Dominic Petruzzi was rolling up huge overtime hours and couldn't keep up with his job as a technical inspector - and spent huge hours on the Internet though his job didn't require it. And now the reason is revealed: he was visiting online porn sites on the job and working overtime just to do his job.
Petruzzi worked at CAE Electronics Ltd., Reuters says, when his boss, Joseph Iasenizaniro, spotting a problem in early 1999. A check of the company's computer system confirmed that from January to March that year, Petruzzi spent 329 hours - equal to eight weeks worth of eight hour days - on the Net, mostly visiting porn sites. Petruzzi was fired last June, and earlier this month he lost his appeal before a Quebec arbitration panel.
The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union filed the appeal, Reuters says. But the abritrator ruled for the company, which argued that in March 1999, Petruzzi was online for equal to three weeks work (120 hours) and claimed 123.7 hours of overtime. Petruzzi claimed he only used the Net no more than two hours a day, saying Internet browsers stay open on Web sites for hours without anyone actually looking. But CAE responded the company Net connections close if 15 minutes pass without any activity on a Web site.
Petruzzi's job actually involved going into the plant where CAE builds flight simulators and double-checking mechanical and electrical systems.
