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Virtually Addicted
A lawsuit against IBM is reviving debate over whether Web overuse may be
classified as an addiction. The answer will have big implications for business
By his own admission, James Pacenza was spending too much time in Internet chat
rooms, in some of them discussing sex. He goes so far as to call his interest
in inappropriate Web sites a form of addiction that stems from the
posttraumatic stress disorder he's suffered since returning from Vietnam.
Whatever it's called, Pacenza's chat-room habit cost him his job.
After 19 years at IBM's East Fishkill plant, Pacenza was fired in May, 2003,
after a fellow employee noticed discussion of a sex act on a chat room open on
Pacenza's computer. IBM (IBM) maintains that logging onto the Web site was a
violation of its business conduct guidelines and a misuse of company property
and that it was well within its rights to terminate Pacenza's employment.
Pacenza and his attorney beg to differ. They filed suit in a New York U.S.
District Court in July, 2004, seeking $5 million for wrongful termination.
Earlier in the year, Pacenza had admitted to a superior that he had a problem
with the Internet at home. Pacenza's attorney, Michael Diederich Jr., alleges
that the perception that Pacenza was addicted to the Internet caused IBM to
fire first without asking questions or "even attempting to examine the
situation." Diederich says there are several steps IBM could have taken,
including limiting his Internet use or blocking certain sites. "It's not
productive or useful for the employer to unfairly terminate employees," says
Diederich.
The case was held up for years due to Pacenza's medical problems and his
attorney's service as a military lawyer in Iraq. But it has come back to the
fore recently, and IBM on Dec. 8 sought a dismissal of the case, saying it's
without merit. On the surface, Pacenza's may appear to be an open-and-shut
case. He doesn't deny logging onto the chat room at work, and company policy
provides for the termination of employees who access inappropriate Web sites.
Certifying Addiction But cases like Pacenza's, which involve Internet misuse,
may no longer be quite so simple, thanks to a growing debate over whether
Internet abuse is a legitimate addiction, akin to alcoholism. Attorneys say
recognition by a court whether in this or some future litigation that Internet
abuse is an uncontrollable addiction, and not just a bad habit, could redefine
the condition as a psychological impairment worthy of protection under the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
That in turn would have far-reaching ramifications for how companies deal with
workplace Internet use and abuse. For starters, businesses could be compelled
to allow medical leave, provide counseling to, or make other accommodations for
employees who can't control Internet use, says Brian East, co-chair of the
disability rights committee of the National Employment Lawyers' Assn. East says
recognizing Internet abuse as an addiction would make it more difficult for
employers to fire employees who have a problem. "Assuming it is recognized as
an impairment it is analyzed the same way as alcoholism," says East.
That's a big assumption and there's intense debate over whether compulsive
Internet use should be recognized as an addiction. The American Psychiatric
Assn. (APA) doesn't include Internet addiction in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, which serves as the
basis for many ADA claims related to mental disabilities. Substance abuse, on
the other hand, is listed in a special category under substance-use disorders.
Internet addiction would not be eligible for inclusion in the manual until
nearly 2012, when the next edition is scheduled to be released, according to
the APA.
Compulsive Behavior Whatever the APA stance, several psychiatrists and
psychologists already say compulsive Internet overuse can legitimately be
called an addiction. Among them is Dr. David Greenfield, an assistant clinical
professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and
author of the 1999 book Virtual Addiction. He compares compulsive Internet use
to alcoholism, drug abuse, or pathological gambling.
Like alcoholics or those who abuse drugs, people who are addicted to the
Internet use it to change their mood and feel better, says Greenfield. There
are also many who can't stop using it, despite reprimands from work, disputes
with family and friends, and other negative effects such as debt due to
compulsive Internet shopping or gambling. "It's not surprising that it is not
defined yet, because these things change very slowly," says Greenfield. "But
when you are in clinical practice and you are dealing with people's lives, you
can't wait for those issues to be addressed. There is a huge problem with
Internet abuse in the workplace, and you can't pretend that they don't exist
because there isn't a label."
