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An employer terminated an employee after he repeatedly accessed pornographic sites on the Internet while at work. The employee sued for wrongful discharge, claiming that he did not intentionally access the sites, but rather they just “popped up” on his computer. The employer demanded production of the worker’s home computer, which was supplied by the employer to allow him to work at home. The employer wanted to determine if the employee had accessed those same pornographic sites with his home computer.
The employee argued that it was universally accepted and understood that home computers would be used for personal purposes. Does the employee have a reasonable expectation of privacy on his employer-supplied home computer?
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Depending on an organization’s specific needs and requirements, it may choose to allow reasonable personal use of e-mail and/or the Internet. Some organizations strictly forbid any personal use. Others allow a minimal amount, for example, during breaks or while off the clock, provided the use does not interfere with work performance.
If personal use is allowed under certain circumstances, HR must notify workers that personal use will be subject to the same monitoring as business use. Make absolutely clear that management may periodically review employee e-mail files and/or Internet use, and that passwords are not confidential. Moreover, employees should be advised that even approved computer use requires the employee to always act appropriately and professionally—whether during, before or after normal working hours.
In the example above, the employer had required the worker to sign its “electronic and telephone equipment policy statement.” By signing the statement, the employee agreed that his employer could monitor his computers and that he could be discharged for the improper use of the computers. Under these circumstances, the court dismissed the employee’s lawsuit, finding that he had no reasonable expectations of privacy when he used the home computer for personal matters.
Noting that it was dealing with the “community norm” within 21st century computer-dependent businesses, the court strongly emphasized that employers can diminish an individual employee’s expectation of privacy by clearly stating in an e-mail and Internet use policy that electronic communications are to be used solely for company business and that the company reserves the right to monitor and access all employee Internet or e-mail use.
Source: CCHKnowledgePoint HR How-to: Workplace Privacy. |
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