As one German banker can tell you, nodding off at your desk can cost you. In this case, a quick workplace nap almost cost one woman her job and caused a $293 million banking error
The clerk
“momentarily fell asleep” on the job and accidentally held down the number 2 button on his keyboard for a little too long — think 222,222,222.22 — causing that much money (in Euros) to be transferred out of the bank.
While the mistake was eventually noticed and corrected, the on-duty supervisor originally approved the payment request, allowing the funds to go through. On further review of the supervisor’s records,
it was discovered that the 48-year-old woman had spent less than 1.4 seconds to examine a total of 603 payments. She was fired for not catching the glaring error — although after bringing her case to court was given her job back — while the snoozing clerk was only handed a slap on the wrist.
So the next time you’re feeling a little drowsy on the job, you might want to take an extra cup of coffee instead of a power nap.