Volume IV

Issue : 9: May 5, 2006

• Penalties Imposed for Cyberspace Bullying
• European Union Expected to Adopt Anti Piracy Anti Counterfeiting Legislation
• BitTorrent User Hit With $35,000 Default Judgment
• Judge Bars Civil Servant from being Fired for Web Surfing
• U.S. Supreme Court Seeks Opinion of Justice Department in Microsoft Appeal
• EBay User Sentenced to Prison for Threats against eBay Executives
• Increased Reward for Employees Who Report Illegal Software Use
• Jury Awards Memory Chip Designer Rambus $306.5m (U.S.) in Patent Verdict
• Supreme Court of Canada Affirms the Paramount Importance of Privacy

Home > Volume IV > Issue 9: May 5, 2006 > Judge Bars Civil Servant from being Fired for Web Surfing

Judge Bars Civil Servant from being Fired for Web Surfing

In a recent hearing before the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, the New York Department of Education (the “NYDOE”) sought to have Mr. Toquir Choudhri fired for, among other things, disobeying a direct order to cease using the Internet for personal reasons.

Administrative Law Judge Spooner found that Mr. Choudhri was insubordinate in violation of NYDOE rules and regulations when he disobeyed several direct orders from his superiors to cease using the Internet for personal purposes during working hours. Notwithstanding this finding, Judge Spooner determined that there were several mitigating factors. Among these were: other employees at Mr. Choudhri’s level were given unrestricted access to the Internet and were not disciplined for occasional personal uses thereof; Mr. Choudhri used the Internet only while awaiting further assignments; and the Internet has become the modern equivalent of a telephone or daily newspaper and New York City agencies routinely permit workers to use such communications and information tools for personal reasons provided they do not interfere with work performance.

Taking into account all of the mitigating factors, Judge Spooner found that the most appropriate penalty was a reprimand, the most minor penalty available.

For a copy of the decision, visit:

http://files.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/nyc/doechoudri30906opn.pdf