Worker suspended for using 'robotic voice'

NEW YORK - Some workplace problems happen because employees are only human, but one New York City government worker got in trouble for virtually the opposite.

He was suspended for 20 days without pay partly for answering an information-technology help line "in a robotic voice." The city Civil Service Commission upheld the suspension.

An administrative law judge's report says the Health Department worker told callers "you have reached the help desk" in an over-enunciated monotone. Callers complained and one even hung up, later saying she needed "to speak to a human."

The worker said at a hearing he was following a call-answering script and articulating carefully because his Brooklyn accent can be difficult to understand.

The judge called him a "disgruntled employee" acting out.

His lawyer called the suspension "exceedingly harsh."