Florida Tollbooth Company Made Out As Bad Guy on Social Media

So in recent news, a Florida tollbooth company has been dragged through social media as the bad guy when they did everything they reasonably could to keep a senior worker employed despite his failing skills at his job.

The Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority recently had to terminate 77-year old Vladislav 'Sam' Samsonov of Boca Grande from his position as a full time worker at the Boca Grande Causeway.  Mr. Samsonov, who worked the job for 29 years, had mistakenly undercharged a vehicle and to compensate he put the balance of the fees into the till out of his own pocket.  This was not the first time that this had occurred and he had been warned more than once by his superiors about his actions.  When the same mistake occurred this time, having not heeded the prior multiple warnings, his employers did not outright terminate him but offered him instead a reduced schedule.  Mr. Samsonov declined the opportunity to keep his job at the reduced hours and the company was forced to terminate him.

The story was shared from the point of view of Mr. Samsonov being a victim on social media and has now spread across the internet.  People in the Gasparilla Island area are sad to see a longtime fixture removed and rather than really look at the reasons why, they assume that the point of view put forth in online media is the only one.  There have been threats and vulgar displays as well as outrage and support.  The Bridge Authority is completely unable to comment in any way due to national privacy laws and are completely at the mercy of whatever supporters of Mr. Samsonov wish to claim about them to the internet world.  They aren't able to defend themselves by explaining that the employee was making regular mistakes, that he was trying to cover up his mistakes, that he had been warned more than once about accuracy on the job, and that he was offered a solution that would have allowed him to keep his job but he declined.

There's nothing quite like being judged and found guilty in the court of internet social media when you can't even defend yourself against the mistaken assumptions.