Spider-Man gets fired, but shouldn't expect unemployment benefits

The firing today of Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker, will put him in the unemployment line, but he shouldn't expect to get unemployment benefits.

That's because his misconduct -- doctoring a picture to clear his wrongly-accused boss of some illegal activity -- likely makes him ineligible for unemployment benefits.

I say unlikely because each state has its own laws, although Nolo.com points out that in general employees are entitled to such compensation if they quit or are laid off.

Spider-Man has nothing to lose by applying for benefits after being fired. His former employer might not challenge it and one caseworker could read the "misconduct" rule differently.

Misconduct -- and I'd bet that a photographer doctoring a photo on the job would be viewed as such by the New York Department of Labor -- can lead to firing and no unemployment benefits. According to Nolo, "The trick lies in figuring out which reasons to fire are serious enough to qualify as misconduct and justify denying benefits."