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Personal Activities on Company Time

Many companies have policies regarding the use of its computers, servers, and other technology for personal activities while on company time. Violating a company$$s policy may result in firing an employee or in legal action, so it is important for employees to know their companies$$ policies and consequences for not following them. This activity will enable you to see how a company might react when an employee violates its policy. It will also help you think about your own technology use and how it might impact your reputation at work.

In this case, Midwest Chemicals has fired Adam Stangle for using social networking for personal use during work hours. Adam contends he was unfairly fired and plans to sue Midwest Chemicals for wrongful termination. Adam and his lawyer Melissa Lehman and Midwest Chemicals CEO Roberta Payne and company attorney Mitch Reyes are meeting with arbitrator Richard Levy to settle the dispute and avoid litigation. You will assume the role of Richard Levy, weigh each party's argument, and decide whether Adam's termination stands. Read the case below and answer the questions that follow.

Midwest Chemicals has a simple but strict computer use policy for all employees: Employees may use their work$-$issued computers for Midwest Chemicals business only; personal use of company computers is not allowed. If employees need computers for their personal use, they may use their own laptops, iPads, smart phones, or other devices on breaks but not during work time.

Like all other employees, Adam signed a statement saying that he understood the policy, agreed to comply, and knew the consequences of violating the policy.

Last week the company$$s computer monitoring system discovered that Adam was regularly viewing a Facebook page that contained pictures of intoxicated people $($including Adam$)$ engaging in sexually explicit activity. The language on the site contained profanity, including some terms that could be considered racist and homophobic, although Adam didn$$t use the terms himself or even post any comments to the page. While Adam is one of Midwest Chemicals top employees, his behavior may put the company at risk for legal action if other employees see the material and are offended. Furthermore, he is wasting his time at work. The company expects professional behavior from its employees at all times during the workday. Interestingly, Adam was warned last year about his use of company computers for personal activities. His manager at the time chose to warn him rather than fire him. Because he has already been warned once, CEO Roberta Payne feels the termination is justified.

Adam, however, has a different view of the situation. He acknowledges that he was viewing a Facebook page on a company computer during work hours. Yes, the images and content were inappropriate, but they were not ones that he shared on his Facebook page; he was tagged in photos of his nephew$$s bachelor party in Las Vegas that are housed on his nephew$$s page. He can$$t help that his nephew$$s page is open to everyone. Sure, Adam could have set his Facebook privacy controls to prevent people from seeing him in tagged photos, but he forgot to do that.

His primary argument is that the computer use policy is unreasonable. The company does not check all employees$$ use all the time. The company randomly selects employees$$ computers for review and does so only a few times a year. He says many other employees use their computers for personal use; they just haven$$t been caught. The fact that he happened to be caught twice and is going to be fired is unfair. In addition, he argues that many employees also waste company time by talking to one another about personal issues. How is using the computer for personal issues any different?

Additionally, Adam was in a devastating automobile accident five years ago in which his passenger was killed. The accident was not Adam$$s fault, but he suffers from post$-$traumatic stress that leads to anxiety attacks when Adam is in a stressful situation. Though he has never mentioned the post$-$traumatic stress to anyone at Midwest Chemicals, he says his doctor suggests that to avoid these attacks, Adam take frequent short breaks; checking Facebook or his personal email provides the short break that alleviates this stress. He does not have a smart phone or a personal computer, so what else is he supposed to do$?$ He is one of Midwest Chemicals best employees, so obviously his personal use of the computer is not hindering his work.

Lastly, Adam contends that as a $55-$year$-$old employee who is one of the top salary earners, he is being terminated as a money$-$saving measure and because he is an older worker. If anything, he thinks Midwest Chemicals is guilty of age discrimination and violation of the Americans