Nurse uses company e-mail to pander ‘delicates’
January 15, 2009 by Shane BorerPosted in: "Seemed like a good idea at the time", "Would you want this person in Finance?", In this week's e-newsletter, Latest news & views, Tech failure
Using a company e-mail address to sell items on eBay is bad enough. It’s even worse when an employee’s auctioning off racy goods.
When an automatic e-mail alert system at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, England, red-flagged a message, tech workers were surprised to read the subject line: “Naughty Knicks.”
Nurse Sheena McMillan had been running a side business selling her “knicks” — short for knickers, the British term for panties — to fetishists. According to McMillan’s eBay profile, customers could purchase clean underwear for $32, or a worn pair for $37.
A hospital spokesperson said the messages were clearly inappropriate because eBay bidders would know the underwear was for sale by a registered nurse.
McMillan admits she shouldn’t have linked her company e-mail account to the eBay page, but argues that her actions have nothing to do with her ability to perform nurse’s duties.
What do you think? Should McMillan be terminated, or are her eBay habits unrelated to her job?
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Tags: Company e-mail, eBay, Termination
January 17th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
She should be terminated. This goes way beyond ‘surfing.’ Obviously, the employees need to know there is teeth in the ‘no personal use of the internet’ rule. The only way to get the teeth in there, is to fire an offender.
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Listen before you fire anyone, the employer better make sure that no one in that company used the computer for personal use. That I am afraid will be the problem. Second it was not porn just bad taste…