AIG Bailout Bonuses | 03/27/2009 8:20 am

Stop the Madness! AIG Employees Fear for Their Lives

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

The outrage over AIG has gotten out of hand!

Sure, people are angry that the company mismanaged millions of dollars, all the while asking for a government handout. And yes, the financial products division was the one that really got AIG into trouble in the first place. But now, many AIG employees – some of whom have nothing to do with the downfall of AIG and are simply trying to make a living – literally fear for their lives, and the lives of their families.

"You mother******s should all be taken out back and shot in the head. I’d do it myself if given the chance," read one threatening e-mail sent to the company and obtained by ABC News.

A mid-level employee who still works in the company’s financial products unit but has nothing to do with those toxic credit-default swaps said some executives hired private security firms to protect their homes. "They fear every day for their safety," the employee said of her colleagues. This is exactly why AIG CEO Edward Liddy is reluctant to hand over a list of names of bonus-receiving AIG employees. Stephen Blake, acting vice president of human resources for AIG’s Financial Products division, testified before the Connecticut Legislature Thursday that several executives in his division have resigned in the past two weeks in the face of "threats and intimidation."

One AIG staffer who does not work in the financial products division wrote to MSNBC about what it’s like being an AIG employee these days, and about how many that still work there live "with the embarrassment that they probably work for the most hated company in America":

Over the past couple weeks and after the bonuses became an issue, it’s been reported that several threats were being made directly against the company and its employees. I even overheard talk of someone getting spit on while leaving work. We received a memo advising us that we should refrain from wearing anything with an AIG logo, and we should keep our AIG ID concealed. This is getting out of hand. How come I, a regular employee of AIG, underpaid by industry standards, who works 9 - 5, did not work for the Financial Products division and did not get a bonus, have to be on the lookout for threatening figures outside our building?

Everyone wants someone to blame for the current economic mess, but threatening people and their children with physical violence is not acceptable. Hopefully, more people will realize that soon before something horrible happens.

15 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

While this is a sad state of affairs for the ‘average AIG employees’ (and there are probably thousands of them for now), is it really surprising that people who hear snippets of news and get angry and decide to lash out hatefully and violently would just target anyone they could associate with the AIG logo? In this age of ‘breaking news’, ‘sound bytes’, etc. it is fairly likely that many people don’t absorb all the proper facts regarding current events, never mind the lunatic fringe that would make threats of violence.

By Green Tears on 03/27/2009 8:35 am

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Haven’t all the bonus money been returned? I think its pretty sad the employees have to fear for thier lives or get spat on coming and going to and from work…that is just nasty & vile. I never wanted to know the names of the people who got the bonus money - just wanted it returned. Now that its returned, I have moved on and its really sad others can’t. It is truly sad some would even go so far as to go after their families, innocents in this whole mess.

I know its desperate times for some but to show violence which you could end up in jail over, is it worth it?

By C Hardy on 03/27/2009 8:46 am

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My god sometimes I’m ashamed of us Americans when we do this stupid stuff. The President should hold a newsconference and explain that a huge portion of that Bonus money went out of the country to foreign employees of AIG and that we need to stop the madness. Haven’t we all worked or know of the fat cats in any company who leave the small people behind when they go to Sales Conventions etc. They spend the company’s money on food, wine & entertainment then come back to the office with a memo stating "We no longer can afford to supply cream & sugar for your coffee". I have worked for a company where I was a customer service manager with 11 people under me and I had to go and fight to get my people an early closing of 2 hours on Christmas Eve. The money was mostly retuned and I agree people lets move on were better than this.

By Barbara B on 03/27/2009 8:54 am

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Barbara B,

“The President should hold a newsconference and explain that a huge portion of that Bonus money went out of the country to foreign employees of AIG and that we need to stop the madness.”

The media is acutely aware of everything AIG did with the money. I know for a fact that some of the money was used to pay foreign investors etc. However, the media is making it sound like the money was used exclusively for executive bonuses; hence the reason for the public backlash of AIG employees.

The media has a very powerful role in society and they know it. Their role is to report and inform the public of what is happening behind closed doors within our government and other institutions and they do that very well. However, when they have a bias towards a story, they often report the story in ways that will fuel any if not all kinds of emotion. They wanted people to be angry at AIG and so they got it. Consequently, it is their responsibility to fix and stop the madness; not President Obama. I am sure the President has more pressing matters to attend.

