60-year-old woman ordered to pay 1.100 francs after flipping off co-worker
By Jan de Boer
When you are at work, there are moments when customers and even colleagues can cross the line from being friends, to tolerated presences, to objects of hatred and revile - but you certainly don’t expect to be charged money if your inner patience snaps. Unfortunately, that was certainly the case for one woman in Switzerland, who now has to pay 1.100 francs in fines and legal fees after she showed a colleague the middle finger.
Lady from Canton Zurich fined for flipping off colleague
According to ZüriToday, the 60-year-old woman from Canton Zurich was working at a local petrol station at the time of the incident in February 2022. In her version of the story, amid charging drivers for their fuel and snacks, one of her colleagues suddenly left their post and walked off, despite being told to stay put.
When the worker ignored her demands to stay, she "showed him the middle finger." Unfortunately for her, the member of staff soon reported the interaction as a workplace incident, not helped by the fact that the interaction was caught clearly on the petrol station’s surveillance cameras. The footage was then sent to the public prosecutor in Winterthur for further analysis.
Woman ordered to pay 1.100 Swiss francs in fines and fees
In the end, the court sentenced the woman to a conditional fine of 110 francs, to be paid if she ever flipped anyone else off again. She was also served with an immediate fine of 300 francs and had to pay an 800 franc fee for legal representation, all because of one upraised finger.
"I don't understand why you get such a severe punishment for a finger. I just don't understand that," she told ZüriToday. Needless to say, the woman said she now regrets making the insult.
Image: Shutterstock.com / Sorbis
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more