Pittsburgh TSA workers fired for gambling
Sep 19, 2013, 2:23 pm
#1
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Pittsburgh TSA workers fired for gambling
Dozens of TSA employees fired, suspended for involvement in illegal gambling ring
Channel 11’s Renee Kaminski reported of the 311 local workers, five were fired, 47 were suspended and 10 letters of reprimand were sent out.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/...ement-i/nZ2xK/
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.....
Channel 11’s Renee Kaminski reported of the 311 local workers, five were fired, 47 were suspended and 10 letters of reprimand were sent out.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/...ement-i/nZ2xK/
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.....
Sep 19, 2013, 2:34 pm
#2
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Dozens of TSA employees fired, suspended for involvement in illegal gambling ring
Channel 11’s Renee Kaminski reported of the 311 local workers, five were fired, 47 were suspended and 10 letters of reprimand were sent out.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/...ement-i/nZ2xK/
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.....
Channel 11’s Renee Kaminski reported of the 311 local workers, five were fired, 47 were suspended and 10 letters of reprimand were sent out.
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/...ement-i/nZ2xK/
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.....
They're civil servants, supposedly working to keep the public safe, and thus should be held to the highest of standards.
SDF
Sep 19, 2013, 3:05 pm
#3
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If TSA runs true to form, most, if not all, of the employees reprimanded will appeal, their punishments will be withdrawn and those fired will be reinstated with back pay. TSA HQ will blame it on the union - without pointing out that the same practice existed long before the union.
Sep 19, 2013, 4:33 pm
#4
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TSA just spent two months investigating an office pool (Another Real Big Catch!)
This is bizarre. They had an office pool and it had to have been common knowledge within the workplace since at least 1 in 6 employees were involved in it.... yet TSA spent two months investigating it, per this CBS-Pittsburgh story:
CBS Pittsburgh:
Dozens Of TSA Employees Fired, Suspended For Illegal Gambling Ring At Pittsburgh Int’l Airport
September 19, 2013 4:17 PM
A short quote:
Kudos to the US Attorney for declining to prosecute.
I really wonder what the real story is; was going after the office pool the easiest way they could get rid of Pittsburgh's Federal Security Director (FSD) and/or other high level TSA Supervisors they wanted gone?
If a TSA FSD or STSO did something really embarrassing to TSA --such as keeping a personal collection of nudie scans of female passengers-- TSA would not want to use that detail to fire the employee because of the paper trail it would create. (The fired employee could appeal by saying "They said I saved these pictures, but TSA's Administrator said it was not possible to save the pictures... so let's subpoenia him and have him testify on my behalf....)
No, instead of doing that, they would find some BS reason (like allowing illegal gambling in the workplace) and use that to fire the guy.
CBS Pittsburgh:
Dozens Of TSA Employees Fired, Suspended For Illegal Gambling Ring At Pittsburgh Int’l Airport
September 19, 2013 4:17 PM
A short quote:
Of the 311 local TSA workers, five were fired, and 47 were suspended.
TSA sources say they just finished a two-month investigation into the office betting. The investigation found that TSA officers at the airport had an office betting pool, and officers were betting on everything from Nascar, to the NCAA, even football.
Homeland Security says all of the workers accused of sports gambling at the airport were in uniform at the time, but says public safety and security was never at risk.
The investigation determined that no criminal laws were broken, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has turned down the case for criminal prosecution.
TSA sources say they just finished a two-month investigation into the office betting. The investigation found that TSA officers at the airport had an office betting pool, and officers were betting on everything from Nascar, to the NCAA, even football.
Homeland Security says all of the workers accused of sports gambling at the airport were in uniform at the time, but says public safety and security was never at risk.
The investigation determined that no criminal laws were broken, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has turned down the case for criminal prosecution.
I really wonder what the real story is; was going after the office pool the easiest way they could get rid of Pittsburgh's Federal Security Director (FSD) and/or other high level TSA Supervisors they wanted gone?
If a TSA FSD or STSO did something really embarrassing to TSA --such as keeping a personal collection of nudie scans of female passengers-- TSA would not want to use that detail to fire the employee because of the paper trail it would create. (The fired employee could appeal by saying "They said I saved these pictures, but TSA's Administrator said it was not possible to save the pictures... so let's subpoenia him and have him testify on my behalf....)
