Personal Cell Phone Account of President-Elect Obama Accessed by Unauthorized
Employees
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless President and
CEO Lowell McAdam made the following statement today:
"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have,
without authorization, accessed and viewed President-Elect Barack Obama's
personal cell phone account. The account has been inactive for several
months. The device on the account was a simple voice flip-phone, not a
BlackBerry or other smartphone designed for e-mail or other data services.
"All employees who have accessed the account - whether authorized or not -
have been put on immediate leave, with pay. As the circumstances of each
individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will
take appropriate actions. Employees with legitimate business needs for access
will be returned to their positions, while employees who have accessed the
account improperly and without legitimate business justification will face
appropriate disciplinary action.
We apologize to President-Elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our
customers place in us every day."
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data
network, serving 70.8 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J.,
with 71,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). For more
information, visit www.verizonwireless.com . To preview and request
broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless
operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at
www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia .
SOURCE Verizon Wireless
Jeffrey Nelson, Verizon Wireless, +1-917-968-9175,
Jeffrey.Nelson@verizonwireless.com, or Jim Gerace, Verizon Wireless,
+1-908-472-0700, James.Gerace@verizonwireless.com
