Verizon lays down the law! Fire’s 6 workers and suspends 32 others

If you work anywhere in the U.S., then you all know someone that is, or you are, part of a weekly Football pool. You may even have guys that set them up for college games or NHL. Regardless of what the sport is, or what the pool is all about, it is technically illegal.  According to the  Taunton Gazette, a local group of Verizon reps received some harsh punishments for a seemingly innocent interaction. A total of 6 reps were fired and another 32 were suspended for heading up and participating in a Football pool during the last Super Bowl.

“This has been going on  for a while, so why now? Are they trying to make us nervous?” she said.

She also noted the paradox forbidding gambling in the workplace while at the same time allowing the sales staff to participate in their own version of a Super Bowl contest tied to sales performance, albeit one that doesn’t pay cash.

“What’s the big deal?” she said.

But it is a big deal when it comes to engaging in gaming at work, said Phil Santoro, Verizon’s Boston-based spokesman.

“Verizon does not tolerate illegal activities of any kind,” Santoro wrote in an email.

When contacted by phone on Thursday, Santoro would only elaborate by saying that “betting is illegal in Massachusetts.”

I personally agree with her. Often times call centers will have competitions for performance that rewards reps with gift cards or other prizes. Other times coaches will set up a competition between 2 teams to see who can out perform the other with the winnings being a pizza party or time off the phones. Is that really so different then a couple of people at work tossing a buck or  two into a pot for their favorite sports team? I don’t think so. I know we used to play Cribbage and Texas Hold ‘Em when I worked at T-Mobile. We of course kept our mouths closed about the monetary aspect of the games. I know for a fact that many members of management partook in pools at my call center, some of them even started them. Does that mean we were right in any way shape or form, no. I can understand how it is a conflict and could have extremely large consequences for the company as a whole.

I am curious if anyone has even stopped to take the time and see if there is a solution to the problem, instead of just firing people. All that proves to employees is that the company is very interested in covering their butts. Would it be possibly to start a company pool, where you could buy tickets for your team, donate the money to charity and reward the winners with prizes instead? Or would that still be “Gambling”?

Regardless if it is Verzion, T-Mobile, AT&T or any other major company not related to wireless, steer clear of any pools on work grounds. Organize the pool on your own time and off the clock. The sad part is, they might still find away to get to you. What do you guys think? Even if it is technically “gambling”, so is a home Texas Hold ’em game, should you lose your job over it?

Source: Tauntongazzett