THE TURQUOISE PEN

WOMAN DISTRACTED BY WORK ON THE JOB

Noël R. King

Nicole Beraina, of Reston, Virginia, recently sued her employer, DataNet, for infringing on her outside activities while she was on the job as Marketing Specialist at the company’s offices in northern Virginia.

“It was really getting out of hand,” Ms. Beraina stated in a signed document that was leaked to the press by knowledgeable sources. “It had gotten to the point where I was no longer able to count on getting even half of my own things done whenever I reported to work. I’d have to leave my desk at the end of the day with half my chores still left to do—scheduling car appointments, making dentist and doctor appointments, shopping online for holiday presents, sending out job queries, reading personal emails, and catching up with old friends on the phone, just to name a few.”

Tom Binder, a colleague of Ms. Beraina’s at DataNet, sympathized with his co-worker and questioned the wisdom of a company demanding too much work from its workers.

“I totally know what she means,” he said, caught outside during a smoking break in the early afternoon last week. “It’s especially tough for me since I smoke, but if she can’t get all her personal chores done even without taking smoking breaks, wow. She must really be hurting.”

When spotted by a reporter earlier today, Ms. Beraina’s supervisor declined comment and quickly disappeared into the convenience store next to DataNet’s main building. He was seen buying Christmas cards and plumbing tools and then reading Car & Auto magazines for 20 minutes before returning to DataNet’s main building.

In DataNet’s official statement regarding the matter, the company noted that a court date has not yet been set because Ms. Beraina has not been able to find any full days in the next two months when she has not already scheduled personal appointments during work hours.

—As circumstances warrant, through her Turquoise Pen column Noël R. King, Reston, Virginia, will be reporting on travails such as Beraina’s and other breaking news.