A Disneyland employee who spent $24,000 on his corporate credit card to fund a drug-fueled lifestyle says the Mouse House gave him a second chance after he came clean about the irresponsible spending.
Taron Sargsyan, who has since left the company, wrote an essay for Business Insider detailing his personal struggles when he began an internship with Disney in the summer of 2014.
After graduating from college, Disney hired him as a software engineer on the Photopass team, which was “heaven” during the dark times, Sargsyan said.
Sargsyan said he was depressed and isolated after coming out as gay to his Armenian immigrant family, and he turned to methamphetamine as protection.
“As my addiction deepened, my finances did not reflect the nearly six-figure salary I earned at Disney,” Sargsyan wrote. “Most of my money was spent on drugs and helping my immigrant family.”
The engineer reached breaking point when he realized he had racked up a $24,000 bill on his corporate card.
“I convinced myself that I would pay it back, but I was in over my head,” Sargsysan wrote.
Taron Sargsyan spent ,000 on his Disney corporate credit card on drugs.
In an interview Monday with The Post, Sargsyan said he did not use the Disney credit card to buy drugs directly.
“Basically, I use this credit card for personal expenses, groceries, dentist, etc.,” Sargsyan told The Post. “This card supports my drug habit because it allows me to use my personal income for most of my drug expenses.”
Sargsyan added, however, that he “did spend some of the payday loans I paid on this credit card on drugs. I also sent Square cash payments to two people I got drugs from.”
A desperate Sargsyan took the advice of a stranger in early 2017 and admitted a “mistake” to his manager.
“I was afraid I would get fired or go to jail, but Disney offered me the greatest love anyone could show me,” she wrote in her op-ed.
“The company gave me the opportunity to repay and left me with a formal warning. This was a big turning point in my life.”
Disney chose not to fire Sargsyan–a gesture the former engineer says helped him overcome his addiction. GC image
In his interview with The Post, however, Sargsyan revealed that he never specifically mentioned to his managers at Disney that he had a drug problem.
“I just told him that I messed up and used the credit card for personal expenses,” Sargsyan said.
“I should also state that I did not come out to my colleagues,” he added in an email to The Post. “They don’t know I’m gay (as far as I know). They really want to give me another chance.”
Sargsyan’s family gave him a loan to pay it all back, and he said he worked to pay back the company that year.
The engineer said that Disney’s kind gesture also inspired him to go to rehab, but he “failed six times” and began to “give up.”
A year later, on July 17, 2018, Sargsyan hit rock bottom when he found himself “with no gas, no money, and 10 days to go back to work from another medical leave.”
He said he rejected his friends and family, and was afraid of losing his job at Mouse House, but he decided to Google “recovery for professionals” and asked for help.
Sargsyan, who no longer works for Disney, repays his debt to Disney and eventually enters a rehabilitation program that works for him. GC image
Soon, Sargsyan was in Tustin, California at a new rehabilitation facility, which “changed his life.”
The engineer connects with people at the rehabilitation center who remind him of people from his childhood and he is innocent.
The experience reminded him of his own humanity and that of his employer, he said, explaining that his relationship with his family improved as a result.
“Disney showed me that compassion can be a powerful force to inspire forgiveness and accountability. I learned that without self-forgiveness and accountability, recovery from addiction is impossible,” he added.
Although Sargsyan no longer works for Disney, he said he is “grateful” for the company for “unlocking the power” of his “imagination” and for giving him “a second chance at life.”
On Monday, Sargsyan told The Post he quit Disney in August 2019 “because I was no longer satisfied with it.”
“I also don’t want to say the only reason I’m aware is because of my job. I found an inner motivation for my sobriety,” added Sargsyan.
“I found a new purpose for my life. I want to pursue my dream of sharing my experiences and stories with the world—and how Disney has had such a profound impact on my life. I don’t want to waste any more Disney resources on me because they have done so much for me by giving me another chance at life.”
Disney did not immediately comment.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
