I-Team Investigation: R-C-N Former Employees Speak Out
By: Amy Bradley
Updated: April 12, 2007
Stefania Steransky says she was understandably upset when word came last week that her position at R-C-N would be cut come June.
"I got my laid off notice saying my last day was June 8th and we were getting a severance pay of one month and we were able to collect."
But just two days after getting word her job was on the chopping block she was fired.
"Friday, I went into work. Everything was going well. A girl actually I work with got fired at three o'clock and then I got called into the office at 4:30."
Steransky says her bosses told her she had avoided a customer by transferring a caller. A claim she disputes, but says even if she did, the normal procedure would be a verbal and written warning before being fired Steransky says "I just think I got fired because of them not wanting to pay us our severance pays."
Steransky's co-worker Dana Almy thought he was safe. He had made it through the layoffs. "They kept me because my numbers were great. Out of three hundred people active on the front line of customer service representatives, I was 12th."
But Almy says R-C-N claimed he also avoided a caller And fired him. He says by doing so, they saved the company money. "Actually, I was 15 days away from getting 1-thousand dollars from R-C-N because a friend of mine who worked there referred me and I was a top performer for six months.
Both Steransky and Almy had undergone performance reviews just two weeks before being fired. Both had been given favorable scores, even raises. Steransky says in February, she was one of only five people picked to go and train new employees in South Carolina.
Now, she says she realizes the people she trained are ones who are replacing her position. When the layoffs were announced, R-C-N spokeman Mike Houghton made a promise. "This has been going on to figure out how to do this in the most humane fashion and to make sure we take care of the interest of our employees."
We tried to contact R-C-N about the firings. We were promised a phone call back, but instead recieved this statement by e-mail. "While it is R-C-N 's policy not to comment on individual employee matters, we can say that we expect that each of our employees will appropriately take care of our customers. They are taught, and continue to be taught that in all of their rcn training."
Both Steransky and Almy are now scrambling to find work. They're hoping by speaking out, they may be able to stop others from also finding themselves out the door, sooner than expected.
Steransky says her bosses told her she had avoided a customer by transferring a caller. A claim she disputes, but says even if she did, the normal procedure would be a verbal and written warning before being fired Steransky says "I just think I got fired because of them not wanting to pay us our severance pays."
Steransky's co-worker Dana Almy thought he was safe. He had made it through the layoffs. "They kept me because my numbers were great. Out of three hundred people active on the front line of customer service representatives, I was 12th."
But Almy says R-C-N claimed he also avoided a caller And fired him. He says by doing so, they saved the company money. "Actually, I was 15 days away from getting 1-thousand dollars from R-C-N because a friend of mine who worked there referred me and I was a top performer for six months.
Both Steransky and Almy had undergone performance reviews just two weeks before being fired. Both had been given favorable scores, even raises. Steransky says in February, she was one of only five people picked to go and train new employees in South Carolina.
Now, she says she realizes the people she trained are ones who are replacing her position. When the layoffs were announced, R-C-N spokeman Mike Houghton made a promise. "This has been going on to figure out how to do this in the most humane fashion and to make sure we take care of the interest of our employees."
We tried to contact R-C-N about the firings. We were promised a phone call back, but instead recieved this statement by e-mail. "While it is R-C-N 's policy not to comment on individual employee matters, we can say that we expect that each of our employees will appropriately take care of our customers. They are taught, and continue to be taught that in all of their rcn training."
Both Steransky and Almy are now scrambling to find work. They're hoping by speaking out, they may be able to stop others from also finding themselves out the door, sooner than expected.
