Cybersmut in the Workplace: A New Legal Minefield for Employers

Michael A. Zigarelli

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DOI: 10.2190/GD4W-2R1V-056W-9BQV

Abstract

Because the Internet is rapidly becoming one of the most important business tools of the 1990s, employers are increasingly affording their workforces access to it. However, employee access to this technology has also presented human resource managers with yet another legal quagmire. In particular employee browsing of on-line pornographic materials on the job has implicated sexual harassment law, while proscribing such recreational use raises privacy and other legal concerns. This article identifies the legal pitfalls inherent in employee access to Internet pornography and in prohibition of such behavior. It also offers recommendations to human resource professionals for developing an Internet-access policy that both enables legitimate business use and insulates the organization from the liability associated with recreational use.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.