Doorman who won $5M, said he'd stay at job gets ax

[MrScorpio]

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City doorman Richie Randazzo had said he wouldn't quit his day job after winning a $5 million lottery, and he didn't. He got fired.

A spokesman for the union representing apartment building workers says Randazzo notified the union's grievance center on Tuesday that he had been shown the door.

The exclusive Park Avenue apartment building where Randazzo worked is run by building management company Brown Harris Stevens. The company did not immediately return a call.

Randazzo made $40,000 a year as a doorman. He began taking in another $65,000 every three months after hitting the jackpot May 2.

Randozzo's father says his son got a letter that did not specify the reason for his discharge. He declined to give his name and said his son was not home.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_MILLIONAIRE_DOORMAN?SITE=MIDTF&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Yeah, Richie... Sue, baby, sue!

[StrongBad]

1. 40K/Yr as a doorman? Not bad though it is in NYC

[ikojo]

2. Hard to live on 40k a year in St Louis....I can only imagine

how hard it is to live on that in NYC.

[Zuiderelle]

3. It's bad. But it's hard to sympathize when he's pulling in $260K a year.

Instead of $300K.

[Deja Q]

5. Well, instead of standing at the door all day, he can sell hot dogs NEXT to it.

Maybe he can feed the new doorman hot dogs; make 'em fat. Gets the heart attack action going, then reapplies for the old job as his previous supervisor was fired for making bad business decisions and all will be well in the land. :silly:

[Lilith Velkor]

6. That would work

quicker if he were selling Polish sausages.

[Deja Q]

4. He was probably fired so somebody who needed $40k/yr could get it.

I mean, $65k/3mo -- I'd take that in an instant.

[Sanity Claws]

7. No grounds for a lawsuit

Employment is at will. The employer is free to hire and fire for any reason, so long as it is not an illegal reason. It is not illegal to fire someone because he won the lottery.
I wouldn't be surprised if they fired him so they could hire someone else who was unemployed and really in need of a job.

[pitohui]

8. employment is at will in NEW YORK CITY?

i never knew that

that's pretty shitty, i thought it was mostly southern states that had these antiquated "at will" laws

admittedly if i won that kind of money i'd be soooo sayonara, cya, i has my fuck-you money mr. boss man

but apparently this guy is real social and likes the interaction of the job so :shrug:

i work for money, but some people work for another reason, to feel useful, to socialize, what have you, and if so, then it seems a shame to take this away

maybe the boss thought talk abt the lottery win was too distracting? sounds like the man has become a bit of a "sight to see" there

[Sanity Claws]

9. NYC is still a part of NYS and US

Our whole economy is based on a laissez-faire attitude to business.
Public employees in NYC may have more rights than employees in other parts of the country and the exceptions to the at-will rule may be different in NYC but at will employment is still the general rule.