Summary of Issue: Internet Misuse

Decision 76206 Full Text of Decision 76206

The claimant was dismissed because he was using a company computer for improper purposes. The claimant undertook to use his employer’s computer equipment without permission and accessed, downloaded and viewed pornography and/or sexually explicit material both of which was in direct contravention of the employer’s policy and stated rules. The Board finds the claimant’s loss of employment was a direct result of his own misconduct. The appeal by the claimant is dismissed by the Umpire.

Decision 75086 Full Text of Decision 75086

The dismissal by the employer was that the claimant used the company’s computer system inappropriately and sent many emails with sexual content to other employees. He accessed a number of Internet sites with sexual and pornographic content. Such use of the computer system was against the company Code of Conduct. Disciplinary measures were imposed on some fifteen other employees for the same conduct. The claimant acknowledged that he accessed sexual sites somewhat accidentally and not seriously. He also acknowledged that in October 2008, he sent a joke e-mail of an erotic nature to his supervisor. The employer added that the claimant signed an agreement for a one-year suspension. The claimant indicated that he accepted the alleged facts and the decision for a one-year suspension because otherwise he would have been dismissed. The appeal by the Umpire.

Decision 73632 Full Text of Decision 73632

The Commission determined that the claimant had lost his employment as a result of his own misconduct. The claimant said in his claim for benefits that his employer accused him of visiting inappropriate Internet sites. The employer indicated on the ROE that the claimant had been dismissed because of serious professional misconduct. The claimant was a case worker who worked with troubled youth. An investigation of the claimant's computer revealed that the claimant spent his time on chat sites of a sexual nature involving teenagers. The times the claimant visited the sites in question corresponded to his hours of work and the claimant's Internet address appeared on all the messages in question. Given that the claimant worked with young people, his conduct was deemed unacceptable and he was dismissed. The claimant confirmed that he had done what the employer accused him of doing. He added that he believed that he was not doing anything wrong by "chatting" in this way with clients and that his employer did not tell him that this was wrong. The appeal by the claimant is dismissed.

Decision 71829 Full Text of Decision 71829

The employer's evidence was that the claimant had been dismissed for breaching its electronic communication policy by downloading thousands of inappropriate pornographic materials onto his company laptop. As a result, the company's electronic system was infected with viruses. The employer added that the claimant was aware of the company's policy and of its code of conduct that prohibited such actions. The claimant's representative stated that the claimant had never been aware of the employer's policy in regard to the use of electronic equipment for his own use during his own time. The claimant admitted to downloading pornographic material recreationally. This was done on his own time and the material was downloaded in a sectioned off part of his hard drive. The employer stated that, as a senior technical support staff, the claimant not only had to know about the electronic equipment policy, he was responsible to monitor this policy. The claimant denied this statement. The Board of Referees found it was not credible that the claimant would not have been aware of the employer's electronic equipment policy and that his actions were not in accordance with proper workplace practice. The appeal is dismissed.