Verizon Sued After Tech Punches Customer In Face

suraj.sun writes "A Verizon customer filed a lawsuit after the tech the company sent out got a little punchy. Instead of fixing the customer's problem, the tech allegedly hit him in the face. The New York Post says the tech attacked the customer after he asked to see some ID before allowing access to the apartment. From the article, '"You want to know my name? Here's my name," Benjamin snarled, slapping his ID card into Isakson's face, according to Isakson's account of the December 2008 confrontation. "The guy essentially snapped. He cold-cocked me, hit me two or three solid shots to the head while my hands were down," said Isakson, a limo driver. He said the pounding bloodied his face and broke his glasses. But things got uglier, Isakson said, when Benjamin squeezed him around the neck and pressed him up against the wall. "He's prepared to kill me," Isakson said. "That's all I could think of." The customer broke free and ran away. The Verizon tech then chased the customer until he was subdued by a neighbor who was an off-duty cop.'"

Comments

More to the Story?

[whisper_jeff]

While it's possible the tech just snapped and went apeshit on the guy (after all, there are violent headcases out there...), why do I get the feeling that there's a whole lot more to the story than we're getting from the victim?...

Re:More to the Story?

[thisnamestoolong]

It honestly really doesn't matter -- unless this Isakson character physically assaulted the tech first, it makes no difference how obnoxious or belligerent he was being -- the tech had no right to assault him (even if he totally deserved it). What seems to have happened here is that a somewhat hot-headed tech who was already having a bad day went out to a house, just trying to do his job, and had some smartass give him all sorts of attitude for no reason and get in the way of him trying to get his job done. I have been in many similar situations before and can certainly see how someone of a violent temperament could snap and hit someone, but it certainly does not make it defensible.

Re:More to the Story?

[Just Some Guy]

What seems to have happened here is that a somewhat hot-headed tech who was already having a bad day went out to a house, just trying to do his job, and had some smartass give him all sorts of attitude for no reason and get in the way of him trying to get his job done.

Nope. Much as I've wanted to punch certain customers when I worked tech support, there's no way this is the victim's fault. If I saw that particular crackhead look-a-like sauntering up to my door, I'd also ask to see his ID before letting him in. How much could the victim possibly have egged him on considering the tech hadn't even made it in the front door yet?

Re:More to the Story?

[Carik]

People don't just attack random strangers, there is always a reason.

You're right. I mean, sometimes the reason is that they were drunk, or they were dumb, or they were having a bad day, or the magic pixies told them to, but there's always a reason.

Very few of those reasons are ones I would consider valid.

Re:More to the Story?

[amplt1337]

The effectiveness of guns, like that of any means of self-defense, is highly situationally specific. I guarantee you this guy had a self-defense tool that's that's part of every New York apartment -- the chain lock -- that, if used, could've prevented this from happening, just as surely as a gun could've. But few people use chain locks before opening their doors. Just the same, your gun would've done you no good if it were in the bedroom closet while the guy was wailing on you. Unless you were hoping to escape from him, then run to your bedroom, get the gun, load it, and manage to shoot the guy before he's on top of you again.

Or do you load a couple rounds and have your gun in hand every time the doorbell rings? Really? Do you leave your gun with bullets in it, lying around where your toddler can grab it readily? Of course you don't, but then there goes its self-defense effectiveness.
And if you wear your gun when you answer the door, and the guy on the other side means you harm, you'd better hope you can get the shot off before he's on you, because when he sees that gun he is not going to back down while you're conscious enough to shoot him in the back.

I don't think guns are evil. I believe everyone should know how to shoot and how to handle a firearm, and I absolutely would want a gun in an obviously threatening situation where the firearm is ready and the violence is foreseeable (say, a riot down the street, or a war zone). I just understand that guns are far less effective in realistic self-defense situations than hoplomaniacs believe.

