Employee Personal Life

HCCADC

I work for a Human Service Agency/Daycare. We have an employee that has a website where she sells adult videos & sex toys. In our Personnel Policy Manual we do have a statement that goes along the lines of "No employee shall do anything to embarrass or harm the corp in anyway". It is under our ethical & professional standards. Should I discuss this with the employee or legally, since it is on personal time,is there anything I can do?

Margaret Morford

You definitely need some legal advice. When you begin to address people's websites, you are running into First Admendment issues (Freedom of Speech). There's a very famous case out of Arizona where a nurse ran a porno site (For a fee, you got to see her have sex with her husband!) and was fired by the hospital for which she worked. Your policy may permit you to terminate her, but you should get expert advice first. Will you let us know what your lawyer says?

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

awilliams

I agree with Margaret that you should seek out legal advice. The First Amendment issue only comes into play if you are a public employer - because any action you take will be action of the government. If you are a private employer - you have much more leeway.

Many states have laws that govern "off-the-clock" behaviors. I would check there first.


Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC

HCCADC

Thank you. I didn't know if anyone else had this situation ever occur. I will call our lawyer and let you know what he suggests.