I quit my job and my employer won’t take their equipment back

Question

I quit my job effective April 19th and I still have the laptop, two monitors, and a box full of random peripherals (all unopened) the employer sent to me when I started. I should note that I explicitly asked them NOT to send me monitors and other hardware before I started, but they were sent anyway as part of an automated process I guess.I&rsquo;ve since asked multiple times to send these items back so I&rsquo;m not held financially responsible for them. I finally got the company to send a box/return auth for the laptop, but when asking about the rest of the equipment, they responded with:> Currently, our IT team is unable to accept items larger than laptops. Once offices have been deemed safe to re-open, Employee Experience and IT will communicate the next steps via your personal email address.I don&rsquo;t want the financial responsibility or the physical burden of storing and protecting this equipment anymore, but they refuse to let me send it back. What recourse do I have?I just sent them an email with an ultimatum to either accept the items, forfeit them, or pay for me to insure and store them off site within 30 days. I don&rsquo;t know if that will be enough to make them take their equipment back. Do I have any legal obligation to continue storing these items for an undetermined amount of time months after I&rsquo;ve left the company? (The company is based in the U.S.)

Turing_Machine · Accepted Answer

I have no idea how the law stands here, but it is definitely a good idea to have everything in writing (certified mail, etc., as another poster said).
When I was in grad school, a professor I was working with left to take a job at another school. The university demanded that he account for a computer he'd been issued in 1985, which they had no record of him ever returning. They threatened to charge him several thousand bucks if it weren't returned. He noted that 1) 1985 was 15 or 20 computers ago and 2) even if he did still have the computer, it wouldn't be worth anything like the 1985 price (if it were worth anything at all). I believe he finally had to get his lawyer to bark at them to get them to back down.
So... yeah, make sure it gets taken care of some way. I wish I had some advice, but definitely don't let it slide.

jklein11 · Answer

How about this.. you send me the equipment. Tell your company you are sending it to me for storage and they can reach out to me when they are ready to receive it. I&rsquo;ll charge you $100 for this service.

version_five · Answer

I'm curious about this too. Exactly the same thing happened to me, and it took three months with multiple follow-ups for me to finally get the laptop (it was just a laptop for me) returned. I was about to move and like you was wondering what obligation I had to keep carrying this thing around with me. Luckily I got it resolved.Personally, I would encourage remote companies to partner with groups that take laptops as donations for people that need them, and let you "return" it that way. My company paid for the laptop to be couriered across the country, plus I had to liase with 3 different people to organize the return. They'll still have to wipe it and whatnot when it gets back, and then they'll have a used laptop. Would be much more useful in the hands of a local kid or something.

rPlayer6554 · Answer

What are you doing asking for this advice on HN. If you think it could actually be a legal issue contact a lawyer. They can tell you if you have liability and help you write the email.

sarcasmatwork · Answer

Send a certified letter to the address/HR with what you said in the email. If nothing happens in the time frame its your equipment.Once they accept that letter, it confirms they got it and can be held up in court from my understanding. With email, it's easy to say I did not get it or see it etc. Good luck!

notahacker · Answer

Unless they're incredibly bulky, I'd leave them where they were (maybe even keep using the monitors) until they took reasonable steps to reclaim themCollection is their problem, as is them not being insured. If something insurable happens to your home, frankly someone else's monitors are the least of your concerns and you'll likely have the paperwork from insurance claims on your own stuff to prove it. If it doesn't and the items just don't work next time they plug them in, that's their problem and not one they're likely to waste time and money following up with you over.

ksnape · Answer

Yeah, as stated -- either they take ownership and responsibility for the hardware, or it becomes your property if they fail to claim it. This sounds like a slippery slope to accidental situations involving damaged equipment returned months out of employment.edit - To be frank, most Remote companies just write off the accessories. You return the big hardware, the laptop. The rest is yours, usually as it's budgeted and paid out differently than wage / bonus would be, so to claw it back is to get into hazy tax territory too.

askafriend · Answer

This reads like a parody. Just keep them - nothing is gonna happen. Do you realize how much of a rounding error your silly monitors and random peripherals are for the company?

f2000 · Answer

Put it in your garage/closet and forget about it. Life is too short! If they want their stuff back they'll figure it out.

claviska · Answer

Update: I pushed hard enough and FINALLY got confirmation that they are only collecting the laptop and I&rsquo;m free to donate/discard the rest.Thanks for your suggestions! Glad to have this behind me now.

willcipriano · Answer

Look up your states abandoned property law, you'll have to inform them that you have it and don't want it and after a certain time it will typically become yours.

runawaybottle · Answer

Lol just throw that shit away unless your worked for the government. All that stuff could have gotten lost in the mail, what are they really going to do about it?They pretty much told you they don&rsquo;t care what you do with it.

