[jsalcedo]

This was fowarded to me. Not verifed, take it for what its worth.

Yesterday I was involved in one of the most disgusting incidents in my
life. I have been working for Verizon Wireless for the past few months on
a Peoplesoft/Oracle/Unix contract. They recently relocated to a different
building with more space. They are the biggest tenant but not the only
one.
On this project there were about 5 to 1 H1Bs to natives. I know
several people who could have done the job better without having to
translate converstations. That's another story.
One of the embellishments that verizon made to their entries was a "No
Guns" sign as this is a New Jersey based company. This immediately pissed
me off. One evening myself and a couple of other shooting buddies were
taking a break discussing this sign. We all have CHLs so are very familiar
with the requirements of signage. This one didn't work. It was missing
the word firearm. Also, the owner of the building did not post the
required signage at the front door barring concealed carry -- Section 30.06
(the author of this had a sense of humor) describes this in detail. I got
pretty loud about it.
Yesterday I reported to work and my access card didn't work so I
walked down to reception to report it. I walked in and the receptionist
picked up the phone and told someone I was there. She asked me to sit
down. In a few minutes two guys came out and asked me to go to HR with
them. I said lets go. We went to this office where two other guys were
waiting. The spokesman for the group asked if I knew what this was about.
I told him I had no idea. He went on to say that I was there because of my
comments about the sign. This really weirded me out because the
conversation occurred after hours in the late evening and there was no one
else around. I looked this guy in the eye and said you have the place
bugged don't you. He said no but he was looking down when he said it --
bald-faced lie. He stammered that it was against their policy to have guns
in their facilities.
I said that it couldn't be true because I had seen several GUNS
previously and they freaked. I told them paint guns, nail guns, staple
guns, caulking guns and that their sign was ignored. Of course they said
not that kind of gun so I asked what kind? They couldn't say the words. I
was so disgusted I couldn't see straight. They finally asked if I had a
firearm with me. I thought I would have a little fun with them so I said
that if I were carrying a concealed weapon and told someone so that I could
be charged with criminal mischief. Then I just said no (I didn't have one
on me). I had already decided this gig was over. I reminded them they had
nothing to fear from law-abiding folks. I also told them that anyone who
was hell bent on getting in their "secure" facilities could do so in a few
seconds and certainly wouldn't heed their sign. Finally, I told them that
being a deer in the headlights and pissing their pants would not slow
anyone down either. I stood up and tossed my cards on the table and headed
out. The spokesman said "You will never work for Verizon Wireless again".
Turned around and looked at him and said you've got that right.

[The Kidd]

jsalcedo,

Wow, you showed some real big steel ones bro'. You did the right thing. I doubt I'd have had the courage. Thanks for standing up for all of us.

[jsalcedo]

Heh I wish.

The story was fowarded to me by a friend.

If I were in the guys shoes I think I would have messed with their minds more.

[boyscout]

I previously worked for GTE. We were taken over by Verizon a couple of years ago. Verizon is very anti-gun. If an employee was to ever have a firearm on company property one time they would be fired instantly with no if ans or butts. That includes all company vechicles. It sucks.

[P226]

Had the same problem with Verizon,but i did have my gun on me(
colt mustang).Told them the same thing,no signs posted and i could
not tell them if i was because if I were carrying a concealed weapon and told someone so that I could be charged with criminal mischief.I told them i could only tell a police officer,so the called.Three officers and one sargent showed up, man with a gun.But here is were i lucked out,i knew all four from my range.The sargent gave the ccw class.I told my side they told their side.We
were seperated by about 60 yards so they did not know i knew the officers.
The sargent sided with me and told them they no right to ask me amd if i did have a ccw and told them i would be breaking the law and could have my ccw cancelled and be charged.That a ccw gives the right to carry anywere except police stations.courthouses,If they did not want anyone
to carry on there property they have post signs,but it still doesn't give them the right to search people for ccw.Ccw means concelled and there
is nothing they could do to search people.

