Its 8am: Do You Know Where Your Employees Are (On the Internet)?

It is common knowledge that employee misuse of the computer can lead to company liability for harassment under employment discrimination law.

But did you know that your company might face tort liability when an employee uses the computer in connection with child pornography?

In a recent case in New Jersey, a company was deemed liable for damages suffered by innocent third parties when the company failed to properly address an employee who was rumored to be using the computer for child pornography. Some facts of this case include:

Just about everyone in the company, including his supervisor and coworkers, was aware the employee was likely using the computer to look at pornography.
An investigation of complaints showed he visited child pornography sites.
Although he was told to stop, the employee continued to look at such sites, to download these materials, and even used the computer to send child pornography to other sites.

What the court ruled was that when the company knows about this kind of activity, it has an obligation to either terminate the employee or report the activities to a law enforcement agency.

The recommended practices for companies to avoid such problems include: