This Obamacare Call-Center Operator Was Fired for Being Honest
John Bates /
President Obama urged Americans to call the Obamacare phone hotline as a substitute for the non-functioning website during a speech in the Rose Garden this week.
“You can talk to somebody directly and they can walk you through the application process,” Obama said. “Once you get on the phone with a trained representative, it usually takes about 25 minutes for an individual to apply for coverage, about 45 minutes for a family.”
Sean Hannity decided to take Obama’s advice. Wanting to spare his millions of listeners the trouble of calling the hotline, he did it for them – on the air during Monday’s radio show.
What transpired changed the life of a cordial call-center employee named Earline Davis.
Hannity asked why the Obamacare website is so difficult to access, and Davis responded, “Everyone is trying to get in at one time and we’re having a lot of glitches in the system.”
“A lot of glitches in the system?” Hannity asked. “Did they tell you to tell us that?”
“We have a script for that,” replied Davis, who proceeded to read the entire script for Hannity.
Hannity later asked, “Have you ever got anybody that really likes it yet?”
“Um, no, not really,” answered Davis.
Hannity complimented Davis on her demeanor and honesty. But that honesty – during a live radio broadcast – didn’t sit well with her supervisors. She was fired the next day.
That’s when Hannity took matters into his own hands. He announced during his Thursday radio broadcast that Davis had lost her job as a result of the phone call. She spoke to him on the radio and also joined Hannity on his Fox News show to discuss the incident.
Hannity agreed he would pay Davis her lost salary, which totals $26,000 a year. In addition to compensating Davis for her salary, he set up an email address, [email protected], for people to send in tips and openings for her.