Everyone in our dept plays it, management plays it, our external auditors play it. The difference here being (1) we don't play it on the web at work (it is blocked), plus (2) we don't play for money - rather a traveling trophy.

SHAME ON YOU, FIDELITY!!!! And to think I have been telling sooooo many people to get involved with their 401Ks and then always bragging up Fidelity over companies like T. Rowe Price and Prudential. While Fidelity may do a little better (for my investments) then those other companies have in the past, I think I would rather deal with a company who doesn't fire employees over petty things. I presume fidelity employees aren't able to buy lottery tickets or into office pools.

It is kind of ironic though; aren't they kind of gambling on market picks???

I know today's economy suck's. And, thease investment firm's are hurting. BUT come people and RELAX, it's not like they are doing 24/7.

So, now you CAN"T even talk about Tiger at the water fountin in the morning's?

So, the guy got a e-mail from a buddy. BIG DEAL! What a person DOSE away from work is NOT the company's business.

Was thease people getting their work done and producing what they neeed to produce? Probably.

From a fellow owner... Winning in one league, and getting his @$$ kicked in the other.

I know I'm going to be doing business with Fedelity any time soon. And, I've got a friend who work's at that location.

Hell, here were are blogging at work. Every single person who responds to articles like this does it from work usually and it can be entry level positions to vice presidents with opinions. This is hypocritical. There is more than just the fantasy for them to be fired. Either that or they are the unfortunate examples to make sure employees stay the course and the company increases profits...

I have heard more football baseball and golf at work than I ever heard at home.

releaves stress, which maybe we all need a little of??? I for one would like to hear less about Tiger, and health care??

You fail to say if these guy's work record was less than stellar?? I bet they got very little work and lots of junk from the people they let go??

Rules against non work related e-mails exists in all offices. I think you only presented a little of the story not the whole thing.

My company blocks a lot of sports sites as well. So I just use yahoo's.

However my company is lame for a different sport related reason. They block ALL of these sports sites because I live in Raleigh and here college basketball is king. And since we are a medical service organization employees are here 24/7, and they don't want people that are on the clock to be watching the games. But in March, none of the regular employees can take time off, because the "big wigs" upstairs take those days of to watch the tournament.

i don't know much about business, but if i owned one i'd like to think that the people i was paying to help me make it a go were doing what i was paying them to do. and even tho i don't know much about running a business, i can't imagine paying employees to entertain themselves.

Next headline will read... Fidelity pays execs in Fantasy Football Dollars... I will never invest a dime in a company like that. I hope a lot of other people rethink their investments there based on this stupidity in action. If they treat humans this way one can only wonder what they would do with mere paper money!!!

I disagree with you for several reasons. First, you have heard only his side,and only partially at that, of the story. It is very easy for your employer to track your emails and see what they say. Second, when you accept employment with a company you give them the right to mae the rules and you tell them you will obey those rules. If you do not what to accept that then don't accept the job. I run CNC presses for a company. When I'm in a run I am allowed to visit various sites on the web, ie, MSNBC,GoDuke.com, even Amazon and Ebay. The coniditions are my machine must be running and all the parts from the previous run are put away. They do not allow us to go to game sites, ie, Pogo, gambling sites or porn sites. If you do you're terminated.
Too many people in this country have gotten the idea they have the right to use company assests in the manner they choose. This is false. The employer has the right to say yea or nay and to set restrictions. Don't like it, there's the door.Don't let it hit you on the butt as you leave.

Maybe he should ask his mother to call Fidelity and ask for his job back. He sounds like a typical 20 something, who thinks he is entitled to do anything. Grow up kid, you are in the real world.

I think you are missing the point. He apparently DID get an email on a company provided computer. Most companies do have a policy against using the computer for personal business. Everyone knows the policy (and yes a lot of people do it anyway) but they are taking the risks knowing the consequences. "Everyone else does it" is not a defense. (Remember what you mother said, "if everyone jumped off the cliff would you also"). At some point he has to take responsibility for his actions.

We complain when a CEO, CFO, or managment does not take accountability for their actions yet we don't either.

