CT Columnist Fired for Exposing Sleepy's Bedbugs Mattresses

In what might inspire the first Arnold Diaz meta-segment, a consumer watchdog columnist was fired from a Hartford newspaper he had worked at for forty years after writing a piece that exposed allegations against retail giant Sleepy's for selling second-hand mattresses as new—including one with bedbugs. Despite the case being currently under investigation by the Connecticut attorney general, the Hartford Courant refused to publish George Gombossy's exposé on one of their largest advertisers. Gombossy quotes a report from a NJ environmental group that was brought in to exterminate bedbugs out of a box spring he had recently purchased at Sleepy's and appeared to have been previously used. The report found that the “box spring … was the culprit. There were bedbugs inside and the box spring did not look like it was new.” Gombossy has published the column on a new watchdog blog he started, where he prefaces it by saying, "This was the first time in my 40 years at The Courant that an investigation by the attorney general was withheld from the public." His site invites advertisers with the caveat "you will be treated the same as non-advertisers."

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By Billy Parker in News on August 16, 2009 5:43 PM

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Jon Cook

It is unfortunate that someone got fired over telling the truth and I feel bad for the people that got stuck with a bed bug problem. There is a Connecticut bed bug dog company that can pinpoint the problem and exterminate the bedbugs where they infested. www.ctbedbugdogs.com

NicoleC

People will believe anything they read. Get the facts people. You get bed bugs from other people not mattresses. Sure if you cheap and want to take a mattress from a friend then u have the chance of bed bugs. People want someone to put the blame on. Complain,...complain. blah blah blah. Facts people. There are some nasty hateful people out there that will say anything with no proof to back it up and then there are the mindless people that believe it.

jovialguy

hopefully soon legislation will be introduced to levy hefty fines on companies which spread bedbugs. the hartford courant should ashamed

felixthecat2

that is why I refuse to buy the racist NY post and NY Daily Post and NY times since they are the mouthpieces of Bloomberg.

interlard

@longacre: I disagree that Sleepy's is "significant". It's just a big corp. chain. There are plenty of independent bed & mattress stores.

Anyhow, the Hartford Courant is now officially obsolete as a news source.

just saying

"The BBB report state that in the past three years, 633 complaints were filed against Sleepy’s 700 stores. BBB statistics show that complaints grew yearly in the following areas: warranty issues, product issues, refund or exchange issues, selling practices and delivery issues." (Oh yeah, and don't forget the bedbug thing.)

"Better Bedding, with nine stores in Connecticut and now in reorganization in Bankruptcy Court, has had four complaints with the BBB in the past three years and still has its top rating of A+."

longacre

This might not be so bad if Sleepys weren't the only significant mattress store left.

jaems33

Reminds me of a story regarding Fox news reporters and how Fox suppressed them from presenting a story about Monsanto milk since they were advertisers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axU9ngbTxKw

NannyState

Goodbye, Hartford Courant. Connecticutist, anyone?

Internet Handle

It'd be the most adorable of the bunch!

snickerdoodle

Reporters being fired for doing their jobs as investigative reporters. And the newspaper industry wonders why it's dying? They can't die off soon enough.

http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/five-key-reasons-why-newspapers-are-failing