8b16380d · Answer

Just sell or get rid of it. No company is going to legally go after you for some accessories.

smarri · Answer

Same happened to me. I just treat it as my own property now.

mardiyah · Answer

Why don't simply ask them to have legally signed written agreement that all the wares, at that final time point, will belong to you as they refused to take back

nt2h9uh238h · Answer

Just send it to them, anyway :)

dave_sid · Answer

Can you sell them on ebay?

znpy · Answer

Just send them in anyway.

readonthegoapp · Answer

i would imagine you can keep them, sell them, etc.
they're prob worth about $100 total, and shipping them would prob cost $300, so sell them or give them away, ideally to some poor kid.
someone at an acquired startup i was at said 'just keep it' about the macbook air i was using. nobody cares.

I quit my job and my employer won’t take their equipment back

How about this.. you send me the equipment. Tell your company you are sending it to me for storage and they can reach out to me when they are ready to receive it. I’ll charge you $100 for this service.

What are you doing asking for this advice on HN. If you think it could actually be a legal issue contact a lawyer. They can tell you if you have liability and help you write the email.

This reads like a parody. Just keep them - nothing is gonna happen. Do you realize how much of a rounding error your silly monitors and random peripherals are for the company?

Put it in your garage/closet and forget about it. Life is too short! If they want their stuff back they'll figure it out.

Update: I pushed hard enough and FINALLY got confirmation that they are only collecting the laptop and I’m free to donate/discard the rest.
Thanks for your suggestions! Glad to have this behind me now.

Look up your states abandoned property law, you'll have to inform them that you have it and don't want it and after a certain time it will typically become yours.

Lol just throw that shit away unless your worked for the government. All that stuff could have gotten lost in the mail, what are they really going to do about it?
They pretty much told you they don’t care what you do with it.

Just sell or get rid of it. No company is going to legally go after you for some accessories.

Same happened to me. I just treat it as my own property now.

Why don't simply ask them to have legally signed written agreement that all the wares, at that final time point, will belong to you as they refused to take back

Just send it to them, anyway :)

Can you sell them on ebay?

Just send them in anyway.

i would imagine you can keep them, sell them, etc.
they're prob worth about $100 total, and shipping them would prob cost $300, so sell them or give them away, ideally to some poor kid.
someone at an acquired startup i was at said 'just keep it' about the macbook air i was using. nobody cares.

I quit my job and my employer won’t take their equipment back

How about this.. you send me the equipment. Tell your company you are sending it to me for storage and they can reach out to me when they are ready to receive it. I’ll charge you $100 for this service.

What are you doing asking for this advice on HN. If you think it could actually be a legal issue contact a lawyer. They can tell you if you have liability and help you write the email.

This reads like a parody. Just keep them - nothing is gonna happen. Do you realize how much of a rounding error your silly monitors and random peripherals are for the company?

Put it in your garage/closet and forget about it. Life is too short! If they want their stuff back they'll figure it out.

Update: I pushed hard enough and FINALLY got confirmation that they are only collecting the laptop and I’m free to donate/discard the rest.Thanks for your suggestions! Glad to have this behind me now.

Look up your states abandoned property law, you'll have to inform them that you have it and don't want it and after a certain time it will typically become yours.

Lol just throw that shit away unless your worked for the government. All that stuff could have gotten lost in the mail, what are they really going to do about it?They pretty much told you they don’t care what you do with it.

Just sell or get rid of it. No company is going to legally go after you for some accessories.

Same happened to me. I just treat it as my own property now.

Why don't simply ask them to have legally signed written agreement that all the wares, at that final time point, will belong to you as they refused to take back

Just send it to them, anyway :)

Can you sell them on ebay?

Just send them in anyway.

i would imagine you can keep them, sell them, etc.they're prob worth about $100 total, and shipping them would prob cost $300, so sell them or give them away, ideally to some poor kid.someone at an acquired startup i was at said 'just keep it' about the macbook air i was using. nobody cares.

Update: I pushed hard enough and FINALLY got confirmation that they are only collecting the laptop and I’m free to donate/discard the rest.
Thanks for your suggestions! Glad to have this behind me now.

Lol just throw that shit away unless your worked for the government. All that stuff could have gotten lost in the mail, what are they really going to do about it?
They pretty much told you they don’t care what you do with it.

i would imagine you can keep them, sell them, etc.
they're prob worth about $100 total, and shipping them would prob cost $300, so sell them or give them away, ideally to some poor kid.
someone at an acquired startup i was at said 'just keep it' about the macbook air i was using. nobody cares.