Where should a company draw the line on what an employee can do on the computer that is personal? Is it okay to check his personal email account, bank accounts, just order that one thing before the sale ends, check out the sports scores. A rule is a rule. Not everyone gets caught but he knew the rule.

I read a study a while back that said people are actually more productive in a day when they are allowed to use the internet (in moderation) for personal use during the day at work. This company sounds awful to work for....

It is more than a bit ironic, that an investment firm - which conducts the business of speculating on the future performance based on statistical trends - would fire someone for conducting the leisure activity of speculating on future performance based on statistical trends... :-)

i like to play with girls, not fantasy football, baseball etc.
if you want, send your wife/girlfriend over to my house, i will
play with them since you can't.

buh bye

Is fantasy football any different than the funny money banking, home mortages, and investment industry???

Sounds a little suspicious... maybe he wasn't a top performer and they were looking for a reason to disciss him. On the other hand... 3 other guys were et go too.

Its never a good idea to give anyone a reason to fire you... especially if you think they might be looking for a reason.

Hey... you're doing it on company time with company resources. That's always a risk...

Whatever happend to verbal warning/written warning/probation, then termination?

they were not fired for playing fantasy football, they were paid for using company equipment to play. well, duh. despite what people think they have no right to pilfer office supplies and use office equipment for personal things. what is so difficult about that. you are at work 8 or 10 hours and you have 14 hours to do as you like. is that really so difficult to comprehend?

They were right to fire them. They're supposed to be working, not screwing off on the internet. Why is this even a story...?

My 401k is now officially devoid of any and all Fidelity mutual funds. Two can play that game.

Internet access at work is a productivity killer. Fire them all I say!

"Hurrr Durrr, NBC said that Fidelity is mean, so I'll eff-up my retirement fund to spite them even though they'll never notice or be affected by it..."

Tool....

Somebody wanted his book of business . . . they found a way to get him out of the company . . . and now, somebody owns the clients and assets and is generating income off of it. This is a very common practice in the securities business.

NO way it was just a few email exchanges..jerks who work in a office study FF galore on the net while at work..Good to Fire them..anyone else want to try it at work???

I used to work at Fidelity in Westlake - Fidelity says they're all about the customer, but they're not - it's all about the bottom line. You are expected to spend as little time with the customer as possible just to get the transaction done. For all their "talk" about customer service, they could care less. It's a boring, dry place to work with no personality - you're just a number! It's all about policies with the management so this doesn't surprise me at all.

*Gasp*
So you're saying that Fidelity is trying to make money? Wow, I would've never thought that...

he admitted they had a policy against playing this game. whether it was poorly communicated or not, he has noone but himself to blame for losing his job.

Well, I guess I started up a firestom on my comments... So, first off officeemployee... I see YOU took the time to responed to this. So, my question to you is... Were you supposed to be working at this time but you took a moment to reply to my statment? Same gose to you imwhitewolf. I see whitewolf look's like he's got some leeway but not much. I bet even when your putting things into your machines, computrers and so forth i bet YOUR talking to your fellow emplyees 'bout something or another. And, yes i'm only seeing one side of this but I can read between the lines. i'm Stupid And neither are you. Just a minute ago I stopped writing this SO I can wait on one of my customers. So, lets agree to disagree on things. So, you all just do your work and let's ALL get the Hell out of here. I know i'm just rattling along but this is my opinon.
Thank you and have a good evening.

There IS such a thing as due process, which would seem to indicate that Fidelity was gunning for these individuals. No corporate entity really cares about employees; they're expendable, the first to go to protect financial stability, and the last to come back in better days. The present employment crisis is but one example. The rule-keep your private life private and ask permission to use company assets during your lunch break.

I also agree with Heather & Michael's statements. Such is the life working in Corporate America.

I sure hope that your employer doesn't allow you to have any contact with the public... Your grammar is horrible, and your post is nearly incomprehensible...

GOOD JOB FIDELITY!!!!!!!! HEY, IGNORANT EMPLOYEE(S) YOU ARE PAID BY FIDELITY TO MAKE SOME MONEY FOR YOUR INVESTORS. YOU ARE NOT PAID TO PLAY GAMES WITH FANTASY FOOTBALL. GET YOUR JOB DONE AND NO ONE WILL COMPLAIN. NO ONE ELSE GETS THE BONUSES INVESTORS GET.

