohde's wages. The Department rules allow an employer to deduct cash advances or payments of expenses made by the employer to, or on behalf of, the employee. However, in order to be entitled to this deduction, an employer must show that the cash advance or payment was made while the employee was employed by the employer and the employee must give his written authorization to the employer. Section 6(b)(viii). In this case, the truck loan payment was made by Diamond B in 1998, when Mr. Rohde was working for Diamond B Casing. Randy Burry claims that Diamond B was a predecessor of Diamond B Services and, therefore, it should be counted as a payment while Mr. Rohde was working for Diamond B Services. The record does not bear out Diamond B Services' claim. Clearly, Mr. Rohde was working for Diamond B Casing (which was Robert Burry's company), rather than Diamond B Services when the pickup loan was satisfied. In addition, there was no written agreement indicating that Mr. Rohde would pay back the money for the loan payment or any other type of receipt signed by the employee acknowledging receipt of the loan payment.