Toll collector fired for paying a driver's toll

[jnelsoninjax]

BOCA GRANDE, FL -

Outrage after a beloved a toll collector at the Boca Grande Causeway was suddenly fired after working there nearly 30 years.

Vladislav Samsonov, who goes by Sam, says he was let go for doing what he felt was the right thing: paying someone's toll.

"In my eyes there was no crime committed, I just helped somebody out," Samsonov said.

Samsonov says he charged a trailer driver too little last week, and when he realized his mistake, paid the five dollars owed out of his own pocket.  He says it was something he did from time to time if a driver didn't have enough cash.

"I'd put the six dollars in, I got the six dollars back the next day," Samsonov said.

For 77-year-old Samsonov, who is a military veteran, the job wasn't about the money. It was about the people.

"After 29 years, you can't help it. I gave children suckers 20 years ago. Now I'm giving those children suckers for their children," Samsonov said.

There was a ton of outpouring of support online for Samsonov. Jason Rice would see Samsonov at the toll almost daily.

"My son, he would go over there and Sam would always give him lollipops and give the dogs bones and stuff like that. This doesn't sit will with me, what happened," Rice said.

Samsonov says he had been asked not to pay for others before, but was never formally written up.

As punishment, the authority offered him two days a week instead of five, which he declined.

"If I can't be trusted for five days, how can I be trusted for two days?" Samsonov said.

So he was terminated. NBC2 asked the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority for comment, and they told me they do not discuss personnel matters.

Samsonov says he'll look to volunteer work for now but will always miss the people at the toll.

"They were my family,'" Samsonov said.

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[FloatingFatMan]

Someone's being a jobsworth...

[xendrome]

30 years, he was probably making $100K a year while all of the new people are making $25K a year, so they figured this was the way to get him to retire. Who knows.

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

30 years, he was probably making $100K a year while all of the new people are making $25K a year, so they figured this was the way to get him to retire. Who knows.

 

could be... could be...

[Torolol]

From financial/income/profits point of view, Samsonov are not guilty.

So some adventurous lawyers might helping a legal action against Gasparilla on his behalf.

[spenser.d]

30 years, he was probably making $100K a year while all of the new people are making $25K a year, so they figured this was the way to get him to retire. Who knows.

Yeah sounds to me like athey were looking for a reason to force retirement. Either way, pretty ###### of them. God forbid we let nice people be nice.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Someone's being a jobsworth...

 

Absolutely.

Seems they were looking for an excuse to ditch him, so went with this frankly awful one.

[speed3okie]

After 30 years of service, and this is the thanks that someone gets for "bending" a rule? 

[FloatingFatMan]

After 30 years of service, and this is the thanks that someone gets for "bending" a rule? 

 

In the UK, you just can't be fired offhand like that once you've been at a place for 2+ years.  There has to be a history of misconduct and three evidenced written warnings. You guys really need better employee protections...

[theyarecomingforyou]

In the UK, you just can't be fired offhand like that once you've been at a place for 2+ years.  There has to be a history of misconduct and three evidenced written warnings. You guys really need better employee protections...

Exactly. The US desperately needs work place protections.

[blank]

I like the ability to fire anyone at anytime for any reason. We should keep that. Any business owner would. Obviously you don't own a business, and/or dont employ people.

 

We do have such programs for people who are wrongly terminated, such as unemployment. You can't get that if you actually get fired for a legit valid reason.

 

They clearly have rules that this guy knowingly violated. if the staff kept paying all the tolls then the entire "pay to drive here" system would crumble.

 

 

All these toll systems seem to be changing. One of the past great things about the Kansas turnpike here is we always had actual people working in the pay booths, but lately they're making them all automated. Its sad.

but this is what happens when you make employing actual people such a hassle.

[FloatingFatMan]

I like the ability to fire anyone at anytime for any reason. We should keep that.

 

No you shouldn't.  It's massively unfair to employees who've been loyal to their employer for possibly decades of their lives. They deserve security.

 

It's not impossible to fire people here, but you just can't do it on a whim either.  The person has to have broken the rules and had multiple warnings.  The only way you can be fired out of hand here is for gross misconduct (stealing, assaulting fellow staff or customers, generally all illegal stuff).

[MikeChipshop Member]

I like the ability to fire anyone at anytime for any reason. We should keep that. Any business owner would. Obviously you don't own a business, and/or dont employ people.

 

No you shouldn't and yes i do.

[blank]

No you shouldn't.  It's massively unfair to employees who've been loyal to their employer for possibly decades of their lives. They deserve security.

 

It's not impossible to fire people here, but you just can't do it on a whim either.  The person has to have broken the rules and had multiple warnings.  The only way you can be fired out of hand here is for gross misconduct (stealing, assaulting fellow staff or customers, generally all illegal stuff).

 

Breaking the rules and laws of the workplace isn't being "loyal". They're paying him, they owe him nothing. He should be grateful that he even had a job that was as easy and paid as much as it did, and just did the job according to the rules.

