The man who sued his work for not recognizing his internet addiction

This man, James Pacenza, has been fired from his long tenured job at IBM because he visited adult chat rooms while at work, after he had been warned. He's claiming a rather long laundry list of problems to cover for his actions at work too, because he is suing IBM for wrongful termination. He claimed that an experience he had while in Vietnam during the war, where he watched a friend die, led him to post traumatic stress websites and chat rooms to seek help. From there, he claimed that the stress lead him to become a sex addict and later an Internet addict. He wished that IBM had helped him overcome his Internet addiction rather than fired him and is claiming protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The real issue here is what is at stake in the courtroom.

If Pacenza wins the case, this could lead to more regulation on workers' ability to access websites at work. This sucks for workers who use the internet at work to break up the drudgery of their duties. My father, for example, and his coworkers beat every game of freecell that windows had to offer (yes, I know that you can play Freecell offline). It would be a shame if the decision affects the legal way workers are expected to conduct themselves in front of a computer at work. I suspect that IBM may take it upon themselves to implement policies that will address this issue.







http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070218/ap_on_hi_te/chat_room_lawsuit;_ylt=AgbQx7J3fspIVK4KKcD0VNPMWM0F