Yet another story about government employees viewing and distributing pornography at work has come in above the fold. Last week we heard about the SEC employees who were surfing porn sites while Wall Street was burning. This week it’s in my former city of San Francisco where several administrators in the Planning Commission are on the verge of being fired for the very same thing. This also includes a manager who knew or should have known about inappropriate workplace conduct..
According to City Hall sources, Planning Director John Rahaim has recommended the firing of four high-ups – including veteran Zoning Administrator Larry Badiner – for allegedly receiving and in some cases circulating X-rated photos and videos for years.
The material wasn’t criminal – we’re talking “Debbie Does Dallas” stuff, not child porn – but it was “incredibly inappropriate for the workplace,” said one source, who would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the personnel case… Badiner, who just last week was serving as the department’s acting boss while Rahaim was on bereavement leave following the sudden death of his partner, is not believed to have sent any of the e-mails. However, he was receiving them and did nothing to stop their circulation, city officials believe, and stands to lose his $154,000-a-year job. City higher-ups got wind of the office raunchiness in December when a female employee filed a whistle-blower complaint, saying she had received numerous offensive e-mails.
I realize this question may sound inane, but what the HELL were these guys thinking? It should be obvious by now that porn and the workplace don’t mix, particularly in government.
Well, obvious or not, several of the accused in the SEC case claimed that they didn’t know it was wrong.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission workers who made a habit of looking at pornography on their government computers, even as the economy was tanking, offered varying explanations when caught. “I think it was just arrogance and ignorance on my part,” one worker said. “You know, I mean … I didn’t intend to hurt anybody. I didn’t intend to hurt the SEC’s image or anything like that.”
This may sound cold, but I don’t buy it. From what I know of government agencies, there is no way that these employees weren’t aware of policies regarding harassment in the workplace, a fact the Micki Callahan, the HR Director for the San Francisco Planning Commission confirms:
[Micki] Callahan declined to discuss any details of the investigation, which is still active and could lead to further dismissals. But she said: “We have very clear, explicit policies as to the appropriate use of city resources and as to what kind of material is appropriate in the workplace.”
Then there are those who knew it was wrong, but couldn’t help themselves:
One worker acknowledged that he didn’t have the self-control to stop viewing the pornography, even though he knew he was breaking SEC rules. “It’s something I guess when I felt the need to do it, you know, it wasn’t like I intentionally wanted to go out and violate the rule per se,” he said. “So it’s kind of like, did I know? Yes. Was … I thinking about it when I was doing it? The is answer is no, you know. It was something, you know, at some point, I … just kind of did naturally to that extent.”
And there was the employee who knew it was wrong, but didn’t see how it affected his work performance.
Yet another SEC employee, who admitted looking at porn twice a week “for a year or two,” said he knew he wasn’t allowed to do so but that he always worked extra hours to make sure his work was finished.
And then of course, there’s the smartass:
The employee, who was caught with more than 2,500 pornographic images on his computer, eventually told investigators that “if the images are there and the forensics support that, then they must be there.”
No matter what the reason (nee excuse), porn and work don’t mix. Employers need to make this clear from day one, if not only to ensure that none of these actions and excuses invade their workplace.
By the way, I find it very interesting that the Planning Commission has gotten itself involved with this considering that they played such a big role in the Kink.com Armory determination.
UPDATE: Oh, how could I forget about the Florida Senator who was viewing questionable images during a session of the Senate? The Senator has stated (via Senate spokesperson Jaryn Emhof ) that “He thought it was an email about an item being debated on the Senate floor. As soon as he realized it wasn’t he closed the page.”
I’ll leave it to you to decide.