Man Who Peed In Co-worker's Coffee Ordered To Pay $5K

Man Who Peed In Co-worker's Coffee Ordered To Pay $5K

A man who spiked a co-worker's coffee pot with his own urine has now been relieved of $5,001.

On Monday, a jury in Culpeper County, Va., ordered James Carroll Butler to pay the sum to former co-worker Michael Utz because of a 2009 incident when the two were city employees.

The 53-year-old man worked for the city's waste water plant and, as the Daily Progress reports, didn't like Utz, a mechanic in the environmental services department.

One day in early March 2009, he collected pee from the toilet and poured it into Utz' coffee pot and waited for Utz to drink the urine-tainted java, WTVR-TV reports.

Utz saw the pee-filled pot before making coffee, noticed the unmistakable urine odor, and reported it to his supervisor, who then had the coffee pot tested in a lab. Results showed the pot contained urine and fecal material, according to the Daily Progress.

The paper's website quotes from a letter Butler delivered to the court:

“I done something I am very much ashamed of to a co-worker for [reasons, which are] stress-related [and] things going on in my life on and off the job. I am very much ashamed of my stupid and childlike behavior.”

Butler was found guilty of a criminal misdemeanor in 2009. He spent one month in jail and served a year on probation.

Utz sued for $728,000 in damages. The jury awarded him $1 in compensatory damages and $5,000 in punitive damages, according to the TheSpec.com.

Utz's attorney, Michael Shaman, said his client was happy about the verdict, the Associated Press reports.

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