ZDNet Has An Article by Declan McCullagh, who says 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.
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.
“Just as an employer has a duty to protect from patrons and other people–like the (delivery) guy who fondles a secretary–there’s a good theory saying a company has a duty to filter (offensive e-mail) even if the employees are being harassed entirely from far outside the company walls,” Volokh said. “If the employer is reasonably capable of filtering the material, and if it doesn’t do that, it would be held liable.”
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