GET A LIFE. DO YOUR JOB AND DO IT WELL.

Due process only applies to the legal system, not the business sector...

There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game.

No man that ends his post with "buh bye" has ever kissed a girl. No wonder it is a fantasy for you.

Those guys were lenient. At one of my former jobs, surfing the Internet for ANY personal reason was an automatic firing offense, no appeal no pity - security showed up at your desk and you were frogmarched out of the building that very day. That meant no Yahoo, no CNN, no Facebook, no nuthin'.

And I stress 'former' - I wouldn't work at any place so strict about Internet use any more.

What did all these people do at work before the internet was invented?

This is an outrage. I will make sure that I tell everyone. Fidelity needs boycotted.

I worked for Fidelity for ten years. They have very clear, easy-to-find policies on internet usage, gambling, etc. that all new employees must READ and sign off on. If the firm develops a new policy, it is circulated to all employees who must READ the policy and sign off on. The firm is a private company, and save for regulatory or discriminatory issues, they are free to set whatever policies they want. I don't wish to see anyone unemployed in this market, but I have a hard time coming up with much sympathy given how clear and efficient the firm is in terms of communicating policies. PS: they should have checked with some old timers, the fantasy football ban is probably due to a similar "event" involving March Madness.

Typical entitlement society response. This guy gets fired for violating the company policy and instead of taking responsibility for his actions he blames the policy...

I agree, I think we will pull 6 figures out of Fidelity for stupidity. We can play the same game elsewhere.

The depth of human stupidity never ceases to amaze me....

Its time for the little guys to stand up to these bullies. Hit them in the pocketbook. Divest yourself from fidelity. The little guys are all in the firing line now . Wake up america.

If the leadership has an active history of playing in their own fantasy league, then they have a moral obligation to step down, as well as apologize to Pettigrew for the hypocrisy.

Have these ex-employees ever heard of using their PERSONAL iPhones
and Blackberries for playing such games....Fantasy Football,
Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, etc. and ANYTHING LIKE Youtube,
Video Feeds such as CNN, MSNBC, etc. WASTES enormous amounts
of bandwidth and delays data transfer times for emails and
customer orders that could be critical in a time-sensitive
stock trade, corporate decision or customer sale.

If you play, USE YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT and on your OWN dime
NOT on the COMPANY network!!!!!

I use Fidelity and I wouldn't want my hard earned money going to pay some clown who is spending time gambling at work!

All major companies today have an SoBC (Standards of Business Conduct) that everyone must sign when they are hired, and renew each year. I haven't worked for a company in 15 years without one. Those standards clearly state the company policy on computer use at work, gambling, and even things you cannot do in your own time. My company has a policy against an employee having a second job unless it's been authorized. A company can have anything they want in the policy. The employee chooses whether or not to sign it and accept the job.

So if you don't like it, don't sign it or expect the consequences.

He knew the policy and should have followed it. Probably signed a statement that he read and understood the policy for computer use at the office. He is being paid to work, not play fantasy football. Most company internet use policies also state that company equipment is not to be used for personal gain. How can he focus his concentration on taking care of his customers if he is emailing and instant messaging to his co-workers and friends about fantasy football.

I struggle with those who believe what these guys did was OK. I am retired now but my company could have, and probably would have, fired those who played on company time and equipment. What don't you understand about company time and equipment? Using this way is simply theft.

Good For Fidelity!!!

The guy was running a league (which takes a LOT of time) on Fidelity equipment, collecting $$$ from co-workers, KNEW about the company policy, and then tries to avoid blame (aka "officer, the other guy was speeding too")

....and you think FIDELITY is in the wrong? Oh my, you're an idiot!

And yes, I have an IRA at Fidelity and will KEEP it.

I'm GLAD they fired him.

Fired for Gambling not during work, but for gambling in general??? That's quite funny. Fidelity's entire business is founded on investors "gambling" on other companies' success. Great stuff!!

