FC: Porn spam could be a legal minefield for employers

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1032-995658.html

   Porn spam--legal minefield for employers
   By Declan McCullagh
   April 7, 2003, 4:00 AM PT

   WASHINGTON--Lewd e-mail promoting pornography may soon pose more than
   just a technical challenge in the ongoing fight against spam--experts
   say it's set to become an acute legal problem, too.

   Graphic images appearing unbidden on PCs by way of e-mail in-boxes
   could qualify as evidence of a "hostile work environment," something
   that's prohibited by federal employment law.

   As a result, porn spam could begin to crop up in sexual harassment
   complaints from employees offended by the material. Even if companies
   aren't the source of such messages, they could be liable for hefty
   civil fines if managers know that porn spam is a problem and don't
   move to address it.

   "You have to provide a workplace that's free of sexual harassment.
   That right is so clearly established that no employer could say, 'I
   didn't know I had to do that,' if they're on notice about sex spam,"
   said Michael Modl, an attorney who specializes in workplace harassment
   claims at the Madison, Wis., law firm of Axley Brynelson.

   The legal arguments have not yet been tested in court, but scholars
   say the combination of lucrative damages and porn spam's steadily
   increasing volume will make lawsuits drawing on at-work porn spam
   inevitable.

   [...]




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