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A new Pennsylvania law holds the employer responsible when an employee uses a work computer for child porn. Every employer needs to be aware of this change, because it highlights a recent trend under federal and state law of holding employers responsible for crimes of child exploitation by workers.

A Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling requires the employer to act when notified of employee use of a company computer or a company network to view child pornography — even a single image viewed one time, even if the employee claims the site was accessed accidentally.

More states are placing the burden on employers to eliminate such conduct by employees, even on company laptops that the employee takes home.

By law, IT workers in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota must report the discovery of child pornography on any work computer to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. An employer who fails to report such images is subject to fines and even jail time.

Employers should consider implementing an Internet policy that any employee who downloads or views child pornography on a work computer or network is immediately terminated.  In one recent ruling, the appeals court found that the employer has a duty to report even a single incidence (more…)