Internet rallies to support local toll collector who was fired for paying someone’s toll

A Florida community is showing tons of support for a beloved toll booth worker who recently lost his job.

Vladislav “Sam” Samsonov was a toll collector at the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority (GIBA) in Boca Raton, Florida, for nearly 30 years. He was known by many in the area as a friendly worker who often gave out treats to dogs and lollipops to children.

But it all changed last week.

According to a news report from Florida NBC station WBBH, the 77-year-old accidentally undercharged a trailer driver and decided to pay the five-dollar difference out of his own pocket. His good deed was caught on the security camera, and since covering a driver’s toll is against GIBA’s rules, Samsonov was subsequently terminated.

In an email obtained by the local Boca Beacon newspaper, GIBA Chairman Ginger Watkins explains the incident: “The policy is to admit the mistake and reconcile the mistake with accounting … the action of personally funding or withdrawing cash to make it correct before it is turned into accounting is considered fraudulent by the auditors and a terminable offense by GIBA.”

But Samsonov doesn’t think he did anything wrong. “In my eyes there was no crime committed,” he told WBBH. “I just helped somebody out.”

Samsonov’s daughter, Patricia Samsonov Gillis, posted her father’s story on her Facebook page where it has generated hundreds of likes, shares and comments.

She explains that Samsonov had broken this rule before, adding that the latest infraction didn’t immediately result her father’s termination — his superiors offered to cut his five-day work week down to two, but Samsonov refused.

“If I can’t be trusted for five days how can I be trusted for two days?” he told WBBH.

While many of Samsonov’s supporters on Facebook are calling GIBA’s action unjust, his daughter admits that her father was ready for retirement.

“Please know that this is Sam’s second retirement after also having been in the military for 26 years and he is well taken care of with benefits,” his daughter wrote on Facebook. “His only regret is no longer being able to interact with each of you and he wishes you all the best.”