Cubicle-dwellers across the country rejoiced April 24 as an administrative law judge determined that an Education Department worker in New York City had been unfairly penalized after being axed for browsing news and travel Web sites on company time.
"It should be observed that the Internet has become the modern equivalent of a telephone or a daily newspaper, providing a combination of communication and information that most employees use as frequently in their personal lives as for their work," wrote Judge John Spooner in a statement.
Arguing that the same standard should be applied to Internet use as to other personal activities at work, Spooner argued that it only mattered that these idle pursuits do not affect job performance.