Tired Bank Employee Naps on
Keyboard, Transfers $293
Million
A German bank clerk fell asleep on his
keyboard and accidentally transformed a
minor transfer into a 222 million euro
($293 million) order, a court heard.
The man was supposed to transfer just 62.40
euros from a bank account belonging to a
retiree, but instead “fell asleep for an instant,
while pushing onto the number 2 key on the
keyboard” — making it a huge 222,222,222.22
euro order.
The case was taken to court by the man’s 48-
year-old colleague who was fired for letting
the mistake slip through when verifying the
order.
Judges at Hesse labour court ruled, however,
that failing to spot the error and approving
the transaction was not worthy of dismissal.
The judges instead decided that the
supervisor, who had been an employee at the
company since 1986, should only have been
reprimanded as she had already checked 812
transactions that day, allowing just a couple
of seconds to check each one for
irregularities and errors.
The judges ruled that it was clear there had
been no malicious intent on the supervisor’s
behalf, saying she should have received a
warning.
As a result, they ordered the bank to
reinstate the supervisor, saying her work
contract could not be terminated.
Fortunately for the company, the huge
transaction was spotted by a third employee
later in the day and corrected before any
money was exchanged