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 post traumatic stress disorder he's suffered since returning from Vietnam. Whatever it's called, <A HREF="http://www.businessweek.com/print/technology/content/dec2006/tc20061214_422859.htm">Pacenza's chat-room habit cost him his job.</A> 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 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.