In a case with potential national implications, a New Jersey court recently held in a case of first impression that employers have a legal obligation to investigate an employee’s activities when they know or have reason to know that the employee is using a workplace computer to access child pornography. Doe v. XYC Corporation, 382 N.J. Super. 122 (App. Div. 2005). The court also held that an employer is required to report the employee’s activities to the proper authorities and to take “effective internal action” to stop the employee’s activities. Based on the facts of the case, the court also ruled that “no privacy interest of the employee stands in the way of this duty on the part of the employer.”[fn1]
