New York City the Place for Slackers?

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006;
-- Andy Beal |

A NYC judge has just ruled that a city employee cannot be fired for surfing the web from a work computer.

In his decision, Judge John Spooner said that agencies should apply the same standard to personal Internet use as they do to other personal activities. He noted that many agencies allow employees to take personal calls, or even read the newspaper, as long as those activities do not interfere with a worker’s overall performance.

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2 Responses to “New York City the Place for Slackers?”

  1. Diane Ensey Says:

    What surprises me is the insubordination of the employee. The agency must be really lax and letting employees read the newspaper, do crossword puzzles, talk on the phone constantly. The fact that the employee was told several times to stop surfing, but didn’t, seems to be ignored by the judge.

  2. Andy Beal Says:

    But didn’t the attorney claim the employee wasn’t given enough work to do? Seems like employees have been finding ways to kill downtime for centuries.

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