I remained in hot water with them for about two months.I never ccw to workafter that it stayed in the car,but they asked me several times after
if i had a ccw,not if iwas carrying but if i had a permit to carry.I would never
answer and it just pissed them off.I still work for them but the boss who started it a since been fired and i think he was the only one that had a
problem with it and me,so it's been about 14 months and no trouble so i
hope it's over with,


edit to add this was before we became Verizon iam not sure i would
still be with them, i think if it happened now i would be fired

[Standing Wolf]

Verizon evidently doesn't want any of my dollars, because I don't do business with anti-Second Amendment bigots.

[jsalcedo]

I'm not going to any concerts in their ampitheater either:banghead:

[chaim]

I already don't do business with Verizon so this is one more reason. Don't trust what they tell you over the phone, only what is in writing. I was quoted a certain price over the phone to have a new phone line installed so I agreed to service based on that. The installer got there and told me that this job would be much more work than is normal (I still don't understand why, the room I was having a phone line installed in was about 20 feet from the closest line already in the house) and that instalation would be about double my quote. I told them to forget it and they still charged me for one day of service, and the activation fee (I forget what other fees but it ended up being a ton of money and when I was in the midst of formally protesting the charges they sent the account off to a collections company). I was already planning to never send them a cent again but should I ever start to forgive I'll keep this stuff in mind too.

[clange]

This pisses me off, i have a verizon cell phone contract. Its a special deal too, i wonder if i can get another provider.

[DeputyVaughn]

This is strange to me. The reason I chose Verizon for my cell phone company is they are a sponser on the Gunsnet/AK-47 forums. I'll have to enquire further.

Scott

[mtnbkr]

Yes, Verizon's corporate policy is antigun. However, I think that story is complete BS. It's no secret at the office that I'm a gun person. I've even talked about hunting and shooting with upper management, including the VP of my division. If it was Verizon's corporate policy to fire people who even talk about guns or criticize corporate gun policy, I'd be gone along with several managers (two are into Cowboy Action in a big way).


Chris

[jsalcedo]

Maybe this Texas branch in question was more rabid?

[general]

When my contracts up - I'm gone.

[ysr_racer]

I work for Verizon Wireless and I love my job.


(I have to say that, as I'm at work right now) I'll post again later in the day, when I'm home.

[Carlos]

They will never get one red cent of my hard earned money.

[Al Thompson]

Folks, this has all the earmarks of an Internet Urban Myth. No way to verify, faceless corperation to blame.

[jsalcedo]

The warning is above my post in large letters.

I don't normally post things of this nature but it came from a highly reputable person in my community with impeccable credentials.

Close the thread if goes against the standards of THR.

[Johnny Guest]

Jesse, while I have no doubt that you're passing that story along essentially as it was sent to you, I'll have to call the entire story a fabrication. Would you please post the ENTIRE forwarded message, complete with headers and footers? I really believe that Verizon corporate headquarters might like the opportunity to respond to those allegations.

You state the story was forwarded to you by "a friend," but also that you can't verify it. Does this mean the story was sent to your friend by someone else, and the friend just passed it along? Is there ANY attribution for the origin?

Interesting that the story is adapted to Texas (Use of abbreviaiton CHL as opposed to CCW, mention of PC sect. 30.06, etc.) but the teller is not aware that
there is no necessity to post signs for employees of the company to require them to not carry guns on premises. I agree with Al Thompson: Internet myth, urban legend, whatever.

Regards,
Johnny

[jsalcedo]

I surely don't want to pass on disinformation so I emailed the person
who brought this to my attention.

He was the originator and first to report the verizon incident.

I'm asking him for more information about the incident, name place
time etc...

There are a few other folks working to verify as well.

I'll let you all know what the final outcome is.


Verizon does indeed have the no-guns signs that has been confirmed.