21 Nov 08 Verizon Employees Get Fired for Going Through Obama’s Cellphone Accounts

If you happen to work for any cell phone carrier don’t assume you can simply go through anyone’s cellphone accounts whenever you feel like it. And if you happen to stumble upon Barack Obama’s records, simply kill your urge to take a look. It will get you fired! That’s what happened to some Verizon employees which looked at the personal cellphone accounts of the latest President-Elect. And they got canned for it. Here’s what Lowel McAdam, Verizon Wireless President and CEO had to say about the whole thing:

This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama’s personal cell phone account. The account has been inactive for several months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services.

All employees who have accessed the account – whether authorized or not – have been put on immediate leave, with pay. As the circumstances of each individual employee’s access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions. Employees with legitimate business needs for access will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face appropriate disciplinary action.

We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day.

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Tags: Barack Obama, President, Verizon