Did anyone see 20/20 last night? I am specifically speaking of the widows of the men killed in the WTC that worked for Cantor. These women were pissed off at the ceo of Cantor because he went on tv and was crying and said he wanted to do something to help these families because he felt like they were all part of his family. The next week he stopped their paychecks. Certainly this was not the pr move he was looking for, but I feel he was within his rights to do so. These guys don’t work for him anymore. These women seemed to feel that Cantor Fitzgerald and specifically the ceo, owed them something other than the regular benefits they were already recieving. I was really put off by the way these women were talking about this ceo and the way 20/20, in my eyes, went out of their way to portray this ceo as a jackass. The kicker for me was when, of course, after they had bbq’ed the guy they talked about how he is donating 25% of the company profits to a fund for these families. The one lady seemed to think that wasn’t enough and needed more information about when she would get the money and for how long. I will say that at least one woman said she would apologize to the guy if he did what he said he was going to do.
Ok sorry that was more of a stream of consciousness thing but it was my first time.
I heard yesterday on the radio about this. I believe the story also said that they would continue to pay health insurance for a specified period of time, and that they were working to speed up bonus & commission payments to victims’ families.
Seems not too long ago people in this forum were bitching about how they heard Cantor Fitzgerald was ignoring their employees and was nonresponsive.
Sounds like that argument’s over.
Sheesh. Way to pick a unique user name.
sadly, what you witnessed on the news is called sensationalism. You may have noticed, but it “sells” quite well. It really is a sad commentary on the state of the media.
See this thread for a previous discussion about Cantor Fitzgerald’s CEO. The eloquent posts by Broomstick left me with nothing to add to that thread. And since I didn’t see last night’s 20/20, I can’t comment on it directly, but my overall impression from what I do see and hear is that these women are either selfish, greedy bitches or they’re SO overcome with grief and anger that they are lashing out at anyone they can, even if there’s no merit in it.
To find out about all the things that Cantor is doing for the families of their lost employees, see their website. Then tell me if you think Cantor could be, or should be, doing more. (My personal opinion is that what they’re doing is more than sufficient.)
I really appreciate your consideration in avoiding stepping on my penis - Spiny Norman
Jeg elsker dig, Thomas
Didn’t see 20/20 last night, but yesterday’s USA Today had an article on them as well.
I hate to criticize them but they do manage to say some dumb things.
[ul]
[li] They’re pissed at the WTC, the US government, and Cantor. Everyone it seems, but the people who actually hijacked the planes and crashed them into the WTC.[/li]
[li] “we have to get Osama bin Laden now. I just hope that in 18 years, my two sons won’t be called into the military”[/li]Translation: It’s OK if someone else’s children suffer and die to keep my family safe. Just don’t you dare think my kids will be involved.
[li] “I always thought it was a death trap”. Really, and still you allowed your husband to work there? Methinks that’s probably because it was a very well-paying death trap.[/li][/ul]
Again, I hate to criticize these women who have already suffered so much, but Jeez, you’re not the only 4.
I agree with you Shayna these women all came off poorly in the interview. I feel like the Ceo is doing all he should and probably more. I was aggravated these women didn’t seem to feel that way at all. Not one of them seemed to grasp the company didn’t have to do anything.
And Random: never seen you before how’s it going? Always use some form of random one in all my board stuff. Can we still be friends?
I saw the commercial / preview for this and refused to even watch it. I could tell from that commercial that they were going to skewer this guy and paint him in a bad light. The commerial even implied that he was crying crocodile tears in his original interview. If that was fake emotion then give that man a fucking Tony, Emmy and an Oscar as that would make it the best acting I have ever seen in my life.
I feel bad for the widows. I won’t comment too much on the show as I have already stated that I didn’t watch it. I do feel, though that they are probably lashing out in their grief. I am more angry with 20/20 (and perhaps others) for exploiting them in an attempt to jack up ratings. People do bizarre things when grieving and I can forgive them for that. I can’t forgive the jackals who prey on the grief-stricken. I also can’t forgive those same jackals for impugning the character of that ceo. His emotional interview touched me to my very core. Shame on 20/20!
I’ve mentioned this before, I think, but my boss saw his interview and said, “I know the guy and he’s a jerk, but I was crying along with him.”
OK, I am only judging this situation from what I have seen on “The O’Reilly Factor”, so it may all be outdated, or bullshit. As far as I know, O’Reilly was one of the first media people to “break” this story. (Or he may have been the one to “break” the story - I’m not sure.)
Last week O’Reilly interviewed a widow who was very low key and gracious. She wasn’t really whining or bitching, but said that Cantor Fitzgerald hadn’t answered her calls, even though he made a big deal on TV that he’d help out all the families. She said she faxed her husband’s obituary to Cantor Fitzgerald, but no one from the company would acknowledge it, or come to the funeral, or anything. (I guess with 700 employees gone, they are swamped. But after all this time, you’d think they’d be able to acknowledge her loss.)
O’Reilly tried to get the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald on the show, to tell his side of the story. The guy was no where to be found, wouldn’t answer calls, anything. After being SO accesable to all the media shortly before.
Other things that were mentioned was that Cantor Fitzgerald has collected about a MILLION dollars in charity for these families, and yet none of them (as of a few days ago) has seen any of the money.
Cantor Fitzgerald is too poor to pay out some benefits to these families, but they can afford to hire a fancy PR company to help them out in this situation right now? What’s that all about?
Not having seen the 20/20 interview, I don’t know what new information has come out since then.
<sigh> You know, there is a reason some of us take the time to search for and provide links to previous threads. yosemitebabe, please read the link I provided above.
