Adrienne said:
Mark Barr said:
Its not my girlfriend its my boss
i have never surfed for porn at work and yet in my favorites it has
links to porn sites
need to prove its possible otherwise I will loose my job
thats why I am trying to prove it
Dunno about your country but over here that would be a prime cause to
sue your employer for wrongfull dismissal [1].
Things to consider:
Did you sign a contract that, for example, precludes you from looking
at porn sites during your lunch break?
The proof issue is the other way round. It is not for you to prove you
never went there, it is your employer who has to provide proof that you
did indeed visit those sites. The favourites list is not proof enough
IMHO because it can be written to by viruses. If security is lax it
could even be written to by somebody else on your local network, like
your boss
It's only a collection of shortcuts in a folder after
all.
Did your employer look into your cache and find cached pages from those
porn sites?
Can your employer provide logs from a proxy server that show you
accessed those URLS at specific times, and not during your lunch break?
Can your employee prove that you are the only person who is able to use
that computer? Is it password protected so, say, the cleaner cannot use
it?
[1] Successfull wrongfull dismissal cases usually end up with the
employee receiving a substantial monetory reward, usually something
like 6 to 9 months salary, depending on term of service.
Richard, hate to disagree with you, but it can be argued that the computer
belongs to the employer, not the employee,
I don't think we actually do disagree. We are just looking at different
things.
Very true. The computer "does" belong to the employer. I never had an issue
with that.
and therefore, if the employer
does not want porn, then the employer wins.
Providing the employer has stated this up front, in the employment contract.
The employer can not suddenly get cranky and retrospectively create rules.
The employer *can* create rules for the future and require that the employer
adhere to these rules, in the future, by signing a new employment contract.
If such an agreement is in place (the OP can tell us) then there may be a
case. Finding some links in a favourites folder is not strong evidence for
the case. The employer would have to prove conclusively that the employee
did in fact use the computer contrary to the employment contract.
IIRC, there is case law
regarding email belonging to an employer, not the employee, thus throwing
any issues about privacy out the window.
Yep. I don't think privacy is the issue here. It is looking at porn sites.
OTOH, it is also the employer's responsibilty to protect the system. If
the network is configured to let only administrators install programs, then
problems like this do not arise. Most network admins I know do have
systems configured that way, and only allow certain users they *know* are
*very* careful to have installation rights.
I think I alluded to this. If the security is so lax that somebody else can
insert links into the favourites file of the employee then the employer has
no case.
The case of a virus inserting links into the favourites folder is similar.
If the employee can show that the computer is capable of catching a virus
then the employer has no case. If the the employer can *prove* that the
computer is incapable of catching a virus then there may be a case.
However, once again, finding links in the favourites folder is not very good
evidence. What *might* be good evidence is finding some images of the people
depicted in those sites in a folder called "mark bars private girly album"
A further thought: I use google extensively for searching for things like
electronic components, a pretty innocuous passtime. On several occasions I
have clicked on a porn site by mistake, because it looks like something I
might be searching for. If security is lax it's quite possible for said site
to insert a favourite link.
To the OP: If I were you I would check with the local labor board to see
what rights, if any, you have in this matter.
Yep. Additionally, over here, finding some porn or some illegal emails on a
computer is still not grounds for dismissal. There is a very strict three
stage procedure defined here. First the employee must be councelled. At a
second offence the employee may be cautioned, in writing, and that caution
entered into the employees record. Only after a third breach may the
employee be dismissed, and the dismissal is not really for breaking the
rules, but doing so after a formal caution has been given. It is the breach
of that caution that is the issue.
I think we need some more information from the OP.
Cheers
Richard.