Employees are bound to use their work computers for personal reasons. But is the company liable when that personal use involves illegal activities?

Read the facts of this real-life case and decide: Who won?

The facts:

An employee got in a dispute with his neighbors after their son allegedly urinated in the employee’s yard. In retaliation, the employee began a series of attacks on the neighbors. Among other things, he ordered magazine subscriptions to be sent to their house, made harassing phone calls and used the Internet to dig up disparaging information about them.

Police traced the activity to the employee’s work computer and company-owned cell phone. Since the conduct occurred at work, the neighbors sued the company for negligence.

The employer said:

The company said it had a policy against personal use of its computer, and if a manager knew what had happened, the man would’ve been fired. But since no one was aware of what was going on, the company couldn’t be held liable.

Who won the case?

Answer: The employer.

Why: The court agreed that just because the company provided the employee with a computer and a cell phone didn’t mean it could have expected any harassment of this type to occur.

To be sued for negligence, the company would need to have a reasonable expectation that something unlawful was going to happen. The case was thrown out.

Cite: Sigler v. Kobinsky

Tags: company phone, harassment, negligence, work computer