List of The Office (U.S. TV Series) Characters - Employees Transferred From Stamford

Employees Transferred From Stamford

After Josh Porter threw the planned absorption of the Scranton branch into disarray, corporate decided that Scranton will absorb Stamford, and six Stamford branch employees are transferred to Scranton: Tony Gardner, Martin Nash, Hannah Smoterich-Barr, Karen Filippelli, Andy Bernard and Jim Halpert (who formerly worked at Scranton). The first three listed above quit almost immediately, because of Michael's management methods and other office problems. Karen stays for the remainder of the third season, but eventually transfers to the Utica branch after Jim breaks up with her.

• Tony Gardner (Mike Bruner) was a heavyset bespectacled employee at the Stamford branch, and is one of the six employees that were transferred to Scranton during "The Merger". Tony also has a tendency to whine, as shown in his first appearance in the "Diwali" episode, when his chips get stuck in a vending machine, and he asks Karen to use her "skinny little arms" to help him get them out. Before even meeting Tony, Dwight tries to persuade Michael to fire him on his first day in order to scare the new employees straight. On Tony's first day, he can hardly take Michael's antics, but he hits his breaking point when Michael and Dwight tried to lift his large person onto a table for an orientation demonstration (Michael refers to his leg as a "hock"). Humiliated and angry, Tony quits, admitting that he was not completely sure about transferring to begin with, but mostly blaming Michael's management style. An insulted Michael fires Tony instead, resulting in Dunder Mifflin having to pay him severance which infuriates Jan. Michael later regrets firing him and briefly considers finding him and getting closure, but reconsiders because he is "too fat".

Tony has a cameo appearance in Michael's film Threat Level Midnight (in the episode "Threat Level Midnight") as a pianist. In an Officetally.com Question and Answer discussion, B.J. Novak implied that Michael did end up apologizing to Tony, by offering him a role in the movie.

• Martin Nash (Wayne Wilderson) was the Supplier Relations representative at the Stamford branch, and one of the six employees transferred to Scranton in "The Merger". According to a deleted scene from "The Merger", Martin is 37 years old. Before working at Dunder Mifflin, he served time in prison after getting busted for insider trading (which Kevin says is strangely similar to what he does). However, since he was put in a minimum-security facility, Martin claims his time in prison was just really boring. When he was released, he was hired by Josh through a federal reformed convict employment program, which allows Dunder Mifflin to receive rebate checks. Michael made a bad first impression on Martin, when he told the African-American employee, "I will show you where all the slaves work". He attempted to befriend Stanley, but failed. In "The Convict", when Martin's past is revealed to the office, Michael overly stresses his trust in Martin to everyone, worried that people would see him as a racist for looking at him as an ex-convict. However, since Martin's tales from prison were generally positive, everyone actually envies his experience compared to their jobs, frustrating Michael. Martin is the second employee from the Stamford branch to leave because of Michael's management style, particularly after Michael makes his prison sentence the focal point of one of his seminars.

• Hannah Smoterich-Barr (Ursula Burton) was an Accountant at the Stamford branch, and was one of the six employees transferred to Scranton. In "The Merger", Hannah had unpleasant encounters with Ryan (who found it impossible to concentrate while she was using a breast milk pump) and Creed (who photographed her left breast and made it his computer's desktop wallpaper). She dresses her infant son in pink, claiming it's his "favorite color," and is offended when anyone assumes the child is female. Hannah quits her job while Michael is on vacation at Sandals in Jamaica, after complaining of the hostile environment and claiming harassment, making her the third transferred employee from the Stamford branch to quit at Scranton. The character is very similar to Anne from the British series; both are women who have traditionally been presented as likable and friendly on TV shows (Hannah being a new mom, Anne being pregnant), but Hannah and Anne come across as snippy and unlikable. They also only appeared in a few episodes each, with Anne being told off for her nasty attitude, and Hannah quitting under hostile circumstances.