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Ark. Man Owes Half Million Dollars Over Handshake

Associated Press file photo (2000)

The lawsuit claims Jenkins interlocked Ithipathachai's middle finger and then grasped his right hand and twisted his finger, hand and arm at the same time until a popping noise was heard.

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The Associated Press

Published: March 5, 2009

WINSLOW, Ark. - An Arkansas man's finger-twisting handshake with a co-worker in North Carolina has left him facing a half-million-dollar legal judgment.

A lawsuit by co-worker Suwat Ithipathachai claims John R. Jenkins of Winslow had even nicknamed his middle finger "cold, rolled steel." Ithipathachai won a judgment against Jenkins, 69, over a December 2004 handshake in the machine tenders shack at the International Paper Co.'s plant in Roanoke Rapids, N.C.

The lawsuit claims Jenkins interlocked Ithipathachai's middle finger and then grasped his right hand and twisted his finger, hand and arm at the same time until a popping noise was heard.

Jenkins lost the lawsuit after failing to appear at a court hearing in Halifax County Superior Court in North Carolina. The judge ruled Jenkins should pay compensatory and punitive damages of $500,000. Hinton also awarded Ithipathachai $26,660 for medical expenses.

Ithipathachai filed a request Tuesday in Arkansas that Jenkins be forced to pay the judgment.

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