Canadians not surprised porn-surfing federal worker gets his job back

What surprises me about today's Globe and Mail story about Franklin Andrews is the lack of outrage.

Andrews was fired in 2009 from his job as a senior analyst at the federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration for spending more than half his day surfing the Web, including downloading pornographic photos.

The government contended his activities constituted time theft - pay for time not worked - and therefore a firing offence.

But Andrews, a 27-year public servant, appealed and an adjudicator with the Public Service Labour Relations Board now has ordered him reinstated.

Kate Rogers ruled that while Andrews broke the rules by downloading porn photos, for which he apologized, he had not committed time theft. She said a lengthy suspension was warranted but not dismissal.

"Is excessive use of the employer's Internet services for non-work-related purposes the same offence as time theft? I do not believe so," Rogers ruled.

"I agree with (Mr. Andrews) that time theft as it is generally understood involves an overtly fraudulent act, such as altering a time card, having employees punch in for each other or failing to record or falsely recording attendance on an attendance management system."

Rogers argued in an environment where workers are allowed personal use of the employer's Internet service on their own time but are not required to keep a record of their working hours, it's harder to infer there was an intent to commit time theft.

"I simply do not see excessive use of the employer's Internet services for non-work-related purposes as the beginning of a continuum that ends with time theft, " Rogers said.

Andrews had argued he was not given enough work to do. Rogers said while Andrews had a responsibility to seek out more work, some of the blame rested on his supervisors, who apparently weren't aware he wasn't exactly overworked.

The government's reaction was predictable.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenny's spokeswoman, Candice Malcolm, said via email that public servants are expected to make productive use of their time.

"The decision to reinstate this individual back into the public service is an insult to taxpayers and undermines public trust in the civil service," Malcolm said.

So where's the public anger? Many comments following the Globe's report suggest we've become inured to this kind of thing.

One commenter said IT in the public service is a joke.

"It is very easy, straightforward and cheap to put in effective site-blocking software on any network. Hit too many 'inappropriate' sites and it is logged, providing evidence and an incentive to management to do something," the commenter said.

Tyler Durden wrote that Andrews' surfing habits were normal when he worked for the Ontario government for three years.

"This guy isn't actually that bad. I would be in offices of 10 people where literally 7 of them would surf all day long. At the point I knew I was going to quit. I probably surfed half the day as well."

Many comments pointed the finger at Franklin's bosses, who gave him good appraisals.

"Where were his supervisors giving him more work, especially if he was able to hand work in on time and still surf that much? Can you say under-worked!"

(Getty Images)