Viviana Janer, a senior manager who had worked for Marriott Vacations Worldwide for 11 years, was fired on Friday. The company’s reason: she ran for local office without its permission.
Janer, who has been running since January for the District 2 seat on the Osceola County Commission in Florida, won the Democratic nomination late last month. Soon after, she was given an ultimatum by her employer: end your candidacy or leave the company. After refusing to end her candidacy, she was informed of her termination via a September 19 letter.
The letter claimed that Janer’s candidacy and her potentially serving in the office while working for Marriott Vacations Worldwide both “create a conflict of interest” which “cannot be forseeably mitigated.”
Ed Kinney, a spokesman for Marriott Vacations Worldwide, told ThinkProgress that the “crux” of the problem “was not that she was running for office,” but that Janer did not notify supervisors “so we could be aware of it and make sure there wasn’t a conflict of interest.” He explained that written policies require that conflicts of interests must be disclosed, so the company can be “transparent and above board,” not just for political activity but also business activities, family members’ activities, and anything else that could create difficulties. Such conflict of interest policies are not unusual for corporations. “For us to protect our interests is extremely important,” he explained, and referred ThinkProgress to the company’s business conduct guide.
Marriott Vacations Worldwide became a distinct, publicly-traded company, in 2011 when Marriott International’s board voted to spinoff its subsidiary. It is based in Orlando, Florida, but does not operate any properties in nearby Osceola County. Kinney said that since there are “other companies in our industry that do” own Osceola County properties, her serving on the Commission while working for the company “would have put us in a vulnerable position.”
In an interview with ThinkProgress, Janer disputed this concern. Since she has not yet been elected to the office, any conflict would be hypothetical at this point, but she explained that if anything came up where Marriott Vacations Worldwide had an interest while she served on the board, “I’d have to recuse myself just like any other commissioner.” Indeed even as a terminated employee, she vowed, “if I win, whether I’m still employed by them or not, I worked for them for over 11 years [and] I’d have to recuse myself if anything came up [directly related to the company].”
She also said that she did not believe she was required to specifically notify the company of her candidacy — which was no secret — or seek its permission. Indeed, she points to a section of the company’s policy that expressly encourages associates to be involved in politics and government, on their own time. “I followed their written company policy. Nowhere in that policy does it state that I have to ask permission,” she said, “If they have a policy where they say they strongly encourage associates to run for office, I wouldn’t imagine they’d fire me for running for office.”
A ThinkProgress review of the business conduct guide, as well as the company’s internal guidance for political involvement and outside business activity, appears to back Janer’s claims. The company’s political guidelines state that individuals are “encouraged to participate in the political and governmental process, but must be certain that they are doing so using their own resources and their own time,” “to keep personal activities personal.” It specifically says that the company’s encouragement “includes service on governmental bodies, work with advocacy organizations, and participation in partisan political activities.” While it says executives and those involved with government contracting must “obtain permission from Marriott’s Office of Government Affairs prior to making state and local contributions,” it places no such requirement on would-be political candidates.
The termination letter sent to Janer cites a separate policy document pertaining to “outside business activities.” But while that section prohibits business activities that detract from job performance or result in conflicts of interest, it makes no mention whatsoever of political activity or required permission to run for office.
Several members of the Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s board of directors were major donors to Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. Former Republican National Chairman and U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, who has served on the board since 2011, served as a member of Romney’s Hispanic Steering Committee.
Janer told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday that she was exploring legal options and vowed to continue her candidacy.
Update:
An earlier version of this post incorrectly listed the day of the Florida primary.