In October, researchers at Stanford University's medical school released a
study showing that a significant number of Americans show addiction symptoms
with regard to the Internet. Some 14% reported that it was hard to stay away
from the Internet for a several-day stretch. More than 12% said they stayed
online longer than intended and nearly 9% said they hid their Internet use from
loved ones or employers. Roughly 6% said relationships had suffered due to
excessive Internet use. Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, director of Stanford's Impulse
Control Disorders Clinic, which conducted the study, says there are clear
similarities between excessive Internet use and other addictions. "People are
very secretive, people will tell me that they feel restless when they go for a
whole afternoon without checking e-mail, there is mounting anxiety when they
try to cut back on their online use," says Aboujaoude. However, he stops short
of calling it an addiction. The clinic is designing a more rigorous study aimed
at determining whether Internet abuse is an addiction and not just a bad habit,
or a manifestation of another addiction or psychological problem. "Based on our
studies there are definitely red flags and there are things that should be
followed up on. But until that is done, you are not going to find a serious
researcher calling this Internet addiction," says Aboujaoude. "It's too early
to coin a new term 'Internet addiction.'"
Treatment Options Not according to psychologist Kimberly Young, founder of the
Center for Internet Addiction Recovery in Bradford, Pa. She says that the U.S.
lags behind other countries in its recognition of compulsive Internet use as a
legitimate addiction worthy of specialized treatment. Korea, for example, has
launched the Centre for Internet Addiction Prevention & Counseling in response
to what the government sees as the growing problem of Internet addicts in its
highly wired society. In October, a 24-year-old died after playing an online
game nonstop for 86 hours (see BusinessWeek.com, 9/11/06, "Online Gaming:
Korea's Gotta Have It"). "They have been able to move faster than we have in
America," says Young of the Korean government. "They have a lot of government
funding to put together these clinics."
China also recognizes Internet addiction as a legitimate problem. Chinese
employers can send workers to a two-week rehabilitation clinic for Internet
issues. Besides counseling, the clinic provides regimented exercise and medical
treatment to help people become healthy and redirect their energy.
U.S. companies ought to wake up to the problem in order to avoid lost
productivity from workers and liability for unjust termination or disciplinary
action regarding the Internet. "If you have something like the Americans with
Disabilities Act, which recognizes many addictions as a disability, it is not a
stretch to see that people who are getting in trouble with the Internet are
going to see it as a legitimate addiction and sue," says Greenfield. "It is
only a matter of time before one of these suits is successful."
Just how many suits are coming down the pike isn't clear, and Pacenza's is
among the earliest to weave Internet addiction into a wrongful termination
suit. There have been several other legal battles relating to presumed Internet
addiction, though often those involve online games or chat rooms that parents
say contribute to a child's problems.
Workplace Prevention Even as the debate rages on within the medical community
and increasingly in the courts, some businesses are taking steps to combat
Internet addiction beyond implementing Internet-use policies. Young, author of
Caught in the Net, says she regularly speaks to companies about Internet
addiction. "They want to deal with the problem of abuse and minimize that as
much as they can," she says. Young says she sees everyone from IT professionals
obsessed with Web surfing, to administrative assistants glued to eBay (EBAY),
to self-employed lawyers who are missing deadlines because of a fixation with
Internet porn. Still, most companies are leery of treating Internet abuse as an
addiction. "Overall companies are still a little hesitant to look at it as an
addiction," says Young. "But if they look at the costs, it makes more sense
than just firing people."
Employers try to alert employees to the potential of the problem, by paying for
talks or literature, in order to avoid problems such as lost productivity, too
much demand on company bandwidth, and sexual-harassment claims from employees
who see objectionable material on a colleague's computer. However, some
businesses are concerned enough about the cost of replacing otherwise good
employees that they send employees to rehabilitation clinics.
When it comes to Internet overuse, some companies are finding the best cure
isn't firing, but preventive medicine. Some limit Internet access to only those
employees who need it to do their jobs. And they are spending money on
filtering and blocking software to keep employees from surfing the Web for
personal use.
Sensible Limits Continental Airlines (CAL) acknowledges it's impossible to ban
all personal use of the Web at work. Louis Obdyke, Continental's managing
attorney for labor and employment issues, says the company lets employees
occasionally surf the Web, shop, bank, or do other activities online providing
it doesn't interfere with productivity. "It's pretty much under a rule of
reason," says Obdyke. "If you get your work done and you go on the Internet
during the workday, we wouldn't see that as a problem."
When Internet use causes work to suffer, stiffer measures are taken. And an
employee who can't improve or who visits adult or pornographic sites while at
work is susceptible to firing. As for whether Internet abuse is comparable to
other disorders such as alcoholism, Obdyke is clear: "We don't recognize this
Internet addiction idea."
Depending on the outcome of Pacenza's case and others likely to follow,
companies like Continental may have to.