BERN, Switzerland: In a case that has become a swirling mess of counter- claims, a woman in Switzerland was given the boot by her employer after she was detected logging onto social-networking website Facebook, reported BBC.

The woman had claimed to be too ill to work after suffering a migraine attack and had been allowed to rest in a darkened room at her workplace.

According to her company, Nationale Suisse, she was then spotted using Facebook - which destroyed all trust in her and led to her sacking.

Anyone well enough to use Facebook, the company reasoned - migraine or not - is well enough to work.

However, the woman - who acknowledged accessing the Internet while in bed using her iPhone - had a more outlandish version of events.

According to BBC, she claims her firm had created a fake Facebook persona and, then, by becoming her Facebook "friend", spied on her activities online.

She denies the company's account, according to which she had been inadvertently noticed by a colleague.

For one thing, she told 20 Minuten - a Swiss daily newspaper - the "friend" abruptly disappeared after her sacking.

Facebook has been dragged into workplace controversies before.

Many firms have taken steps to bar it from company workstations, noted BBC, and some employees have been cashiered over comments made about work online.

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