Solitaire Game Gets NYC Worker Fired

Professur

Professur

Well-Known Member
By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer Fri Feb 10, 9:54 AM ET

NEW YORK - Mayor Michael Bloomberg isn't playing games — after he saw a game of solitaire on a city employee's computer screen, he fired him.


The Republican mayor stopped by the city's legislative office in Albany a few weeks ago when he was visiting the state Capitol to hear the governor's State of the State address.

Office assistant Edward Greenwood IX was going over some papers at his desk as Bloomberg made the rounds with his photographer, greeting workers and posing for pictures. When the mayor reached him, Greenwood stood, they shook hands and the photographer snapped a photo.

But the eagle-eyed mayor — a billionaire former businessman with a certain idea of how offices should be run — noticed Greenwood's game of solitaire glowing on his screen. He said nothing about it to Greenwood but later told an aide to give him the ax.

The story was reported by the New York Post on Thursday, and Bloomberg defended his no-tolerance decision.

"The workplace is not an appropriate place for games," Bloomberg said. "It's a place where you've got to do the job that you're getting paid for."

Greenwood, who earned $27,000 a year and had worked in the office for six years, said in a telephone interview that he limited his play time to his one-hour lunch or during quick breaks when he needed a moment of distraction.

"It wasn't like I spent hours and hours a day playing, because I had plenty to do," Greenwood said. "If I had been working at something exhaustively for two hours, I might get a cup of coffee and play for a minute but then go right back to my work."

The mayor's office said its records show that in 2004 Greenwood reviewed the policy that prohibits "inappropriate" use of city computers.

Greenwood said he doesn't recall doing so but probably did. He suggested that other workers in the office play solitaire and similarly stretch the rules.

"It's not like I'm the only one that ever did this," said the 39-year-old father of a toddler.

Greenwood said he wasn't angry with the mayor but wished he had been warned or reprimanded for what he called a first offense.

"I admire the guy — he's a great financial success, and he has a definite management style," Greenwood said. "I just think he could have seen my situation and weighed the harshness of his final decision."

Bloomberg, who left his financial information company for politics in 2001, managed Bloomberg LP with a style that has become his signature. He created an office setup, which he repeated at City Hall, where everyone sits together in an open-air environment — an arrangement that facilitates communication and eliminates fooling around.

"I expect all city workers, including myself, to work hard," the mayor said. "There's nothing wrong with taking a break, but during the business day, at your desk, that's not appropriate behavior."
Click to expand...

source


Too harsh?
 
I heard a clip of this guy being interviewed on the radio this morning, and while he seems likeable enough, I can understand wanting to make a statement that taxpayer dollars aren't being flushed down the toilet. They could have at least given him a warning, though. Oh, and how about deleting all such games from city-owned computers, removing admin privileges and banning access to certain websites? Why tempt people?
 
I've seen many people with solitaire on their desktops at work & my first thought has always been...must be nice to have so much free time.

Too harsh? No.

abooja said:
Why tempt people?
Click to expand...
Because we're adults & ought to know better.
 
Years ago, a company I worked for said they left solitaire and minesweeper on so the employees could acclimate themselves with using a mouse. Plausible then, not so much now I think.

It seems a tad harsh, and a lot chickenshit to have someone else do it. If the mayor was the one with the beef, he oughta step up and do his own dirty work. Then to say that had the guy been taking a quick break away from his desk it woulda been OK...another cop out. If he's sitting there he can at least attend to his telephone.
 
I'd have reprimanded them, and piled on some more work.
If they had that much time, and no more work, a cut back was warranted,
BUT, I'd be looking at the whole dept. before singling out that person as
the cut. Maybe they were more efficient, and that's why they had time.
It sounds like they need a good manager there.

I'm with S&P...this is a buck-passing move.
 
$27K after six years?
That's poverty in NYC? right???
The guys a slacker, heck that's why he works for the city.

Sheesh!
 
I work really hard, I work over-time, and very seldom take my lunch-breaks. In order to refresh, sometimes I'll play solitaire. Heck, my manager plays solitaire as well. I'm definitely not lazy - as my co-workers will attest. :shrug:
 
abooja said:
I heard a clip of this guy being interviewed on the radio this morning, and while he seems likeable enough, I can understand wanting to make a statement that taxpayer dollars aren't being flushed down the toilet. They could have at least given him a warning, though. Oh, and how about deleting all such games from city-owned computers, removing admin privileges and banning access to certain websites? Why tempt people?
Click to expand...

You realize that I am graced by your presence on a gummint computer, right? :winkkiss:
 
Too harsh for a first offense. If this were a continued behavior and his games would stretch for longer than it takes to smoke a cigarette*, then there's just cause.

* ease up smokers, just an example of a class of workers who get extra breaks, justifiable in their own minds. Personal pet peeve of mine from back in my restaurant working days, where co-workers would constantly ask me (and other non-smokers) to cover for a few minutes so they could go get their fix. After a few years of that, I finally grew the balls to say no unless I also received paid breaks every 90 minutes.
 
But them smoking isn't their own fault, it's RJReynolds' fault! You can't hold smokers accountable!
 
I wish this was all we had to worry about with our users. You should have heard the outrage when we blocked all internet access except for business related sites that had to be emailed to our Help Desk so we could open them. We only did it for about two weeks during the last virus scare but they were freaking, I tell you.

Makes me wonder what kind of productivity we had for those two weeks.

How many of you read and post here while you're at work? You have to question how much time that takes up also. As much as a game of solitare? Surely. If I was a manager at my present job and someone who worked for me was spending that much time playing games, surfing, etc, I would first take a look at their productivity. Are they getting the job done? No? Time to have a talk. Yes? If they have time to play games and surf for hours, they have time to have more work-related responsibility.

Personally, I've never fired someone for a first infraction. I believe many people can be turned around if you handle discipline correctly. Like children, many of them test the boundaries. If they take an hour for lunch, 45 minutes for smoke breaks and an hour for games and surfing and you don't say anything to them, you're at fault too. But once the need to micro-manage arises, you're expending too much energy and it's time to document & fire.
 
Gato_Solo said:
You realize that I am graced by your presence on a gummint computer, right? :winkkiss:
Click to expand...
Yes, I do. And you're fired.

:p

J/K. I know you do significant, stressful work with long periods of downtime.
 
I think it's a tad harsh. The computers at work have the shortcuts to solitaire, etc removed, but the programs are still there. Not that I went hunting for them or anything...
 
Way too harsh. A warning (and as gf says, a look at their productivity) first.

I'm never around the computer in my work hours, but I do occassionally take my lunch at the 'puter, if I can't be arsed walking through the sleet down to the teachers lounge (in a different building).
 
tonksy said:
I play soltaire at work all the time...:D
Click to expand...
YOU'RE FIRED.

gallery.donald.trump.ap792867.jpg

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top