A New York City sanitation worker has been forced to take early retirement for accepting a $20 tip while on the job.
The New York Post says a resident gave Lenworth Dixon the tip for helping remove a large amount of furniture and other trash in front of her Queens home in September.
According to the city charter, public servants are forbidden to accept gratuities for performing any official duty. City rules don’t differentiate between a bribe and a tip.
The 25-year veteran city sanitation worker was forced to retire from his $73,000-a-year job and pay a $1,500 fine.
Dixon couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
(AP)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
9 Responses
If a government employee is being paid a salary to do a job, then a “tip” is a bribe. It’s the same as if a fireman drove up to your burning house and said “sure I’ll put it out, but a little commission for me – you know its awfully cold and wet”.
It’s so comforting to know that they’re cracking down on our greatest criminals now. Our J-walkers and tip accepters will finally face their crimes.
Mr. Dixon is probably down in the dumps over this.
This isn’t the first time a Sanitation worker has lost his job for accepting a bribe. They are required to pick up residental trash as part of their job and forbidden to take commercial trash. Keep in mind that with the overtime, they earn a lot more than NYC teachers who are never offered bribes.
Also keep in mind that if you put out a very large/heavy object they will probably just leave it. If someone goes out of his way and works with you, there is no moral reason not to be able to show appreciation.
73000 a year ? To pick up garbage? So how are you guys who went to college and are in debt up to your eyeballs feeling now? And that doesn’t include overtime and weekend pay
#6 rkefrat: Your having gone to college does NOT entitle you to earn a higher salary than a non-college educated sanitation worker.
What a bunch of snobs! The men work very hard and in freezing cold as well as blistering heat. I give them tips all the time; they deserve every cent. The DOI generally slams our frum community and city workers; a bunch of bullies and cowards.
#7 you completely missed the point. Why does government pay out such relatively high salaries (plus of course benefits) to a job that requires little skill, no formal education and no risk of capital (as 1 might have when running a business)? Why do people flipping hamburgers make 8 or 9 dollars an hour with little or no benefits not also entitled to 77000 dollars a year – is their skill set or educational requirements that much different from a sanitation worker. Then how much should be paid to people who have specialized skill in high demand? Its apparent to me that belonging to a union – such as this entitles one to guaranteed income and benefits that no one else receives and that is not only unfair but is also the leading cause of many municipalities going into or nearing bankruptcy.