A man who was fired by IBM for logging on to an adult chat room at work is suing the company for $5 million (£2.6 million), claiming he is an internet addict who deserves treatment and sympathy rather than dismissal.

James Pacenza, 58, of New York, said he visits chat rooms to treat a traumatic stress disorder that he has suffered since seeing his best friend killed in the Vietnam war.

In court papers filed last week, Mr Pacenza, who is claiming protection under the American with Disabilities Act, said the stress turned him into “a sex addict, and with the development of the internet, an internet addict.”

His lawyer, Michael Diederich, says Mr Pacenza did not visit pornographic sites at work, violate any written IBM rules or surf the internet any more or any differently than other workers.

IBM has asked a judge to dismiss the case, saying its policy against surfing sexual websites is clear. It also claims Mr Pacenza was told he could lose his job after an incident four months earlier, which he denies.

Mr Pacenza was dismissed “because he visited an internet chat room for a sexual experience during work after he had been previously warned,'' IBM said.

The computer giant added that sexual behaviour disorders are specifically excluded from the American with Disabilities Act.

If the case goes to trial, it could affect how employers regulate non work-related internet use or how internet overuse is treated as a medical condition.

A recent study by Stanford University found that up to 14 per cent of computer users reported neglecting their work, school, families, food and sleep to surf the internet.

Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, the academic behind the study, said that he was most concerned about the numbers of people who hid their nonessential internet use or used the internet to escape a negative mood, much in the same way that alcoholics might.

Mr Pacenza, who is married with two children, earned $65,000 (£33,427 ) a year operating a machine that makes computer chips. Several times during the day, machine operators are idle for five to 10 minutes as the machine checks chip measurements.

It was during one of these periods on May 28, 2003, that Mr Pacenza logged onto a chat room. According to his lawyer, Mr Pacenza had visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington earlier that day.

Mr Pacenza said he was called away before joining in any online conversations. But when another worker went to computer he saw sexually explicit comments which he reported, leading to Mr Pacenza being fired the next day.

His lawyer says that IBM workers who have drug or alcohol problems are placed in programs to help them, and that Mr Pacenza should have been offered the same treatment.

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