Twenty Brevard Community College workers, including eight supervisors, were disciplined for viewing computer porn on campus last month, prompting college officials to crack down a little stronger on enforcing computer-use policies.
The case apparently began when a co-worker complained about finding a sexually explicit picture on a computer set up to log work hours and orders and checking college email, according to a published report.
The computer’s monitor had idled and the co-worker moved the mouse to activate it, showing the image in question. “He was shocked to see that come up on the screen,” BCC associate vice president for human resources Joni Oglesby told reporters.
BCC’s official computer-use policies already included a ban on “illegal, immoral, or unethical uses of email or the Internet,” including use of “obscene material and profanity,” and the foregoing incident is believed the first ever reported at the college.
But in its wake, BCC is said to have made several changes to its computer policy, including new workers shown how to look up the computer usage policy as well as being told where to find it, signing forms saying they read and understand the policy after a six-month probationary period, and workshops on ethical computer use on the job.
Most of the disciplined workers were in the college maintenance department. The image that launched the probe was said to be one of more than 500 saved to the campus computer account of a worker forced to resign in March over the complaint.
Eleven workers including the eight supervisors at four campuses were suspended without pay, for periods ranging from two weeks to one week to two days. Thirteen workers were placed on formal probation, and all were issued formal warnings, college officials told reporters.
All but two of the workers in question worked in maintenance, with the other two working in security. They were said to have served their suspensions during spring break to lower the impact on a college whose maintenance staff is short-staffed by seven, Oglesby said.
