Exec views racy photos at work: Fireable offense or just a ‘break’?
October 26, 2009 by Valerie HelmbreckPosted in: Budgets and spending, Information security, Special Report, Web 2.0, Web browsers, Web sites, cybercrime
When the National Parks Service busted the director of Gettysburg National Military Park for viewing more than 3,400 inappropriate images on his work computer in the past two years, the news once again raised an important workplace question:
Is anybody working at work anymore?
Or is everyone just viewing porn, watching silly YouTube videos and shopping for pantyhose online when they’re supposed to be doing their job?
The impact on employee productivity is estimated to be enormous. By last account, over $200 billion in lost productivity per year. And that translates to dollars and cents for any organization.
If you’re paying people to work at a job, you’re supposedly getting something in return. Viewing sexually explicit images isn’t usually that something, unless you’re a company that markets or sells such images.
The story of the Gettysburg park director is a sad, but typical one. John A. Latschar, who has a doctorate in American history, had been director of the park for 15 years. He says he’d been going through a tough personal and professional time between 2004 and 2006, the time period when his Web activities were, shall we say, less than professional.
The misconduct, which Latschar acknowledged in a sworn statement, was discovered during a year-long investigation by the Interior Department’s inspector general.
The findings of the investigation — “significant inappropriate user activity” and a tally of the “most sexually-explicit” images at 3,456 — were written up in an August internal report.
The upshot: The Washington Post got a copy of the report last week and now Latschar’s been reassigned to a desk job in Washington.
To be straight about this: The guy is having a bad time at home and work, so he looks at dirty pictures to … what? Make things better? Distract him from his woes? Make a bad day better?
Then, nobody really does anything to him until a newspaper gets a report on the investigation. Once that happens, he gets a desk job with the feds.
Some recent studies have shown that workers are more productive if they take a break from their job intermittently during the day and do some recreational Web browsing — shopping, checking on Jon and Kate Plus 8, looking at the stock market or sports scores.
Should looking at racy photos be included in that recreational Web browsing? And if so, how much is too much?
By my loose calculation, the Gettysburg park director was probably checking out about eight to ten images a day — if you spread out his viewing over the work weeks of two years.
That would hardly take more time than the occasional smoke break, which most companies grudgingly allow and has far more serious health implications.
If we’re going to bow to reality and acknowledge that most employees use their work computers for some non-work browsing during the day, should we be punishing those who look at things we don’t approve of? (By all accounts, none of the images Latschar viewed were illegal.)
Or were the feds right to bust Latschar from his post?
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Tags: Gettysburg National Military Park, John A. Latschar, sexually explicit images, viewing
October 27th, 2009 at 8:47 am
And why is it that we must accept the fact that employees are using employer-provided computers for personal use while on the clock? How have we gotten here?
October 27th, 2009 at 9:42 am
This just leads you into the greater issue of……no sexual innuendo or photos in the workplace so as to not “offend” anyone who might be passing by, might accidentally get a glimpse, etc. Insane, but unfortunately true in most workplaces that someone will “oops” and see something they had no business looking at and then a lawsuit is pending. Just eliminate personal use on computer completely, go back to taking 10 minute breaks, and the problem has disappeared.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:44 am
What I’d like to know is: how did people skive off before the Internet? Was it a case of people doing the job because they had no other way to pass the time (which as a philosophy strikes me as hearkening back to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire), or did people just fill their lazy time in other ways? Cites please.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:00 am
If people are hired to do a job, that should be the test. Period. Do they do their job? Do they accomplish what they are supposed to? If not, fire them and get someone who accomplishes what you want. Otherwise, let them do their thing. However, regarding the porn. That is always bad. Those sites are crawling with viral crap and businesses have every right to deny access to them (or any other category that has the same threat level – like hacking sites for example). You don’t get virus’ checking up on sports scores, shopping at known retailers, and news feeds…
Have a great day…
October 27th, 2009 at 10:43 am
So, everyone is comfortable with the gov’t taking over health care and they have this going on with their employees and nothing happens? What if he was running the public option with his doctorate? So have we really gotten this stupid in this country to think this isn’t going to happen to the gov’t health care as well? The dude is probably making a $100,000 a year and spending his day looking at porn…
Wake up America!!
October 27th, 2009 at 11:02 am
wake up, how did this turn into a conversation about health care? On topic, please.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Sorry, missed the point that this was the government. They are fat and sassy with nobody to ‘fire’ them unless it is political – certainly not for non-performance, which is what business should be – performance.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
DD has a great point about viruses.
Also employers have an obligation to prevent sexual harrassment, which could include porn on computer screens. So employers are at grave financial risk if an employee views porn at work.
I believe that office employees have always wasted time with gossip, around the water cooler, reading the paper at their desks, etc. I don’t think the amount of time has increased, just the change to internet use. (manufacturing employees probably waste less because their breaks are timed and their supervisor is looking over their shoulders)
I don’t have a problem with allowing employees to use work computers for short breaks, as long as the company has a clear policy- no porn, no downloads, etc.
October 27th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
In my company, that type of documented activity, or even excessive surfing of non-port sites could result in severe discipline, perhaps termination. How does he just get moved?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Hollywood HR,
What don’t you get about the parrells between this employee and the gov’t. He works for the stinking gov’t and didn’t get fired but got moved to a desk job in Washington. Maybe you have been in Calf too long and have lost your ability to think analytically. If this person worked for my private company he would have been fired.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I work in local government and we have and will discipline employees over this, even playing around on facebook, etc. If you need a break, get up and take a walk. Go down the hall to the employee lounge, get a cup of coffee, read the paper, etc. As I tell every newhire – “every piece of equipment you touch right down to a paperclip has been paid for by the taxpayers. Your paycheck has been given to you by the taxpayers. Integrity in the work place is everyone’s responsibility starting with you.” We’re grown ups…it’s time to act like it.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Dear Lisa,
Please spread your work ethic to your other co-workers, we need it badly! Almost every employee that I know that has a government job admits to working much less than when they worked in the “public sector”.
Thank you for this comment, it’s great to hear!
October 27th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Dear DD:
You will find that the majority of local government employees work extremely hard (we know where are paychecks come from). The community is more involved on the local side as well which is the other accountability factor. It’s the state governments and federal that seem to go awry. Possibly because they are so big and nobody’s really watching Peter sneak funds to Paul?? Who knows….