Two Quit Call Center Jobs Over Anti-Obama Robocalls

At least two people have quit their jobs at call centers over scripts that accuse Barack Obama of working closely with Bill Ayers. The Charleston Gazette reports on a woman in West Virginia:

Chaylee Cole, a student at Fairmont State University, lost her part-time job in Weston last Friday after refusing to make telephone calls attacking Barack Obama.

McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee were paying for the calls, according to a "work paper" handed to Cole and her co-workers at the Weston offices of 1.2.1 Direct Response, a company based in Philadelphia.

"I was working at the call center," Cole said. "We got a campaign ad talking about how Obama had been part of terrorist attacks on the Capitol, the Pentagon and a judge's home and had ties with Bill Ayers.

"Last Thursday, I told them I did not want to read it," Cole said. "They said, 'Either you read it or you go home.'

"I told them I wasn't going to read it. They made me go home without pay for the rest of the day."

...

"I talked to one of our 'coaches,' which is what our supervisors were called. I said I was unhappy with the situation and I quit," she said Tuesday.

And WKOW finds a man in Wisconsin:

Voters in more than 13 states, including Wisconsin are getting calls from people accusing Barack Obama of having ties to terrorists. Some of those calls are made from right here in Madison.

A local man made dozens of calls bashing Barack Obama, but when the campaign got ugly, he quit his job.

...

Zoromski said, "This was different than I was told I was going to be saying, and [Sitel] said the script changes on a daily basis."

So Zoromski quit, fed up with what he perceived as scare tactics.

Comments

[GrkAm]

At a time when people are losing their jobs because of the economy, it is great to know that people stand on their principles and ethics. Kudos to these two individuals. Let's hear more of these stories. It's important!

[aWatchmanOnTheWalls]

Yes, these are the TRUE PATRIOTIC gallant PRO-AMERICANS. GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!

[Elisa78]

LOL this is the lowest of the low....but of course, no GOP is going to say a word about this....only when someone mentions McCain putting a loophole into law in order to buy hundreds of thousands worth of clothes for his VP and her family while America is starved for money, THEN you will get the GOPs attention and they will say we only focus on things that are not important and mean nothing and no one speaks about the Dem ticket and what they do wrong (wah wah wah). I'm sorry but Obama has taken the high road during this campaign and that, my GOP friends, is why there is nothing wrong to say.

[Leatherneck1775]

I say Bravo IF the call sheet actually told them to link Obama to the Pentagon bombings, Look, it is a well known fact that Obama & Ayers are friends, That is just the truth, As i stated I am a DEM but i am fair. I would like to see this call sheet with these accusations. It sounds a bit fishy to me.

[ANahasapeemapetilon]

What?! A call center still here in the USA? I cannot believe it! Why hasn't the Republican Party just outsource the McBush/Nalin-Palin campaign calls from Bangalore?

There are plenty of eligible native Indians who will not question the ethical issues that most Americans would otherwise have.

Hey, they've taken away so many jobs away, what's a few more? The world is flat -- don't you know?

Thank you. Come again!

APU

[RumiSouth]

There are lots of call centers in the USA. Generally you will find them in the poorest states, usually with "right to work" laws that keep unions out. Mine pays $9.25 an hour after you've been there 3 months.

[RumiSouth]

PS: you can read about my job here:

http://osborneink.blogspot.com/2008/08/evils-of-socialized-medicine.html

[PlantGod72]

Where's Gloria Allred???

[gulpthekoolaide]

never realized that this country had this many mis-informed idiots. You cant sue when it's true - but you dont know the truth as your media doesnt want you to know. My you people are so stupid. Dont worry about sending them money Obama will be sending them yours..if you still have jobs but most of you dont even get it - rich people are rich they don't have to keep business open that employ you fools - they can take there money and go home - leave you unemployeed but Obama caused Depresion will do that anyway wont it. You people will have no one to blame but yourself. I'll be the one with the bumper sticker says don't blame me I didn't vote for him.
Luck in life to all you losers

[suebjune]

Hey you sound like McCain has already lost this election-don't give up! The Republicans I am sure have a few more dirty tricks up their sleeves.

