Out-Law News 1 min. read
05 Jan 2001, 12:00 am
The Telegraph quotes an unnamed source in the insurance company who said, “The e-mails did not contain anything illegal like child pornography. But the firm has a written code on what is acceptable internet practice and what is not.”
According to the source, those sacked have been with the company for up to 15 years and “have never put a foot wrong.”
The company has refused to confirm the sackings, saying only that disciplinary action has taken place.
It is only recently that companies in the UK have bugun taking such a tough approach to breaches of e-mail and internet use policies, recognising that unless they do so, the policies may be considered worthless.
In December, Bradley Chait, a junior London lawyer, and his girlfriend, Claire Swire, faced the media spotlight when a sexually graphic e-mail exchange between them was quickly circulated to an estimated one million people. Following disciplinary proceedings by his employers, Bradley Chait was allowed to keep his job.
However, an engineering firm in Huddersfield last year won an industrial tribunal case following its dismissal of two employees on grounds of gross misconduct. The employees had allegedly sent "smutty" joke e-mails to around 40 other staff. The two individuals were said to have transmitted "the highest number of e-mails with the most sexually explicit attachments". Their dismissal followed a complaint by one recipient. The firm said its e-mail policy was clear to its staff.
See our guide on internet and e-mail policies. You can also download a free policy for use by your business by clicking here.