Sex addict fired by IBM for chat room visit sues for $5mil

There’s a term that’s thrown around work offices with internet access. It’s NSFW. I’m sure you’re familiar with it. It means Not Safe For Work. Generally it’s anything adult related where if your boss popped a look over your shoulder you’d be embarrassed or even asked to leave.Tell that to James Pacenza, a 58 yr old Vietnam vet who used to work at IBM. He’s suing the company for $5 million because they fired him after finding out he was visiting adult chat rooms, reports the Associated Press.

We’re all very aware of workplace protocol and what would no doubt be IBM policy - no porn at work. However, James is a sex addict, and since he started surfing the web, an internet addict also.

After seeing his best friend killed in ‘Nam in 1969, James treats his traumatic stress by visiting chat rooms. While operating a machine that makes microchips - and being paid $65,000!! - there is some downtime of 5-10 minutes where IBM employees are allowed to use the internet.

On this particular day, James got to work after a Vietnam Veteran Memorial visit and wanted to get his mind off the war.

“I felt I needed the interactive engagement of chat talk to divert my attention from my thoughts of Vietnam and death. I was tempting myself to perhaps become involved in some titillating conversation,” James said in court papers.

After his chat session he failed to log out and was found out by a co-worker, who was subjected to his adult-related, and reportedly graphic, internet conversation.

James has no one to blame but himself here. We all engage in non-work related internet usage while at work, but we also keep it under wraps, or at least sanitary. So let me outline a few points that make James out as the bad guy, for me.

First of all, ‘treating’ a war-related stress syndrome with chat room conversation is ridiculous. He has co-workers, a family, probably a tea room with a phone at work. Telling a court that you need to visit adult chat rooms at work because of your friend’s death is beyond lame, it’s insulting.

Secondly, how does 5-10 minutes a day constitute an addiction? I’m on the web for half of my day. If this is a serious addiction, why hasn’t it been treated? James is 58. The Vietnam war was thirty years ago. How did he treat his stress in the 80s?

And finally, the amount he’s expecting. $5 million is insane. Apparently James might have retired the following year [2004]. He has two children, but how old are they? They have their own lives, no doubt. It’s greedy.

I know what you’re saying, “But Craig, they only fired him after reviewing his psychological disability’s history.” Well, I’m sure they knew about that when they hired him .

“Ok, what about the fact that he didn’t receive a warning, or the support from his workplace for a fairly minor mistake?” IBM says he was only fired after being warned for a previous incident.

“Then explain why he was fired and two other IBM employees were only transfered after being caught having sex on a desk at work.”

Touche.