So if you use the company phone to make a tee time you better keep it friendly.

Oh lord, you're in customer service...? LOL!

I guess it just confirms the old wisdom that if you're going to break the rules, you'd better be so valuable to the company that they can't fire you. These guys apparently weren't. Maybe if they hadn't spent so much time playing fantasy football, they could have made themselves such.

I don't agree with many people here - it's company equipment, company time, and company policy the guy violated. That said - the firing was way out of line. I can see a stern warning/talking to and a direct threat to company benefits if it kept up, but not a direct firing.

This idiot has an MBA?

Seriously, anyone stupid enough to play fantasy football while on the clock at Fidelity should expect to be fired. Anyone I know who has ever worked for that company has spent their entire career worrying about being laid off or fired and knows that's how it is there. And let's put this in the right context. They were not fired for playing fantasy football. They were fired for doing it on company time. If they had their feet on their desk, reading the latest Twilight book at their desk on company time, they were also be fired.

They call it work for a reason. People are begging for jobs right now. Why should they get pay for goofing off? The American work eihic is almost a thing of the past. They were told about company poicy when they were hired. If more companies did this we might be able to have pride in our workforce again. A job is not an entitlement. Earn your paycheck.

Fidelity has all my retirement money. I'm fine with them firing them. Fidelity needs to concentrate on making me more money - not fantasy football.

Don't ever do anything that can put your position at risk!

I have a bit more insight into this and this company than most because I know the VP of Employment Legal Dept. He is a stuffed, callous, arrogant deceitful, hypocritical ass. Trust me when I tell you he and they will ignore their own guidelines, falsify and fabricate information, rely upon falsified information, withhold information, delete and distort information etc. If he has created the same culture at Fidelity as he participated in at Liberty it is a company based upon a culture of deceit. Does a company have the right to monitor internet, email and phone usage - YES and everybody better be damn well aware of that - and selectively penalize whoever they want for any violations or alleged or perceived acts. HR and Employment Legal do not care about employees. Employees are pawns and judged based upon potential legal liability to the company or as lessons to others. No due process in the workplace either. HR is a misnomer. All better understand that. Only what they can do to support their position is important to them. Hard lesson learned. Don't trust anybody - especially HR, MNGT and Employment Legal - in the work place. It will come back to bite you big time. Employment at will also is a misnomer. It means at their will. It is not an equal relationship. They can fire you for anything - other than based upon discrimination - at any time. Ethics and legality mean nothing to these people, especially Stanford graduate VP of Employment Legal at Fidelity.

You can call (866) 697-1048 to complain about Fidelity terminating these employee's. What a pitiful excuse.

"In this economic time, especially. To fire people over something like this, it's just cold."

Let's turn this staement around so it makes sense -- in this economic time, you should be even more focused on keeping a job and not playing Internet games at work. For a guy with an MBA, Mr. Pettigrew doesn't have any smarts when it comes to basic worth ethic. Not only should they have fired him, they should also go after him to get reimbursed for the time and money (i.e., pay) he stole while playing this game at work. I'm comforted by the fact that he will not be eligible for unemployment, since he was fired for cause.

Are you really that dense? She's making a point about faking the value of the customer. I wish people would grow at least one brain cell before commenting.

Actually when I replied to your post I was at home on my own time. As for talking to my coworkers at work I don't usually do it as we only have three people in my department right now.

So, Fidelity has a couple of openings now? Where should I send my resume? Also, of course the employee-employer relationship is not equal. Even the former dummy employees at Fidelity know that now.

All businesses operate that way... Customers are of course invaluable insofar as that without them you'd have no revenue. But how profitable do you think any business would be if they really put their customers above everything else?

Customers & clients are #1 up to the point that they begin to eat away at the bottom line...

You are hired by a company to do a job, for which you are paid. You are not getting paid to play games. Go to work to work, go home to play, simple isn't it?

