It took a little while, but it was probably inevitable.
By now we’ve all read the initial comments from Fidelity spokesman Vin Loporchio, in which he clearly stated that the company dumped four employees for participating in “gambling” by organizing fantasy football leagues. That was all we had to go on for a few days, but Fidelity apparently decided it needed to play some CYA further clarify its action after the story got legs nationally.
Here’s what Fanhouse’s Tom Herrera got :
When FanHouse initially contacted Fidelity for a comment on Pettigrew’s dismissal, spokesman Vin Loporchio said that the company doesn’t comment on either current or former employees “out of respect for their privacy and confidentiality.”
After being asked in a follow-up for specific details on their policy, Loporchio offered the following in an e-mail sent Friday: “We aren’t making any judgments on fantasy leagues. If it is permitted legally, people can do this on their own time. Our company policies relate to the professional conduct of our employees. We do not want our company’s equipment and resources to be used for these purposes.” Loporchio added that the activities can be disruptive to the company’s business and Fidelity wants their employees to be focused on customers and clients.
Loporchio, of course, had the chance to blame the firings on improper use of company time and resources at the outset and didn’t. It took about a week and a flood of negative headlines for him to provide an explanation free of the word “gambling.”
Unfortunately for Fidelity, those public words can’t change the facts of the termination.
According to Fanhouse, Cameron Pettigrew (the public face of the Fidelity Four, to date) had “VIOLATION OF COMPANY GAMBLING POLICY INVOLVING FANTASY FOOTBALL” entered on his official termination form .
As we’ve noted before, that could (and probably should) clash directly with the federal government’s classification of fantasy sports as not gambling.
FSB.com has spoken directly with another member of the Fidelity Four and found out that the group has not yet decided whether to pursue legal action, but we’ll see how events play out if any or all do travel that route. Our source provided other information that makes it even harder to believe Fidelity’s changing story, material that we’ll address later today.
A roundup of items recently posted on the FSB News page.
