The Obamacare Hotline and Earline Davis

[Foxfyre]

She didn't embarrass anybody, except maybe the fiasco that is Obamacare. She didn't mention her employer at all.

Her employer, for all intents and purposes, was "Obamacare".

I concede she made a mistake. But I don't think her intent was to embarrass anybody. She actually does seem like a very nice lady.

I guess it's like the famous axiom in Washington..."the worst mistake you can make is to tell the truth."

Well it wasn't like she was saying anything that wasn't on every front page and wasn't included in every telecast already. She would have looked like an idiot if she had said everybody is quite happy, most especially after she had no doubt taken probably hundreds of calls from people who obviously were not happy. If she had had time to think about it, a better answer might have been, "Of course people are frustrated right now because the website isn't working well yet, but we expect that to be fixed soon."

I want a government who works for me--for MY interests, and who will tell the truth that the people have a right to know. I don't want a self serving government who hides the truth from the people.

I honestly can't relate to those who meekly submit to being subjects of an authoritarian government and who have abdicated all their ownership and power in that process.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

S
I know how you guys need to frame the debate as if this woman is being persecuted by the government, but use some common sense.


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I suppose you have a better explanation for why she was fired?

For publicly embarrassing her employer on a nationally syndicated radio show, perhaps?

 

[Foxfyre]

Well if telling the honest truth about something that the public has already heard for days and weeks is a sufficient 'embarrassment' to the government to warrant that kind of retaliation, God help us all. We really have lost our representative form of government and the government is now our lord and master free to do with us whatever it will.

 

[Freemason9]

The poor woman. She seemed incredibly nice. I guess when it comes to Obamacare the worst crime there is would be to tell the truth.

Yes. Even after being treated the way she was, she was not vindictively critical of her supervisors, not in the least bit angry or retalitory. I'm guessing she might be voting for more Republicans now though.

You fucking right wingers don't get anything right.

(1) The "government" did not fire the woman. She worked for a firm that contracted with the government. She was fired by the firm because she violated company policy. With call centers, it is extremely important that workers obey policy--litigation avoidance, liability abatement, and data accuracy is what wins contracts. Therefore, she's gone.

(2) Hannity continually tried to bait her throughout the call, and that should have sent red flags her way. For some reason, she didn't catch on to what Hannity was. Even so, though, she did contradict him and said that she personally got better health insurance at a lower premium rate by using the exchange.

(3) Hannity is an ass for doing this, but he'll do anything at all for ratings. He doesn't give a shit.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Well if telling the honest truth about something that the public has already heard for days and weeks is a sufficient 'embarrassment' to the government to warrant that kind of retaliation, God help us all. We really have lost our representative form of government and the government is now our lord and master free to do with us whatever it will.

It's not "retaliation", nor did it come from "the government". She was fired because she did not do her job as a "Representative" of the company she worked for.

I don't understand why this is hard for you guys to understand.

 

[Foxfyre]

I heard the radio broadcast with Earline Davis. Sean did not bait her in the least. It was a cordial, non partisan, non antagonistic conversation. It also appears to be unavailable in any form at this time - I wonder who had it removed from the internet????

Anyhow, what media organization would NOT call a call center that the President himself referred the people to to get questions answered? I can't imagine that they ALL did not have somebody call, either openly as a representative of the news organization or surreptiously just to see what would happen.

Do you think Earline would have been fired if she had been talking to MSNBC who would have asked much different questions of course? You know she wouldn't have been.

But the fact remains that if she was NOT told not to talk with the media, she had no reason not to give them the information that anybody else would get when they called in. Hannity was up front and made sure that Earline was okay with being on the radio before he proceeded and she very clearly assured him that she was. No way in hell would she have done that had she had ANY instruction not to talk to the media.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

S
I know how you guys need to frame the debate as if this woman is being persecuted by the government, but use some common sense.


Sent from my iPhone using USMessageBoard.com

I suppose you have a better explanation for why she was fired?

For publicly embarrassing her employer on a nationally syndicated radio show, perhaps?

???

We are her employer. We pay her salary. Obama, nor any other official is her "employer."

She answers to us.