[TimeKoder13]

Wait, I thought the GOPer's battle cry was that he didn't have any experience, you mean HE's The One that caused the economic downturn, I mean Depression. Oh and I forgot that it's the rich people who are so concerned with creating jobs. Thanks for the reminder. I guess the extravagant excess displayed everyday on take your pick of any MTV show (Super Sweet 16 comes to mind) is just their way of motivating us to be like them. Nice try loser, I used to work on The Street so uh try to tell a dummy about the super rich and benevolence. I grew up with the Reagan Bush kids; I know wealth sucker.

[ImaSickNTired]

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[siepmann]

Note to GOP: If you are going to hire trolls to post in these blogs, try to find trolls who can at least write a simple English sentence correctly! Also, correct punctuation and capitalization would improve the message.

[debrouillard]

you dont have those No Win No Fee solicitors in America?

All they need now is a copy of the script they were being asked to read. Then get senator Obamas voting record and fact check them side by side. And if it turns out the script was a lie then the sacked employees have to claim compensation.

You can not fire an employee because they refuse to spew lies.

[OkieIntellectual]

According to the article, both of these people voluntarily quit, they weren't fired. And yes you can fire an employee for refusing to meet performance goals, which is what something like this would probably be documented as. You might find yourself in a lawsuit later, but you CAN fire someone for almost anything, especially in an "at-will employment" state.

[jacqmac]

Having been 'fired' from a call center recently-YES--These people CAN CLAIM unemployment. At least, here in Texas they can. Unless there was MISCONDUCT (BREAKING THE RULES) this was not a firable offense. Annnd--in SOME states-they can even say that they 'quit in order to find something better'. In MY personal ethics book, CLEANING SEWERS is better than doing what these people were being paid to do. Cleaning sewers SMELLS and is DIRTY, but the sewers are CLEAN at the end of the day! I say 'RIGHT ON' to these two people. Talk to your fellow employees now---just because they are getting a paycheck doesn't mean they have to LIE and spread RUMORS in order to do so.
Obama/Biden '08

[jacqmac]

Just one more thing. EVEN 'AT WILL' EMPLOYERS MUST PROVE THAT THERE IS CAUSE FOR THE TERMINATION. They MUST DOCUMENT Incidents and have rules that they CAN PROVE WERE BROKEN. Otherwise, A H*** of a LOT more people would be collecting unemployment benefits. EVEN if the EMPLOYER says that there is 'cause', in most states, AN APPEAL can be made to the Unemployment office. In TEXAS, one gets an INVESTIGATION or even a HEARING when Appeals are made. I know it takes some TIME, but it happens.

[deeppeace]

Ummm--actually, you can.

[Liberal2]

Well, yes and no. If the person is asked to speak lies about someone else, that's slander. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has decided it's okay to slander a political figure.

[DebbieinPhx]

Maybe we should all start making our own unRobo calls. We could all of the hopelessly clueless Rethuglicans in our lives..you know who I’m talking about--all the clueless wonders that you know personally who are still committed to voting for McCain. The scenario is we call each and every one of them&congratulate them, as their candidate has just garnered an endorsement from a very big, VERY well-known organization... Al Qaeda. I envision it going like this(your best Micky Mouse impersonation):

Hellllooo my lame, clueless (neighbor, brother, ex-husband):

I am just giving you a courtesy call to personally congratulate you and to say, “Well done on your intended selection of our next President! This is a special congratulation due to the HUGE new endorsement McCain has garnered from...Ta-Dah! : Al Qaeda! Yes, Al Qaeda has gladly endorsed John McCain because he is seen has the best way to ensure the fruition of all their goals: the ruination of the United States. Yes, to their way of thinking John McCain is the candidate that will undoubtedly GUARANTEE the complete and utter demise of the United States through all of his endless wars and continued rapacious pursuit of Global dominance through the Bush Doctrine. His wars will spark continued global hatred towards the U.S., while decimating American financial markets. He will affect the CHANGE Al Qaeda wants so badly, so he has their full endorsement. So Kudos! seriously. Niiice choice!

