posted on Friday, December 15, 2006 4:16 PM
by
Rod Satterwhite
Laptops with Legs
The latest intersection of workplace technology and employment law has resulted in the termination of an employee whose laptop was stolen when he left it unattended. The rub, of course, was that the laptop contained the names, Social Security numbers, home addresses, phone numbers and birth dates, and (for some) salary information of 382,000 other employees. The theft, according to the company, was attributed to a petty theft and not an intentional effort at identity theft.
Nevertheless, the theft warranted the termination of the employee who left the laptop unattended. In fact, the Chairman and CEO of the company was quoted in an internal memo yesterday as saying "Cutting corners is never acceptable -- especially when the trust of the whole team is at stake."
While I’m certainly one to espouse the importance of corporate data security, this termination exposes a risk for employers involved in high-profile matters: a lack of consistency in enforcing corporate policies. Like any other company in a similar situation, the Company here was undoubtedly under a great deal of pressure to take steps to address this data loss. However, a brief walk down the halls in many corporate offices still reveals that laptops, desktops, PDA’s and even visible passwords on sticky notes are left unattended day in and day out. A high-profile public termination like the one here can set precedents within a company, such that others who commit similar (but less public) violations will need to be disciplined in a consistent manner.
Treating the same rule violation differently depending on how much publicity it receives is a recipe for disparate treatment claims, and employers must be vigilant about imposing consistent penalties for similar violations. I’m not suggesting that the Company here was too harsh in terminating this employee. I am, however, suggesting that when implementing rules like “don’t leave computers unattended” or “never use your email for non-business purposes,” employers should think long and hard about the impact on their business if they enforce that rule strictly and consistently across the board.
Edited 12/29/06