To claim that We the People are not her employer, is to claim that Corporate and Government Power has been merged, and thus Obamacare is a fascist takeover and usurpation of the Constitution, that may potentially lead to Americans being MANDATED (via Government coercion) to buy a product from a private corporation --- oh wait.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

I suppose you have a better explanation for why she was fired?

For publicly embarrassing her employer on a nationally syndicated radio show, perhaps?

???

We are her employer. We pay her salary. Obama, nor any other official is her "employer."

She answers to us.

To claim that We the People are not her employer, is to claim that Corporate and Government Power has been merged, and thus Obamacare is a fascist takeover and usurpation of the Constitution, that may potentially lead to Americans being MANDATED (via Government coercion) to buy a product from a private corporation --- oh wait.

No. She's an employee of the private contractor hired to do customer service for the PPACA.

She does not answer to "us". She answers to the people that sign her paychecks.

 

[The2ndAmendment]

For publicly embarrassing her employer on a nationally syndicated radio show, perhaps?

???

We are her employer. We pay her salary. Obama, nor any other official is her "employer."

She answers to us.

To claim that We the People are not her employer, is to claim that Corporate and Government Power has been merged, and thus Obamacare is a fascist takeover and usurpation of the Constitution, that may potentially lead to Americans being MANDATED (via Government coercion) to buy a product from a private corporation --- oh wait.

No. She's an employee of the private contractor hired to do customer service for the PPACA.

She does not answer to "us". She answers to the people that sign her paychecks.

Why the fuck is this being outsourced to private contractors.

WHO CONTROLS THIS SHIT

 

[Foxfyre]

I wonder if those who think that a government contractor has no responsibility to the American people feel that way about Halliburton or any of dozens of other defense contractors? If a government contractor has no responsibility to us, then it is little wonder that government who uses numerous contractors has become less and less responsive or even concerned about what any of us think. They can take from us whatever they want; can require of us whatever they want; and we are not supposed to have any say about it.

And the leftwing seems to be just fine with that given an opinion that Earline Davis had no duty or responsibility to the American people even though her income came out of our pockets or was otherwise obligated for us to pay.

That seems to be the skewed view of our relationship with government anymore. And it is a sorry state of affairs.

 

[Politico]

She'll be fine. Hannity will hook her up with something if he already hasn't.

 

[Foxfyre]

She'll be fine. Hannity will hook her up with something if he already hasn't.

Yes, Hannity made sure that she would not unduly suffer due to her interaction with him. And she has had numerous job offers since she was fired due to his efforts.

But that is not the point.

The point is that she was fired for two words: "Not really" which was not a slap at her at employer, at the government, or anybody in government. It was an honest answer to a reasonable question. The short discussion with Hannity that day was about as non offensive and non political, actually, as it gets. He complimented her on her courtesy, kindness, and professionalism when he got off the phone with her. If anything it was a positive interchange that was a credit and a positive for the government service.

She was fired because she talked to Hannity, and not because she did anything that was wrong.

And that is wrong.

 

[Politico]

No she was fired for speaking with the media which she had no authorization to do. It is a policy almost everyone has. And Hannity is not stupid. He knew it and still put her in that position. the least he could do is help her out.

 

[Foxfyre]

No she was fired for speaking with the media which she had no authorization to do. It is a policy almost everyone has. And Hannity is not stupid. He knew it and still put her in that position. the least he could do is help her out.

When our government is to the point that an information hotline employee is fired for answering questions truthfully to ANYBODY, even the media, we are in big trouble.

And no, almost everyone does not have such a policy.

 

[JoeB131]

The poor woman. She seemed incredibly nice. I guess when it comes to Obamacare the worst crime there is would be to tell the truth.

What she got fired for is what any employee at any company would get fired for-

Publically saying your company sucked.

 

[JoeB131]

No she was fired for speaking with the media which she had no authorization to do. It is a policy almost everyone has. And Hannity is not stupid. He knew it and still put her in that position. the least he could do is help her out.

When our government is to the point that an information hotline employee is fired for answering questions truthfully to ANYBODY, even the media, we are in big trouble.

And no, almost everyone does not have such a policy.

My company does. So did the last one I worked at.

If the media asks you questions, you direct them to a manager. Period.

