Man sues IBM over his own sexual disorder 1d67148 - Latest News

Man sues IBM over his own sexual disorder.

My initial response to anything as absurd as this is generally to mock it and belittle all those involved. But I'll be damned if I can't wrap my mind around this story: Is he telling the truth? Should IBM have been more sensitive to his disorder? Can you actually sue for this?

Ok. So. James Pacenza is fired from IBM for visiting an adult chat room while at work, after having been warned before for a past incident. He is fighting the dismissal because he says that visiting sex sites is his self-medicated therapy used to neutralize effects of post-traumatic stress disorder from the Vietnam War.

I can't help but feel this is sensationalized just a tad bit. I mean, come on. He denies he was even looking at sex sites at work; if this is so, why not just use that for your case? Why even bring attention to your sexual disorder? To me, that seems like someone is trying a bit too hard to bring attention to themselves.

However, this makes me wonder if sexual behavior disorders should be recognized. If his disorder is truly real, shouldn't the company be a bit more sympathetic to this?

Moral ambiguity sucks.

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Comments (3)

	risewithefallen: 02/19/2007 11:02 AM wel mayb but i mean he should do it on his break insted of whil @ work. i mean ppl get to tak medication @ ther work so y cant he. on the otr hand if he wantd atention then this is a prity fuckn mesd up way 2 get!!
	rockonbaby: 02/20/2007 10:05 PM I agree. I think that his sexual disorder should be looked into and confirmed. If he really does have a problem, his employer needs to be more sympathetic. But aren't there medications nowadays for this? I mean, there are pills to take for almost any disorder now. I guess he wasn't doing anything harmful, so he took a few peeks at a few inappropriate sites, firing him was going a bit too far. I took a class today, and my prof. mentioned how hard it can be to get another job after getting fired, and that can mess them up because they'll have serious financial issues. I think that suing wasn't a bad idea.
	Buzznet's Official MiseryXchord™: 02/21/2007 5:28 PM Are cocaine and heroin addicts covered by the ADA? How about if he was addicted to Final Fantasy Online? Or sniffing used coffee filters in the breakroom? Addictive personalities can switch their obsessions between genres when one is denied and another available. Addiction is addiction... it shouldn't become a social platform and cop-out just because sex is involved. I'd hate to see every person who gets caught in internet chat rooms at work try to claim they couldn't help themselves, therefore they shouldn't be fired. Or wait, I'd LOVE to see that. I'd love to see people sue their ex-employers for firing them because they couldn't help being a total jerk to the customers and other employees because they have OCD and a borderline personality disorder, too. And they should make it a major new item and televise it. Maybe a webcast. I'm sure they could find sponsors for product placement.