Man who lost job after watching porn at work wins compensation because he was on his lunch break

Many employers have specific guidelines about how to use the work laptop.

After all, the last thing an employer wants is to walk in on a member of staff watching inappropriate content on their computer.

An insurance manager in Sydney was sacked in January after he was found to have used his work-issued laptop to watch ‘hardcore’ pornography as well as store a personal sex tape.

Rather than leave with his tail between his legs, however, the manager successfully sued Port Macquarie's Smarter Insurance Brokers and won $10,000 (£7,800).

Surely his actions warranted the dismissal?

The man did not deny that he downloaded pornography on his work laptop, but claimed that he had done so while on his lunch break, and since there was no specific policy which stated he could not do that, he was not breaching work rules.

The Commissioner Ian Cambridge, in a hearing at the Fair Work Commission agreed with him:

In the particular circumstances of this case, the subsequently discovered misconduct involving the accessing, downloading and storage of pornographic material could not be properly held to represent valid reason for the dismissal of the applicant.

Well then.

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