This is my first diary--please forgive my mistakes.
The Verizon website says:
"Verizon was one of the first large employers to create an ethics office headed by an executive responsible for compliance. Our comprehensive Code of Business Conduct... has become a model for other companies. We train and certify our employees on their understanding of the code, and the code is available online for reference.
Because the code cannot address every situation that might arise, we also operate a confidential VZ Ethics Line (800 856-1885 or 800 968-4586 TTY and 800 488-7900 for Verizon Wireless) that employees, suppliers and the public can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ask questions, seek clarification or report alleged misconduct or violations of our code."
I called their Ethics Line, which is staffed by a 3rd-party ethics investigation firm called Global Compliance. I was impressed by how they handled my complaint. (Read more..)
"Rudi" was respectful, took all my information, and took down my questions word-for-word (along the lines of: Did Verizon sell my private information to NSA as reported in USA Today? Did they do so without a warrant? Why did they not notify me that they had done so? Did they violate the law in doing so?) and took the whole matter very seriously. She asked for the name of the USA Today reporter, the date of the article, and was professional about the whole thing. I also got a sense that she gathered the gravity of my complaint.
So if you call, this is what you can expect. At least Verizon bothered to hire this outside firm to take ethical complaints. I suggest we make use of the service. Have your facts on hand and be concise. The people answering the phone aren't Verizon--but every complaint gets logged with a ID number and Verizon will have to decide how to deal with each one. That number again: 800-856-1885.
If you call, please post your experience here.