Absolutely right on. I am tired of employees (mine and others that I see) wasting hours every day centered around personal stuff and not work. I do own a business and it frustrates me to no end when I see my employees doing personal work, playing games, gambling, smoke breaks with no end, etc.......... with absolutely no idea or concern as to the negative impact that this wasted time has on productivity and company profitability. I have a small company and would hate to see what goes on nationwide. I might as well open the door and toss out money because that is exactly what is going on with employees not working at work!!!! What really goes through the minds of self centered, non focused people like this??? Most actually believe that they are somehow entitled to screw off at work. Come on people. You get paid to work, not to play games and do personal stuff so get off your high horses or find yourselves in the unemployment line. I applaud Fidelity for taking this action and more businesses need to do the same in order to curb this bad behaviour. Who does this guy (who was fired) think that he is? He is actually blaming the employer for not managing him enough and/or telling him that he shouldnt be gambling at work (or playing, or wasting time, etc...). That is the real problem here as people have no sense of what work is suppose to be anymore. No wonder we cannot be competitive as a country since everyone is screwing off during the day.

I used to work at Fidelity at a different phone center. From my first day there I was warned, as were the other members of the new hire class I was in, of things that would get me fired right away, no warning, no nothing. Fantasy leagues were one of the ones that we were reminded of at the beginning of just about every sports season.
Fidelity made clear to me that it wanted to avoid even the appearance of anything that would cause any customer, any regulatory agency and any government agency any question about what we were doing.
Where I'm not at Fidelity anymore (my choice) I don't know what will happen, but my guess is that there where be retraining in Fidelity's procedures. So when this sort of thing is found again there won't be any excuse.

Yeah, my retirement fund is all screwed up now. Like there are only 5 mutual fund options to choose from out there and 3 of them are Fidelity. Oh yeah...that's right...there are almost 10,000 mutual fund options to choose from. Go tool yourself.

BTW...did y'all not notice the entirety of their investigation came up with just 2 IM's...2. Thousands of dollars in man hours to come up with 10 seconds of off the cuff conversation. Remember that the next time you talk to your coworker about their new car or about their kids or your kids or the new restaurant you went to or their dog's diverticulitis or....

According to the article, all four of these guys were league commissioners so I think it's a safe bet that there were more than just two instant messages, though that may have been all that was uncovered.

Are you suggesting that this sort of behavior is acceptable? Would you tolerate it were they your employees...?

From the article..."Pettigrew, though, said he never sent any fantasy football e-mails at work or using his work e-mail address. But the investigators found two instant messages that had fantasy-football-related material."...any other communication is pure conjecture on your part.

Listen, I own a business and my employees' morale is very important to me because I regularly ask them to go above and beyond for MY sake. Giving them 5 minutes here and there goes a long way towards that good faith credit when I call them in the middle of the night because a server crashed and I need them to rebuild it pronto. While you can't have the inmates running the asylum, having happy employees is way more important to me than me having my control freakishness satiated. Content employees and employees that feel personally cared for tend to be MUCH more productive and that is MUCH more important to me than having my god complex fed.

Listen, I love fantasy football. I'm an employee to a company with internet access and capibilities as well. I know we had an issue with one of our employees constantly on his e-mail and constantly looking at sites that were not work related. My boss, and owner, just gave him a warning and said chill out and lets focus on why you're getting paid. I admit the firing was a little extreme, but look at it from an owner or boss point of view. I know that fantasy football can take quite a few minutes to set up on a weekly basis as well as always (daily) checking on the status of you team, health, starting, benched, ect.... so just keep an open mind when judging these executives who did the firing... what if this guy was playing with your cash and was Starting Peyton Manning over investing your cash into some type of money maker....?

Listen, I love fantasy football. I'm an employee to a company with internet access and capibilities as well. I know we had an issue with one of our employees constantly on his e-mail and constantly looking at sites that were not work related. My boss, and owner, just gave him a warning and said chill out and lets focus on why you're getting paid. I admit the firing was a little extreme, but look at it from an owner or boss point of view. I know that fantasy football can take quite a few minutes to set up on a weekly basis as well as always (daily) checking on the status of you team, health, starting, benched, ect.... so just keep an open mind when judging these executives who did the firing... what if this guy was playing with your cash and was Starting Peyton Manning over investing your cash into some type of money maker....?