By A Amedee on 03/29/2009 12:14 pm

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Where is the anger at all those who received money from these failing companies, such as Frank and Dodd….oh, Dodd didn’t know he was getting such a good loan from Countrywide!! And what about Emanuel:

Emanuel was appointed to Freddie’s board in 2000 by President Bill Clinton, for whom he had worked as White House political director. It was a highly lucrative appointment for the veteran political hand, netting him at least $320,000 for 14 months of work. What exactly he did to justify that windfall remains a source of controversy. Emanuel only attended a handful of meetings and did not serve on any of the board’s working committees.

By Libra Lady on 03/27/2009 9:13 am

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I agree these threats are unacceptable. I realize people are angry but this is not in anyway the answer. Let the investigation follow through and then let the courts decide.

By LynnDee USA on 03/27/2009 10:03 am

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Where are the media pundits commenting on the circus in the House of Representatives last week, run by ring master Barney Frank, that fomented this anger? Frank, who could not (wink, wink…we’ll fax the addresses over before 5pm ACORN) GUARANTEE the privacy of the personal information HE and other elected members of Congress (along with the NY AG Cuomo) were screeching for. Then here comes the… Bus tours in Connecticut last weekend to tour the AIG execs neighborhoods (after AIG gave the info to “law” requesting it) and just how did this come to be? How quickly it got organized. Why aren’t Americans screaming about what happened???? This is not America any more…When ACORN helps elect our officials, well payback is due to them and this is one small payback. Can any of us imagine the big paybacks to come?

By Mary Quite-Contrary on 03/27/2009 11:22 am

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Whole units in American companies have been laid off due to the finance mess yet Ken Lewis and not one of the AIG Risk Management Team has been fired from their job…why?

By Tee Zee on 03/27/2009 5:17 pm

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AIG manages the congressional pension funds. Barney-Dodd and all knew what they passed—this is called distraction-

And can someone find out-did Pelosi really take a "side trip" to Switzerland? remember the rush to pass the bill so she and 8 others could leave for her visit with the Pope—-and that was a distraction too?

I say kickthemallout.com Go print the pink slips and mail them!

By Mimi Jones on 03/30/2009 3:57 am

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Great suggestion Mimi! I hope I don’t run out of ink…

By Tee Zee on 03/30/2009 11:04 am

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Tee, it is because they are not the cause of the financial mess, the Fed is responsible. Started with Clinton, got worse with Bush and now Obama is taking it on with record speed.

And Mary, I am screaming right with you against what ACORN is doing. Yes indeed, they did bus paid protesters to tour AIG headquarters and exec homes. You read right, they recruit people and pay them to protest whatever it is ACORN wants protested at the moment. Why would they do that? It is the old magician trick of keeping you focused on one hand while hiding what is going on with the other. I am outraged by ACORN and would encourage every person who reads this to write their representatives and demand that ACORN receive no more of the taxpayers money, once and for all. Of course, as you say, they helped get the Dems in control, so I guess that won’t be happening any time soon.

By B J on 03/27/2009 11:53 pm

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Same thing Acorn did to the bankers-came in and circled their desks-scared their family and kids—they were trained by Obama-so go figure! I know it happened- I know some of the bankers. That lending mess got all this trouble going in 1st place. Go back to community organizers who trained acorn to do intimidation tactics-scare the bankers—then defaulted mortages-then failed insurance companies—and on and on. there is always a germ that spreads the infection.

By Mimi Jones on 03/30/2009 4:01 am

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For whatever the reasons, all these issues should have been dealt with from the very beginning of the corporations fallout and disclosures of same.

It is and has been quite sickening how the American People, US, have been duped for far too long. No matter the reason, we are still on the short end of the whole deal.

I am so sick of the corporate giants, and all those in such positions, getting richer and richer, off WE the American People!

I hope our leadership has FINALLY learned something from all this and will ensure there are NEVER AGAIN people able to abuse and use the rest of us.

If, President Obama and this Congress do not make drastic changes with real oversight and controls in place, then I submit they ALL need to be fired!

NO MORE imbalance of power in any government office, ever again! [So say I !!] Oversight, regulation, and proper authority division are the way to proceed into the future.

By Ro H on 03/30/2009 2:31 am