If anything would've kept the victim safer, it'd be having a big dog. Doesn't have to be a particularly vicious breed, just faithful and over fifty pounds. I can only chuckle at what would've happened if this goon had tried to pull a stunt like this near my stepmother's Lab.

And he's still running service!

[Tsar]

Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company has "zero tolerance for any sort of unethical or illegal behavior" and noted Benjamin was not convicted of any crime. "In the months since this incident, his conduct has been blameless. As a result, we will not take further action," Young said.

Wow, they've gotten no complaints from the HUNDREDS of homes they've sent this guy into since "this incident." Makes you feel warm and trusting all over, doesn't it?

Apparently "zero tolerance" doesn't mean the same thing to Verizon that it does where I work. Do they at least give their service techs "___ Days without Attacking a Customer" buttons?

I'd much rather read this...

[swb]

In "The Armed Citizen" in American Rifleman than on Slashdot.

Re:Why does he need ID?

[Anonymous Coward]

He shouldn't need to show identification. All Verizon guys walk around with an entourage of hundreds of jumpsuited, smiling techs and assistants. You really can't miss them.

Yea right, My wife had a PGW worker ( Gas Works) knock on the door saying that he needed to check for a possible leak
He was wearing PGW garb but when she asked for ID he said it was in the truck and would be right back. He never did come back.
We called PGW asking and they said that no one was scheduled for our address. ALLWAYS ask for ID before letting someone into your house.

Re:Yay, lets sue the company he works for!

[canajin56]

The company didn't fire him, and the DA declined to press charges. So yeah, he's really pissed off that all he wanted was proof that the guy claiming to be a phone tech really was a phone tech, and he got punched 3 times in the face, strangled, and chased down the stairs. And Verizon is just like "Well he wasn't convinced, we can't punish him, have a nice day sir." Lolsuit is his only option left.

People don't just attack random strangers(?)

[Anonymous Coward]

"People don't just attack random strangers, there is always a reason."

You're kidding, right? Have you ever worked a job that dealt with the public? Have you ever walked down the street in a major city? Have you ever visited a bar? I've seen plenty of one-sided situations and I suspect a lot of people on Slashdot have also.

Re:This tech still has a job with Verizon

[commodoresloat]

Well its a bad situation. The guy should have been fired for committing assault on the customer. More to the point though is this is a cry for money when verizon is not the person who snapped. He should be going after the tech guy for any damages.

Bullshit. Verizon not only didn't do a background check and hired this guy and sent him to the customer's home (when it turns out they didn't need to even send him in the first place); when the guy beats the crap out of the customer they don't apologize -- in fact they call him "blameless" -- and they don't even fire the guy, practically guaranteeing this will happen again.

Re:So....

[Just Some Guy]

But good job jumping to the conclusion the paper wanted you to jump to, all black men are thugs who just finished doing a bid.

You're an asshole for assuming this is about race. If you look at that picture and the only thing you notice about it is his skin color, then you're far more racist than the GP. Either your first reaction was "black guy! Run!" and you're defending him out of guilt, or you thought "black guy's being oppressed!" and you're defending him against some giant (nonexistent) racist conspiracy.

Yea, I cant really defend his actions, but that customer was probably the 15th straight guy who saw a black guy come to his door and ask for ID.

I'd ask for ID if I saw Eminem rolling up on my sidewalk. You're pretty much an idiot if you don't ID everyone who shows up at your door asking to come inside, whether black or white, young or old, rich or poor. That you want to paint this as a race issue says a lot more about you than it does the person you were replying to.

Re:Dude

[Spazmania]

Our DirecTV guy pointed the dish to full signal strength by eye.

That's what you think.

Pointing a dish by eye where you start picking up the signal is not too hard if you do it often. Even an amateur only needs a compass, a level and the software which calculates the elevation and bearing for your approximate position.

Centering the dish with no tools to evaluate signal strength and no reference landmarks except the position of the sun? Buddy, you got taken by a lazy joker who figured out that you can't tell the difference.