Fla. toll booth worker says he was fired for paying toll

BOCA GRANDE, Fla. - A former Florida toll booth worker said he was fired for doing a good deed.

Vladislav Samsonov, known as Sam by drivers who regularly cross the Boca Grande Causeway, said he made up the difference when he accidentally charged someone too little for driving with a trailer recently, reports CBS Tampa.

"In my eyes there was no crime committed, I just helped somebody out," Samsonov told WPTV-TV.

There is, however, a policy against paying for drivers at the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority, which operates the causeway.

Samsonov said he had been asked to not pay for drivers before, but claimed no formal discipline had been leveled against him.

As punishment, Samsonov said his schedule was cut from five days per week to just two.

"If I can't be trusted for five days, how can I be trusted for two days?" Samsonov asked.

Since he wouldn't accept the punishment, Samsonov was fired.

Samsonov claims he was fired unfairly and is trying to get his job back.

Regular drivers along the causeway also want Samsonov's back in the toll booth.

"Sam would always give (my son) lollipops and give the dogs bones and stuff like that," Jason Rice told the Palm Beach Post. "This doesn't sit will with me, what happened."