THE JOKES ON ME!

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Hamburg newspaper that reported last week on a computer company manager who said he fired three non-smokers because they had threatened disruptions after asking for a smoke-free environment said on Monday the
story was a hoax.

Stephanie Lamprecht, a journalist at the Hamburger Morgenpost, said Thomas Joschko first told her he had fired the three from his 10-person staff because they were causing a disruption with their non-smoking but later admitted it was a hoax.

Lamprecht, whose story was published widely in the German and international media last week, said: "He said it was a joke and worth the trouble. He said he's a chain-smoker himself and said he was tired of smokers being hassled so much."

First of all let me say thank you so much to cccmells who pointed out on my original post that the story was a hoax. Secondly I would like to personally apologize to those of you, who like myself, read the story thinking it to be true. Unfortunately the reporter who originally wrote the story did not check their facts or sources and a "story" that was just a hoax was published in print and online.
Since reading that the story was completely false, I have removed the posting from my blog.
Again I want to say thanks to whomever cccmells is and again I apologize to the readers.
Thanks!