Workplace dilemma...

We had the company's Christmas party on Friday. A great event held at Down Hall in Hertfordshire.

There was a casino with a roulette and Black Jack table. It used fake money of course but from our initial £400,000 between us, me and my wife did pretty well all evening. I had a run of 10 straight wins and Jo won £350,000 on a single spin.

Another guy was playing Black Jack and didn't win anything all night. However, when he got to the very last game, he threw his entire remaining cash in, got Black Jack and won £1.2 million!

Thing is, there was a prize for whoever ended up with the most money. Who won? We did with £1.25 million! What did we win? A Nintendo DS with Guitar Hero worth about £150.

Here's the dilemma...

Yesterday he told me that he found another £200,000 in his pocket which he didn't realise he had. If he'd declared it at the time he would have won.

We won overall on the night because he declared less so it's his fault really but it still feels bad as I shouldn't have the prize at all.

It's now sitting under my desk still all wrapped - if it had been opened by the kids I couldn't take it back - that would be cruel.

There's more to this though. He's a manager and knows that I have had financial problems this year and that I had also missed out on the company bonus scheme as well. Money is very tight for us now and winning this got us out of a hole in terms of a present for our children but he has children of the same age too.

The right thing to do would be to give it back but it wasn't my fault he didn't declare all his winnings.

What would you do?

I'd keep it, it is his mistake. Did you actually see the mystery £200,000 he is talking about? Tell him where to get off and let your kids have the DS, you shouldn't feel any guilt.

Definitely keep it.

Just don't bring it up again.

Your kids will probably enjoy it waaay more than him. He can buy his own.

Yes, I've seen the £200k

Are you even positive he was suggesting you give him the prize? Or was he possibly just saying what a plank he was for not finding it until it was too late?

It's like any competiton, you have a certain amount of time to claim your prize or it goes to someone else. Keep it, you won fair and square, he shouldn't even have brought it up.

Yes, he does sound like kind of a prick for bringing it up.

Tough shit on him.

You won fair and square, half the game is paying attention.

Imagine turning up at a real casino and saying you found some IOUs and chips in your pants.

Speak to Mike about what you should do.

The fact that he is aware of your financial status and you have kids means he would totally understand about you keeping it. And yes it is a shame he forgot about the money BUT you have the bigger claim morally. Think of it this way. If you were the manager with a higher wage and he was the employee with children to feed and it was Christmas, no way would you expect him to hand it over. The fact is he didn't hand in the money and you do techincally need it more. You would not be wrong to hold on to it.

I must admit, I was expecting a Mike thread.

That said if he's a manager would he be a bit of a shite over it?

I've got no sympathy for anyone who could accidentally forget that they had a couple of hundred grand in their pocket.

I'd just kill him so then he'll never make you feel uncomfortable again.

But personally, if he's a manager (and on a larger salary) he should've had enough balls and brain to keep his trap shut. I know I would have. It's only a £150, after all. Peanuts to him, most likely.

Would he have accepted the reverse of the dilemma, you handing in an overlooked deal that would have pushed you into a hypothetical wage bonus? Probably not.

Keep it. and if he kicks up, me and Zooo will come round and sort him!