Ironically enough, the employee read an author known for writing a book on ethics.
It is not every day that CityNews gets to focus in on an international story, but to Spain we go!
Joaquin Garcia is a 69-year-old engineer in Cadiz, Spain. Having begun work there in 1990 as the Director for the Environment, he transferred to the local water authority after six years, Aguas de Cadiz.
And then… he apparently just faded away, not showing up for work for an alleged 14 years. This issue only came to a head in 2010, when he was due to be recognized for his 20 years of public service to the community, complete with a plaque. Nobody could find him, some hadn’t seen him in years.
Now, just last week, a court has ruled that he must pay a year’s salary, after taxes, for taking advantage of the city’s lax oversight. That amount is 26,920.93 euros, roughly $30,000.
But it might not be as simple as that, with sources telling the local papers that Garcia had been bullied in the workplace for his personal politics and did make it into the office, “not 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. maybe, but every day.”
Once he was finally tracked down though, Garcia did not have must of an answer to a frank “What have you done recently?” line of questioning. Sources close to Garcia said he likes to read, particularly the 17th-century philosopher called Spinoza, whose most notable work was titled “Ethics.”
Read more about, and daydream of, 14 years away from the desk, but still on payroll here.