Company owner didn't mail last paycheck due to an accident.

Hi everyone!
I’m trying to help my father who is a CDL driver in Florida. He had a minor accident and it was his fault: his trailer scratched another truck on the highway. He works for a small company and the owner doesn’t give him his last paycheck (around $3000), because of this accident. The owner is waiting on the estimate from the other party. He doesn’t want to use his insurance I assume, and basically wants to charge my father for the damages. Is that even legal? What can we do about that?

Thank you for your help!

 

1099

 

He worked for. He wasn’t terminated though. It was his last trip for this company just as a coincidence.

 

Ok. The accident happened about a week ago. He was passing another truck ahead of him, and his trailer scratched another truck that was in the left lane. Basically, there was not enough space to pass. The cop said that my father was at fault, and he paid a fine already ($70), there will be no court. The other driver contacted my father’s company and he will send some kind of estimate for repairs. There’s a broken mirror and scratched side of the truck. Nothing bad really.
Now the last paycheck is not paid because the owner is waiting for the estimate. My father found another job already and the owner knew that. So that was his last trip. The owner said that since there’s no big damage, he doesn’t want to use his business insurance because his premiums will go up.