IT Responsibilities

[adamtheitguy]

I have a female user who has received obscene material in an email from another (male) user. She has stated that she informed the male not to transmit such material to her but he has yet to desist. She will not make a formal complaint for fear of loosing her job. I have persuaded her to at least forward any future correspondence to myself and my boss so we may take action.

Professionally, I feel compelled to deal with this matter immediately, however; there is currently no evidence, and she will not file a complaint, and finally she has asked me not to take action on this matter until the next time. Personally, I feel obliged to keep my word.

So, what is my legal responsibility as the network administrator? I wish protect the company from potential liability and protect my users from any workplace harassment - and ultimately protect my own self from any potential legal recourse.

Thank you

 

[cbg]

As an administrator/manager, since you have been notified of the situation the company is now legally and officially on notice. The company, by virtue of your being made aware of it, is now legally required to take action to determine if sexual harassment has occurred and if so, to make the offending behavior stop. Failure to do so puts the company in legal jeopardy.

The employee may not have been aware that by telling you she is compelling the company to take action, but she did.

She CANNOT legally be fired for making the complaint. She could sue the company, and she would win, if she were fired for the complaint. But by telling you, if the offending behavior does not stop NOW, she can sue and she will win.

If you and your boss have the authority to make it stop without going further, do it and do it now. Otherwise, regardless of what you promised, you will be putting the company in legal jeopardy if you do not pass the information on to HR.