OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Only WFTV spoke with a woman who said she was asked to choose between running for office and keeping her job.
When Marriott Vacations Worldwide found out an employee was running for a seat in the Osceola County Commission, Viviana Janer said they asked her to step down. When she wouldn't, Janer said they fired her.
Janer said her firing contradicts what it said in the handbook, where her company encourages people to take part in the political process, and she feels voters are the ones caught in the middle.
Since January, Janer has been focused on winning a seat on the Osceola County
Commission, but after winning the primary, she ran into the problem at work.
WFTV reporter Jorge Estevez asked, "They asked you to choose?"
Janer replied, "They told me I either had to resign from my campaign or resign from my job. First of all, I was shocked. I never thought it would come to something like that."
Once Marriott Vacations Worldwide got word of her run, they cited a conflict of interest in a termination letter, saying, "At no time did you bring the attention of your candidacy to the attention of your front line supervisor."
"Nowhere in the policy did it say that I had to tell them, so I didn't," Janer said.
Janer added that the company fired her based on a conflict of interest section that doesn't pertain to politics.
"Anybody that is participating in a church activity or their children PTA would have to go and ask for permission," said Janer.
Estevez asked, "But, in this case it is a little more delicate. Why not go to them in January and say, 'Hey, I am thinking of doing this.'"
"Because it was not in their policy and I was following their policy," said Janer.
WFTV found one section that states: "Marriott's culture encourages individual's participation by associates in the political and governmental process."
A representative from Marriott Vacations Worldwide said if they had known she intended to run, they would have had more options to find a solution that satisfied everyone.
Janer said she may pursue legal action against the company once the election is over. If she does not win, she said as a certified accountant with an MBA, she will look for another job.
WFTV