No, instead of doing that, they would find some BS reason (like allowing illegal gambling in the workplace) and use that to fire the guy.
Sep 19, 2013, 8:01 pm
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TribLive: One-fifth of local TSA agents in trouble over office betting pools
Tom Fontaine provides some more details:
TribLive:
One-fifth of local TSA agents in trouble over office betting pools
Published: Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, 9:27 p.m.
A short quote:
and
hahahahahahahahaha... now they know what it is like to a passenger, being yelled at for having violated some stupid, arbitrary rule that the TSA screener made up themselves.
TribLive:
One-fifth of local TSA agents in trouble over office betting pools
Published: Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013, 9:27 p.m.
A short quote:
The Transportation Security Administration is disciplining one-fifth of its uniformed workers in Pittsburgh because they participated in office betting pools for March Madness, the Super Bowl and other sporting events, officials said Thursday.
“This is just absurd and ridiculous. I think we have better things to worry about,” said Kimberly Kraynak-Lambert, president of the American Federation of Government Employees' Local 332 union.
Five employees that ran the pools are slated to be fired, and 47 others may get suspensions of three to 14 days. Ten employees received letters of reprimand, TSA officials said. Kraynak-Lambert said all disciplinary actions will be appealed. Hearings must be conducted within two weeks.
“This is just absurd and ridiculous. I think we have better things to worry about,” said Kimberly Kraynak-Lambert, president of the American Federation of Government Employees' Local 332 union.
Five employees that ran the pools are slated to be fired, and 47 others may get suspensions of three to 14 days. Ten employees received letters of reprimand, TSA officials said. Kraynak-Lambert said all disciplinary actions will be appealed. Hearings must be conducted within two weeks.
TSA's Office of Professional Responsibility started an investigation in February after receiving a tip, officials said.
“No one felt they were doing anything wrong,” Kraynak-Lambert said.
“No one felt they were doing anything wrong,” Kraynak-Lambert said.
Sep 19, 2013, 8:15 pm
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What horrible news!!! You cannot gamble. It's not permitted. You break the rules. You cannot play the slot machines or anywhere else. You were supposed be working. Not a free time. You have stay at work. You cannot leave from the screening area without proper permission from supervisor or manager.
Good riddance to TSA!!!!
Good riddance to TSA!!!!
Sep 19, 2013, 9:12 pm
#7
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An office betting pool sure seems like a silly thing to fire workers over...reprimand maybe.
Now, if they better investigated all the claims of theft, sexual harassment, and failure to follow procedures I'd be much more satisfied.
Now, if they better investigated all the claims of theft, sexual harassment, and failure to follow procedures I'd be much more satisfied.
Sep 19, 2013, 10:26 pm
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Sep 19, 2013, 11:53 pm
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I haven't seen any mention about how much money was in play in any of the articles I've read. I did see mention, though, that the fired employees were getting a cut off the top.
I'd be curious if some of these pools didn't get up to a couple thousand dollars and maybe that's why it caught TSA management's attention. That information is conspicuously absent.
I'd be curious if some of these pools didn't get up to a couple thousand dollars and maybe that's why it caught TSA management's attention. That information is conspicuously absent.
Sep 20, 2013, 12:28 am
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Ok so it took from February when they got word of this going on until September for them the close the case about these evil doers?.?.?.how much did that cost the US tax payers?
So instead of investigating fraud/theft/bribery/improper acts by TSA we investigate a pool betting on a football game? Only reason I can think to actually legitimize the investigation is to make sure that any of the money entered didn't come from fraud, theft and/or bribery.
Simple solution. Issue statements that gambling is not tolerated and anyone seen oeprating or participating from here on out will be eligible for immediate termination.
So instead of investigating fraud/theft/bribery/improper acts by TSA we investigate a pool betting on a football game? Only reason I can think to actually legitimize the investigation is to make sure that any of the money entered didn't come from fraud, theft and/or bribery.
Simple solution. Issue statements that gambling is not tolerated and anyone seen oeprating or participating from here on out will be eligible for immediate termination.
Sep 20, 2013, 1:03 am
#11
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TSA's employee handbook bars employees from participating in any gambling activity while on duty or in uniform, including an office lottery or pool. It makes an exception for buying state-sponsored lottery tickets.