(Remember: Be PERKY & Upbeat!)

[milo h minderbinder]

Actually, live calls are a huge part of any political campaign.

If you're interested you can contact either campaign and volunteer to make calls.

[Liberoservative]

You can do that now by going to barackobama.com and signing up for phone banking...

It's on your dime.. but most of us have free long distance now...

It's rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time when you get someone whose brain cell can't figure out that the McCain campaign and Fox news have been elaborating and spewing lies over and over......

[dbrockx]

hello, shouldn't some sort of lawsuit be filed . Afterall, when a employer tries to make an employee do something that would violate their moral ethics, that's illegal, isn't it? Way to take a stand, It'a a shame that the GOP would stoop to all means to tryand steal the election.

[milo h minderbinder]

"when a employer tries to make an employee do something that would violate their moral ethics, that's illegal, isn't it?"

You're kidding, right?

[jacqmac]

Yes-it is. As a matter of fact, UNEMPLOYED PERSONS CANNOT BE FORCED TO ACCEPT WORK THAT WOULD VIOLATE THEIR MORALS OR PERSONAL STANDARDS. Since these people apparently made 'semi-negative calls' before the "BIG GUNS" were brought out then the employer CANNOT say that they 'refused to follow the rules of the company'. If that contract is THE ONLY ONE that either company had, I'd say that these two people are better off out on the streets looking for other work. If it wasn't the only contract that the company had, then they could have been 'transferred' to another group of calls......

[prog]

A tough choice to make in economic times like these. Good for you.

[smartWENTcrazy]

Good job Chaylee Cole, you make WV folks like me proud.

[Rosey]

Bravo to some young folks with ethics!

[breezyholler]

BRAVO>>>>young folks are making such a huge difference in the dynamics of this election...as a 65 yr. old white male ...I am truly proud of our young generation...They've got a keen eye and a good ear for sorting through the Bull sh*t...

[topkatnc]

I am reg. independent and you should read the e-mails that I get from National Republican Trust. They show a picture of Mohamed Atta's driver licsence and tie OBAMA in with him. They call OBAMA a natural disaster for this country and that they will stop him. They also say that he is against helping an aborted baby that lives. These repubs are nothin but white trash and they are determined to win this no matter what the cost. WE ALL MUST VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!OBAMA/BIDEN

[nwmother]

Hopefully there are hundreds of Independents such as yourself out there in the real and the fake americas.

[PlantGod72]

Hopefully MILLIONS!

[LemonMeringue]

If there is any justice in the world these two will get offers from jobs out of the blue because of people reading about this.

[cityzenjane]

That's what integrity looks like Mr. McCain.

Anyone in a position to hire these guys...please consider it!

[breezyholler]

I am perplexed as to why any African American would speak on behalf of the MCKlan campaign...

[carljmi]

I happen to come from a very conservative family and can see why McCain appeals to certain certain people. It is sad to see how such an once honorable politician has diminished himself in pursuit of the the office of President. With the choice of Governor Palin, who has neither the intellectual curiosity; not engagement, to be the Vice President caused me to not even consider voting for McCain. I have found it offensive that they speak of the "liberal media"; and how slanted it is toward the Obama/Biden ticket when they have no issue with the fact that the media hasn't propagated the news with either of their shadowy ties, if that something that is suppose to be a real issue. I think it is wonderful that these people working the phones kept their own integrity by not making those erroneous calls. But to besmerch Senator McCain with name calling only puts yourself on that level. I think we all; backers of either ticket, should show some of the maturity that seems lacking from both sides at times. We can disagree without the ignorance.

[RezidentBivrip]

Woohoo go Jane the Telemarketer! Kick Joe the fake Plumbers ass!!