Ex-Notre Dame worker to repay much of $29,000 tip

[October 31, 2009]  SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- A woman mistakenly tipped $29,000 by the University of Notre Dame in her catering paycheck will return more than half of the money in $50 monthly payments over the next 28 years.

Notre Dame sued Sara Gaspar of Granger, Ind. to return the money because she should have been paid only $29.87 but a clerical error resulted in a check for $29,387 in April.

Under a settlement filed in St. Joseph Circuit Court, Gaspar agrees to pay back nearly $17,000 in the monthly increments. She put up as collateral a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta she bought with the money. Gaspar also agreed to pay Notre Dame's attorney fees.

Gaspar has said she tried three times to tell Notre Dame about the overpayment but university staffers didn't return her calls.

[Associated Press]

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