Today’s poll surveys opinion on the suspension of Ronald Dillon, a help desk responder for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He was suspended from his job for twenty days’ time after a finding of insubordination, including answering calls in an intentionally robotic voice. What do you think would be in order (assuming his conduct as actual)?
The New York Times reports the details on Dillon’s suspension following his unsuccessful administrative appeal:
He answered customer-service calls like a robot.
“You have reached the help desk.”
And he would not stop, despite warnings from his supervisor, a judge found.
For that, and other acts of insubordination, Mr. Dillon was suspended without pay for 20 days.
His appeal of an administrative judge’s decision was denied this month by the city Civil Service Commission in a case reported by DNAinfo.
Mr. Dillon, 66, has been a civil servant since 1975, mostly working in computer-related jobs for the health department. His current post entails taking calls on an information-technology line, both from the other city workers and from the public through a service called N.Y.C.M.E.D.
For a six-month period in 2012 and 2013, the city said in court filings, Mr. Dillon abandoned service requests, improperly transferred tickets to another desk and failed to provide correct descriptions of requests.
In addition, the city wrote, he “answered the phone in an unprofessional, robotic voice.”
The administrative judge, Kara J. Miller, listened to tapes and agreed.
In three recordings, she wrote, Mr. Dillon “states in a slow, monotone, and over-enunciated manner: ‘You have reached the help desk. This is Mr. Dillon. How may I help you?’ ”
He would gradually modulate his voice to a “normal tone” as the calls progressed, but callers found the initial contact off-putting, the city said.
suspension seems about right
Maybe he should have talked like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARJ8cAGm6JE