Money For Nothing

Edward McSweegan could have quit his job and started another one somewhere else. He chose not to. Would you consider what he did to be immoral? Or are you OK with it?

From Money for (almost) nothing: Fat paychecks for very little work by Ethan Trex:

…McSweegan claimed that he did nothing for seven years while employed as a scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

In 2003 McSweegan told the Washington Post that he hadn't really been given any job responsibilities since 1996.

Prior to that, he had been a researcher and program officer on Lyme disease, but he was removed from that position in 1995 for arguing with a sufferers' support group.

Although he had a title as director of the U.S.-Indo Vaccine Action Program and a list of nominal duties associated with that role, McSweegan claimed that he only carried out the tiniest of tasks like ordering coffee. In exchange, he received a salary in the neighborhood of $100,000.

When the NIH vehemently disputed McSweegan's story that he simply went to work and did nothing all day, he maintained that he never received any assignments. McSweegan would show up, sit in his office, and read to kill time.

He took up fiction writing to fill his workdays and published a pair of novels he allegedly wrote while at the office. He told CBS in an interview that he also joined a health club near work "just to sort of break up the day."

The most amazing part of McSweegan's story isn't that he managed to stay employed through this seven-year period, but that he received positive performance reviews from his superiors. He wryly explained to CBS, "I guess I'm good at doing nothing."

I wonder if he got his chicks for free?