 

[Pauli007001]

The poor woman. She seemed incredibly nice. I guess when it comes to Obamacare the worst crime there is would be to tell the truth.

What she got fired for is what any employee at any company would get fired for-

Publically saying your company sucked.

She told the truth about obamacare.
I wouldn't be surprised if she is "suicided"!!
The truth is no defense!

 

[Foxfyre]

Again I have had dozens of jobs over the years and have also worked in he media. And I have interviewed many employees on the job who were under no restrictions not to talk to the press, and I have NEVER had such a restriction imposed on me on any job I have ever held.

But Earline Davis did NOT say her company sucked or that Obamacare sucked. She did not talk down the program and she did not talk down Obamacare. Immediately following her explanation to Hannity that the website was encountering glitches and they were working on it and she was there to answer questions until they got it back up and running, he asked her if anybody was happy, and she answered truthfully 'not really'. And that was it.

I fully believed that she was never instructed not to talk to a member of the media. She was there to answer questions from people who called in and she answered Sean's questions. The interview was neither targeted and did not include a criticism of Obamacare, the Administration, the Hotline, or anything else. She was fired because she talked to Sean Hannity. Had it been Chris Matthews or Ed Schultz or Rachel Maddow who had called in, I am 100% certain that there would have been no repercussions of any kind.

 

[Freemason9]

Again I have had dozens of jobs over the years and have also worked in he media. And I have interviewed many employees on the job who were under no restrictions not to talk to the press, and I have NEVER had such a restriction imposed on me on any job I have ever held.

But Earline Davis did NOT say her company sucked or that Obamacare sucked. She did not talk down the program and she did not talk down Obamacare. Immediately following her explanation to Hannity that the website was encountering glitches and they were working on it and she was there to answer questions until they got it back up and running, he asked her if anybody was happy, and she answered truthfully 'not really'. And that was it.

I fully believed that she was never instructed not to talk to a member of the media. She was there to answer questions from people who called in and she answered Sean's questions. The interview was neither targeted and did not include a criticism of Obamacare, the Administration, the Hotline, or anything else. She was fired because she talked to Sean Hannity. Had it been Chris Matthews or Ed Schultz or Rachel Maddow who had called in, I am 100% certain that there would have been no repercussions of any kind.

If this is how you understood your terms of employment, I can easily understand why you "have had dozens of jobs over the years." Prohibitions regarding opioning to media about company operations are in nearly every labor contract. Maybe you should read the fine print sometime.

 

[Foxfyre]

Again I have had dozens of jobs over the years and have also worked in he media. And I have interviewed many employees on the job who were under no restrictions not to talk to the press, and I have NEVER had such a restriction imposed on me on any job I have ever held.

But Earline Davis did NOT say her company sucked or that Obamacare sucked. She did not talk down the program and she did not talk down Obamacare. Immediately following her explanation to Hannity that the website was encountering glitches and they were working on it and she was there to answer questions until they got it back up and running, he asked her if anybody was happy, and she answered truthfully 'not really'. And that was it.

I fully believed that she was never instructed not to talk to a member of the media. She was there to answer questions from people who called in and she answered Sean's questions. The interview was neither targeted and did not include a criticism of Obamacare, the Administration, the Hotline, or anything else. She was fired because she talked to Sean Hannity. Had it been Chris Matthews or Ed Schultz or Rachel Maddow who had called in, I am 100% certain that there would have been no repercussions of any kind.

If this is how you understood your terms of employment, I can easily understand why you "have had dozens of jobs over the years." Prohibitions regarding opioning to media about company operations are in nearly every labor contract. Maybe you should read the fine print sometime.

A number of those jobs were whatever I could get in highschool and college. And then after I married a guy who got transferred - a LOT -I often held multiple jobs and I often took whatever entry level job I could get while working myself into better offers and better deals. And I generally was able to work my way into a really neat job that I enjoyed immensely.

I have probably written more personnel policies than you have ever held jobs, and not one of them included a clause that suggested employees were forbidden to talk to the media. Nor did a single employer I have ever worked for.

So I don't know what kind of creepy or illegal operations some of you guys are working for, but I apparently escaped those experiences.