Man fired for playing computer game

NEW YORK: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has fired a city employee after seeing the man play solitaire on his computer at work.

"The workplace is not an appropriate place for games," Bloomberg told reporters on Thursday when asked about firing a clerical worker in the city's lobbying office in Albany. "I expect all city workers, including myself, to work hard."

The man was fired last Tuesday after six years on the job with no warning or severance pay.

Bloomberg saw the man playing the popular computer card game during a rare visit to the office ahead of Gov. George Pataki's Jan. 4 State of the State speech.