The Loop
Man fired for disabling tracking device while playing 140 rounds of golf
Dougal Waters
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds," wrote Albert Einstein. Words that encapsulate this grave injustice out of Australia, where a golfer, nay, HERO was persecuted for his genius.
Tom Colella of Perth lost his job after his employer discovered, via anonymous letter, that the 60-year-old electrician had been disabling his company's tracking device in order to hit the links. One hundred and forty times, to be exact.
According to a workplace tribunal, Colella placed his issued GPS device inside an empty cheesy-puff bag. This makeshift "Faraday cage," an enclosure which can block electromagnetic fields, allowed Colella to log in his "work" hours while getting real work done on the course.
And the scam succeeded: 140 rounds is a Trump-ian feat. Alas, someone ratted out Colella, reporting his rounds to the company. (We can only assume said snake was not a fellow hacker. That, or Colella stiffed someone on a Nassau.)
Though we've all been guilty of escaping the office early for an emergency nine, we can't condone falsifying hours to such an extensive degree. And yet, there's something endearing about a working class bloke sticking it to the corporate man via science, all in the name of getting his golf fix in.
Here's hoping Colella finds an employer that can facilitate his habit. Just keep an eye on his time cards.