Norway’s Supreme Court Thursday upheld lower court decisions compensating two Norwegian men who were fired from their jobs when they were caught surfing pornographic websites at work.
The pair was employed at Conoco Phillips’ Ekofisk oil field when they were canned in the summer of 2002. They subsequently brought suit against their former employer, eventually winning cases at both the local and appellate levels. Conoco Phillips appealed the decision to the country’s supreme court, seeking clarification of Norway’s laws regarding workers’ on-the-job behavior and how far employers may go in enforcing company policies.
Conoco Phillips was ordered to pay each man NOK 250,000 (about $40,000 U.S.).
Expect fossil fuel prices to rise accordingly.
