By Elaine Quayle
A New Hampshire worker with girlfriend problems wanted to leave work early after one of her texts made him anxious. But was his idea to get out before the shift change worth a potential $250,000 fine and up to a life term in a federal prison?
Sure, your friends may have pulled the fire alarm to get out of school early, but this Portsmouth, New Hampshire, worker actually started a fire—in the U.S. Navy submarine Miami! The worker was part of the civilian dry-dock crew. And the incident was by no means high tech; the worker just set fire to some alcohol wipes on top of some rags with his lighter—and then pulled the fire alarm, according to media sources.
The fire took 10 hours to extinguish, injured several emergency responders, and resulted in $400 million in damages. The sub is out of commission and may need to be scrapped.
According to Portsmouth Patch, arson charges were filed in federal district court by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The worker was denied bail because the court felt he was a threat to society. A polygraph test had revealed he had tried to set other fires and had set off the fire alarm on other occasions.
The worker at first denied the charges, but later said he was so impaired by his anxiety over his girlfriend that he took several medications and suffered from lack of sleep, so he didn’t know what he was saying.
Wouldn’t it have been easier to just tell his supervisor that he felt sick and had to go home? The worker said he was afraid to ask for permission because he had used up his vacation and sick leave.
Does our workplace have fewer adults now?