A Swiss woman was fired from her job at an insurance company because she was seen as active on Facebook after having called in sick. She claims to have been surfing on her iPhone while in bed, which seems a pretty reasonable sick day activity. That can’t be more strenuous than thumbing through a magazine or watching a bit of TV. I’m having trouble even rationalizing that had she been surfing while sitting at her desk at home that this would have meant she wasn’t really sick. Is the expectation for Nationale Suisse employees that if you’re conscious, you’ll be in the office?

It seems there are some particulars missing from this story. Maybe the woman had a history of excessive sick days or something. It really seems as though this couldn’t have been a lone offense. It also begs the ethical question of who was monitoring her. The company claims a fellow employee blew her in. This rather sounds like someone with an axe to grind. But even so, the company acted on this information, which I guess is the really disconcerting part.