Is it legal??

My cousin, brother and I all drive t/t. My cousin is the least experienced of us though having only had his license since last August. He works for a line haul company who I will refrain from naming based out of California. They’re sketchy. Although I can’t really judge cuz the company I work for is kind of sketchy too.
Yesterday he got a call from his company saying that they have video of him clipping another vehicle with the blind side of his trailer while making a U turn in the yard around midnight. My cousin swears he had no idea it happened but the company now wants to charge him with criminal hit and run because he left with a load and didn’t report it.
I should rephrase... They *claim* to have a video but refuse to show it to him. Also, for the low low price of just 1500 dollars cash or pay they promise to make it “go away.” It’s definitely suspicious, and I question the legality of a company telling one of its company drivers to pay up or forfeit pay over an incident that supposedly happened in their own yard. Isn’t that what insurance is for?
He’s going to fight it. I think they’ve got him between and rock and a hard place and he’s making a mistake. but I can’t convince him otherwise so now I’m looking for some help.
I got good advice here a few months ago when I decided to dive back in to my trucking journey and I just want to see what everyone thinks. Thanks!

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. They claim that because it was an owner op he supposedly “hit” they can file a police report and press charges. That also sounds illegitimate. He’s not worried, but he’s also young and hard headed. I guess I shouldn’t be either though.

 

Do the private property laws vary by state? Based on all these replies I can’t believe a company would be stupid enough to try and pull this on a driver...