When you’re an employee of an airport that doesn’t get nearly the same level of human traffic as bigger airports, the job can have its share of downtime. And when left to be idle, people start thinking of things to do to pass up time. Like, say, participating in an illegal gambling ring.
Apparently, that’s what Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees found themselves doing over the past few months. Unfortunately, their own little gambling world came crashing down recently after TSA fired and suspended dozens of TSA employees caught participating in an illegal gambling ring at Pittsburgh International Airport.
“TSA holds all of its employees to the highest standards of conduct and accountability,” the agency said in a statement.
“[TSA] has taken the appropriate and necessary steps to discipline those involved to include employment terminations, suspensions or letters of reprimand.”
The investigation, which took a few months to complete, involved the agency looking into more than 300 of its employees who worked at the airport, some of whom were suspected to have been betting year-round on a lot of sporting events, including the the SuperBowl, the NCAA Final Four, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup, all of which were done through office betting pools
It appeared that nobody came away with huge winnings, something the TSA took into consideration when it decided not to file any criminal charges against the employees caught participating in the operation. Some employees made “a little money off of the top” and thus were the ones recommended to get the kaboosh from agency.
All in all, five individuals got the boot treatment with 47 others receiving suspensions and 10 getting the proverbial slap in the wrist courtesy of letters of reprimand. All 62 employees are still entitled to an official appeal process before they face their punishment, so there’s still a sliver of hope that they could get their jobs back. But we’re not betting on that happening considering who they’re going up against.