 

This new generation self entitlement is disgusting.

[FloatingFatMan]

Breaking the rules and laws of the workplace isn't being "loyal". They're paying him, they owe him nothing. He should be grateful that he even had a job that was as easy and paid as much as it did, and just did the job according to the rules.

 

You're wrong; but I don't expect you to understand it.

 

If what this guy did was wrong, and I argue that it wasn't, it was a small act of basic kindness that hurt no one, then he should have been given a warning for it, not fired out of hand.

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

come on now.  business is business.  

 

they did not fire him for adding his own cash, that would be dumb. 

 

 

obviously they just wanted to get rid of him.

[deni88]

Its quiet unfair to fire a person who hasn't done anything wrong. Maybe that driver is a friend of his and he just wanted to help and offer kindness to the person. Helping other people is not against the law. Noting that he has been working on that toll company for 30 years. They really should have a deeper reason why they fire him.

[oldtimefighter]

From financial/income/profits point of view, Samsonov are not guilty.

That was not why he was fired so irrelevant.

 

I like the ability to fire anyone at anytime for any reason. We should keep that. Any business owner would. Obviously you don't own a business, and/or dont employ people.

Congratulations, you are in the running for the dumbest comment of the day. Obviously you don't own a business as this idea is NOT good for employers... Good luck trying to hire the best and brightest with that policy.

 

 

 

We do have such programs for people who are wrongly terminated, such as unemployment. You can't get that if you actually get fired for a legit valid reason.

Unempolyment is NOT meant for wrongly terminated employees cases which should be taken to one's union and/or legal system. It is meant to help citizens turning a time of layoffs until they find another job.

 

 

They clearly have rules that this guy knowingly violated. if the staff kept paying all the tolls then the entire "pay to drive here" system would crumble.

Oh, a rules' guy... Rules are great for people who don't want to think and can just say but "it's the rule".

You don't seem to understand they didn't need to fire him but just change his behaviour. He wasn't even fired he was given an option that forced him to quit. It's obvious he wasn't fired because of this and other reasons were in play.

[HeartsOfWar]

I personally think that the "at will employment" of most states in the US is fine; however, I wouldn't stand in the way of making it tougher to fire / layoff employees provided the solution didn't violate "right to work". In some ways it would make sense to have tougher laws, because look at how the government protects tenants.

 

I am a little torn on the subject of the Gentleman that was fired.

 

First off, he wasn't fired for paying someone's toll. He was fired because he refused to accept a reduction in hours: -24 hours per week. Once he refused, the only solution was for him to be fired, quit, or have the company back down. He called their bluff and lost...

 

Second, he was facing punishment because he incorrectly charged a toll that resulted in a deficit. When the accounting office noticed the deficit and brought it to his attention, he paid the debt, but the fact remains that he still screwed up. If this was a single screw-up, the punishment seems harsh, but even the guy admits he was warned on multiple occasions that he couldn't pay for other people's tolls, and so I find it more likely that this was a recurring issue due to old age, etc.

 

It's a sad story, but the guy did 30 years... he deserves a break or at the least a change of scenery. He should take the opportunity to move on.

[FloatingFatMan]

It's a sad story, but the guy did 30 years... he deserves a break or at the least a change of scenery. He should take the opportunity to move on.

 

Were I the guys employer, and age was getting to him, I'd have just given him a nice retirement package and a well meant handshake for 30 years of loyalty.

[KingCracker]

Its florida, its not shaped like a penis for nothing a lot of people there act like them too.

[HeartsOfWar]

Were I the guys employer, and age was getting to him, I'd have just given him a nice retirement package and a well meant handshake for 30 years of loyalty.

 

I do think firing him was more of an act of retaliation, but FL is an at will state (Only Montana is not) and unfortunately the guy put himself in the position to be fired. He should have accepted the lesser hours and fought the punishment instead of refusing and losing his potential retirement (if any).

 

Its florida, its not shaped like a penis for nothing a lot of people there act like them too.

 

Honestly, I don't see it... never have. I think the only people that identify FL as a penis are those that can't spatially recognize the difference between basic shapes.

[KingCracker]

I do think firing him was more of an act of retaliation, but FL is an at will state (Only Montana is not) and unfortunately the guy put himself in the position to be fired. He should have accepted the lesser hours and fought the punishment instead of refusing and losing his potential retirement (if any).

 

 

Honestly, I don't see it... never have. I think the only people that identify FL as a penis are those that can't spatially recognize the difference between basic shapes.

Or perhaps you have no imagination. 

[HeartsOfWar]

Or perhaps you have no imagination. 

 

Perhaps... or my subconscious isn't pre-occupied with the male genitalia like yours...

[KingCracker]

Perhaps... or my subconscious isn't pre-occupied with the male genitalia like yours...

Is there something wrong with that? What if I was gay? You going to hate on gay people? Must be  homophobic.