A man who was fired by IBM for visiting an adult chat room at work is suing the company for $5 million, claiming he is an Internet addict who deserves treatment and sympathy rather than dismissal.

James Pacenza, 58, of Montgomery, says he visits chat rooms to treat traumatic stress incurred in 1969 when he saw his best friend killed during an Army patrol in Vietnam.

In papers filed in federal court in White Plains, Pacenza said the stress caused him to become "a sex addict, and with the development of the Internet, an Internet addict." He claimed protection under the American with Disabilities Act.

... Wait a second here. Because he saw his buddies get killed over 28 years ago he needs to get some some dirty talking during the work day?

Ok, seriously, this is the bullshit.

[Agreed. This reads like some kind of fucking fiction story. And it plays into the notion that people will make every behavior they have into some kind of victim syndrome if they can.

This is outrageous and, while I'm certainly sympathetic to the bullshit this guy went through in 'nam, I'm not in anyway sympathetic to his claim that the results require him to surf adult chat rooms and port, much less while at work.

For christ's sake, some things really are up to oneself. -k]

Man sues IBM over firing, says he's an Internet addict