Ready, Fire, Aim — Tip of the Week

An employee of the City of Franklin, Tennessee, was fired for viewing pornographic images on his city-owned computer. Not something that happens every day at most workplaces but not something unheard of either. Most employers have a policy forbidding the use of pornography on a computer at work. Most of the time, an employee who violates the policy is fired.

Before an employee is fired in this kind of situation, there should be a thorough investigation. What the employee says in his defense should carefully reviewed. To back up what an employer’s IT department says happened, it may be prudent to hire an independent computer sleuth. Firing a high profile employee in the private or public sector for pornography-related activity is serious business. 

When the City of Franklin employee was fired, he sued the city. He wasn’t guilty, he said. His reputation had been tarnished. He was damaged and deserved to be paid damages.

There’s no doubt that the City of Franklin did an investigation before firing the employee in question. It just wasn’t thorough enough. Eventually, computer sleuths determined that the pornographic images were the result of a spam email and that the employee hadn’t downloaded the images. The City’s computer system wasn’t sufficient at the time to filter out such things. The City has agreed to pay the employee $2 million to settle his lawsuit.

All firings deserve an investigation. But not all firings are equal. When an employee is being fired for something that’s illegal or will damage his reputation, an employer shouldn’t leave any stone unturned. Technology has given employers the ability to uncover all sorts of mischief, but it’s not foolproof.

1. 

   E. says:

   August 17, 2009 at 10:11 pm

   Interesting. Thanks for sharing John. E.