The New York employee who was fired for playing solitaire should feel thankful. A Delaware man whose company not only fired him for wasting time (listening to his iPod, making personal phone calls), but is also suing him to recoup back pay and $210,000 in lost profits. While some think there may be some basis for this in contract law, the claim seems dubious. Hiring risk should be a cost borne by the company, because they're who are actually making the hiring decision. Furthermore, calculating opportunity costs in a situation like this is difficult, though they could probably employ the same experts who claim that fantasy baseball and the NCAA tournament cost companies billions in lost productivity each year. Still, just by discussing this story, the company is probably achieving its goal, to put fear into slacking employees everywhere.