Well, while it is easy to lambaste these women, they just went through something really traumatic. As far as commenting on the WTC as being a deathtrap it’s pretty easy to feel that way in a building that is a quarter mile tall. It really isn’t a death trap unless you use it in a way that’s not intended in the instructions, i.e. crashing a jumbo jet into it. So I bet this woman had an irrational fear once in a while, and just felt it was confirmed when this happened. These women aren’t at the top of their form and the people at 20/20 are acting very irresponsibly. I wouldn’t really expect too much from the people directly affected by this tragedy as they are still in the grieving process. If you want to lambaste 20/20 I think that’s completely appropriate, they are assholes.
Erek
I would much rather that CF take the time to implement a solid plan to ensure that everyone receives equitable treatment, rather than just start throwing money out the windows. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of work the CEO has on his shoulders right now either - my employer is in the trading industry, and though we didn’t lose any employees (our NYC office was closed for a week though), our CEO was swamped. Compound our problems with the loss of 700 people and I dread to think what it would have been like for us.
That said, people need to realize that CF is under no obligation to be charitable or to help the families apart from whatever insurance programs they offered. Anything CF provides should be accepted graciously as a sign of generosity. To bitch and moan because you’re not getting your money fast enough says more about these widows than about CF.
Wow you people are really painting these women as money grubbing harpies. I’m sorry, but they just lost their breadwinner, or at least half their family’s monetary income and they are scared shitless about running out of money, and they want to get money while they can. I think it’s perfectly understandable.
Erek
I saw the show last night and 20/20 is certainly flling thier pockets off peoples misery - but I also saw the first interview with the CEO,and I was struck DUMB by how fake he was, how self serving and just plain scummy. I commented as much at the time. It was like watching a guilty child force tears to try to look penitent.
I also am under the impression that the CF widows generally are stay home moms, they have lost ALL their income. I wouldnt be too harsh with them at the moment.
It’s been awhile since I dealt in HR, but Cantor Fitzgerald may be cutting off their deceased husband’s paychecks in order to not screw up taxes, social security benefits, life insurance claims, etc.
I really think 20/20 should have let the matter lie. There’s no sense in needlessly dragging the CF CEO through the coals like that, unless they have VERY compelling evidence to the contrary. Yes, the CEO may not have returned their phone calls. But they have 700 employees gone and 300 left to carry on the burden of 1000.
Doncha just HATE it when you get all hot and fluffy at a Doper in one thread, then have to totally side with that person in another?? Gosh, I hate that. 
mswas, I’m with you. Those throwing stones at these people with such superior attitudes need to be standing there in the next 15-30 days, when first the “late notice”, then the " foreclosure notice" arrives in the mail on their home.
Yes, it’s an Administrative nightmare. A wiser and more sensitive CEO ( sorry, all of America wept for god’s sake, his tears mean little to me ) would have closed ranks, held a meeting at HIS expense that included hired child care for employee’s wee ones, a hot meal and a secure location.
He would have had the HEAD of his HR and Personnel Depts, AND- Insurance Company and Investment Company people there. They each would outline, both in written packets AND spoken to the assembled shocked crowd, exactly how each situation would be handled. ( No, not each individual of the 700 dead employees, I meant each individual situation- i.e., paychecks. benefits. insurance. bonus checks. etc.).
He would have made sure that attending the meeting cost not one employee ONE RED CENT, and he would have had documentation to support everything presented.
He chose not to do that. He chose to go on national television and be a HERO. Sorry, but he really blew it.
This puts me in mind of the factory owner in Massachusettes a few years ago. They made Polartec clothing out of soda bottles. The factory burned down, and he lost something like 4 out of 5 cruxial buildings. He called the employees and families together, told them all that NOBODY would miss a week’s pay or health benefit. That he would rebuild and re-hire everyone. Just bear with him, he would move as fast as he could.
And, he did.
Damned if I can’t find the right words to use on Google to get to the site. Help??? 
Cartooniverse
I agree with Cartooniverse. This guy choose to go public. I saw the interview on Wednesday. He stopped the employees paychecks when the spouses were still holding on to a glimmer of hope that their loved ones were alive in the rubble, basically telling them “face it they are all dead”. He was crying to Connie Chung that he couldn’t continue to pay dead employees or he would go bankrupt. He told the spouses, “we will pay your insurance”, than told them that their insurance was going to be cancelled. It was going to bankrupt him to pay them but now he is going to pay their insurance for 10 years and give them 25% profit sharing? That doesn’t make any sense. He just seems like slime and did not even appear to be really be greaving for anybody, not even his brother that he had lost. It all looked like a show.
I don’t understand how he can hold back their paychecks considering the people who died DID do the work that is being paid for. I know that every place I ever worked paid you for work ALREADY done so if they are supposed to get paid on the 15th that’s probably for work done BEFORE the 15th so how can he justify holding back the checks?
Erek
Exactly Erek! I didn’t understand that either. That is the way pay has worked everywhere I have ever worked. He just seemed like an ass. And I did not understand how one paycheck was going to financially break him and now that he has been exposed as an asshole he all of the sudden is going to pay out all of this money. It makes you wonder if he knows of some kind of loophole that will enable him to get out of it in the future. For instance, where my husband works; they had in writing that they would not be laid off until at least 2006. Well he is being laid off next week. Why do you ask??? Because since terrorists slammed their airplanes into the side of buildings it is considered an act of war and they don’t have to honor their contracts. So if I were these widows, I would not count on anything this guy says even if it is in writing.