Sep 20, 2013, 4:46 am
#12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi212
Simple solution. Issue statements that gambling is not tolerated and anyone seen oeprating or participating from here on out will be eligible for immediate termination.
The gambling not tolerated part is already in their policy manual. Surely the employees have read their manuals?
Quote:
TSA's employee handbook bars employees from participating in any gambling activity while on duty or in uniform, including an office lottery or pool. It makes an exception for buying state-sponsored lottery tickets.
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/4...ployees-office
Originally Posted by Yoshi212
Simple solution. Issue statements that gambling is not tolerated and anyone seen oeprating or participating from here on out will be eligible for immediate termination.
The gambling not tolerated part is already in their policy manual. Surely the employees have read their manuals?
Quote:
TSA's employee handbook bars employees from participating in any gambling activity while on duty or in uniform, including an office lottery or pool. It makes an exception for buying state-sponsored lottery tickets.
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/4...ployees-office
Sep 20, 2013, 7:54 am
#13
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An additional aspect is how much time it takes on the taxpayer's clock to play these games and to administer the pools. We had to put the kibosh on a fantasy baseball league back in my USAF days. Among other things, we discovered the large amount of time it took away from the job. Setting up league rosters, trades, etc, on government computers wasn't too cool, either.
One individual in my organization got caught the second time (and immediately walked out) when his online activities red-lined and crashed a large server installation.
Bottom line, they broke the rules. The organization advocates zero-tolerance for pax who 'break the rules', so it should hold its own employees to an equal standard. If employees think the rules are too restrictive, they can (like pax) lobby for change, or seek alternate employment.
Given some of what TSA has allowed its employees to get away with in the past, I suspect there's something else going on here anyway.
Sep 20, 2013, 8:09 am
#14
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Americans have such a weird attitude about sports betting. It's this huge taboo...even though lotteries, casinos, keno, poker saloons, horses/dogs, bingo, and various forms of "charity raffles" are everywhere in our society.
It's even more backwards than the TSA itself.
In this case, the official statement from DHS rules that issue out. (e.g., They were spending so much time gambling that job performance suffered.) Whether true or not, they decided to go the "public safety was never at risk" route. Job performance was adequate, as much as we need this whole security charade to be anyway... Of course, even if this was false, I have a feeling DHS would not admit it.
FWIW, I'm with you in having once been a part of a pool that got so big it had to get taken off of company servers. This was in the late 90's when you could buy a decent bracket manager program for a few bucks and host it on a local network, allowing everybody to enter their picks there. This guy had been doing it for a couple years, $20 per bracket, growing to about 500 entries. Finally the company asked him to host it elsewhere...ten grand starts to look a bit too much like "real gambling" I guess. He went back to paper brackets for a year or two until Internet-hosted pools became the norm.
It's even more backwards than the TSA itself.
Originally Posted by FliesWay2Much
An additional aspect is how much time it takes on the taxpayer's clock to play these games and to administer the pools.
FWIW, I'm with you in having once been a part of a pool that got so big it had to get taken off of company servers. This was in the late 90's when you could buy a decent bracket manager program for a few bucks and host it on a local network, allowing everybody to enter their picks there. This guy had been doing it for a couple years, $20 per bracket, growing to about 500 entries. Finally the company asked him to host it elsewhere...ten grand starts to look a bit too much like "real gambling" I guess. He went back to paper brackets for a year or two until Internet-hosted pools became the norm.
Sep 20, 2013, 9:15 am
#15
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Jeez, thank god my employer doesn't have a stick up it's butt like these guys. No gambling? Bet it would be a blast to party with that guy.
IN all seriousness, what's so unfortunate is that it came out of Pittsburgh. From my experiences, the TSA people from Pittsburgh are friendly, respectful, but still take their job seriously without going all alpha on you...ESPECIALLY compared to the rest of the country.
Couldn't this have happened in like...ATL or DTW?
IN all seriousness, what's so unfortunate is that it came out of Pittsburgh. From my experiences, the TSA people from Pittsburgh are friendly, respectful, but still take their job seriously without going all alpha on you...ESPECIALLY compared to the rest of the country.
Couldn't this have happened in like...ATL or DTW?