He told WBBH-TV (http://bit.ly/1fhBoOY) he refused the deal and was terminated. The trucker then paid him back.
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Samsonov has worked at the tollbooth for 29 years.
Sam, you were a Gasparilla Island fixture.
A military veteran, Samsonov had been collecting tolls at the Gasparilla Island Bridge for 29 years. “It’s people like you that we took for granted would always be there in the booth on weekday mornings”.
Shortuse wrote: ‘You represent part of what so many like about Boca Grande – a person can be gone for years, but once they cross that bridge they’re back in the land of familiar faces.
What is clear is that the firing has upset many in the community, who have launched a Facebook page to show their support for the toll taker and posted messages for Samsonov on their own pages as well as those of the local media. “They were my family”.
A toll booth collector named Vladislav Samsonov – but goes by Sam – in Boca Grande, Fl, was sacked for helping someone out.
Samsonov’s termination has sparked outrage among local citizen and his disheartening story has caught the attention of local news outlets.
“Makes me feel good, makes me want to cry”.
Do you think Samsonov should have been terminated?
“My wife Kay and I have known Sam since we moved here in 1994”.
Samsonov says he had been asked not to pay for others before, but was never formally written up. But in the latest incident the man said the toll authority told him he was being demoted from five days a week to two days a week.
“I’d put six dollars in, I got the six dollars back the next day”, he said to WPTV.
An overwhelming number of local citizens who have interacted with Samsonov over the years have also voiced their opinion of the bridge authority’s decision to fire Samsonov. But apparently, the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority disagrees.
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Samsonov’s friends and family say he is current exploring legal action to see if any state laws were violated in his termination.
