On-line Lovers

The day started out no differently than any other days for Gayle, the local HR Manager at CALLUS call centre services. However, soon things would change. CALLUS was a large Vancouver call-centre with over a thousand staff. It, like many other call centres, required employees to work under very controlled conditions. Employees were told when to start, when to take breaks, when to end work, and limits were placed on breaks even to go to the bathroom. This was an environment where there were clearly communicated rules for all behaviour. One of the rules was a formal computer use policy that outlined that employees were not to use the company computers for personal use. However, it was common practice for people to go on-line and check personal e-mail while on breaks. Partially because of the monotony of being a call-centre worker answering calls from customers all day, and partially because the typical call-centre worker was young and relatively uncommitted to their employer, employees sometimes engaged in inappropriate behaviour which needed to be addressed or even disciplined. Today was one of those days.

Gayle received the call at 10:15 in the morning. There was a significant commotion taking place involving conflict between two employees. Gayle needed to get there quickly and investigate the situation. When Gayle arrived, she first met with Dave who was the manager of the department. She could tell by the look on Dave's face that this was serious. She went into Dave's office and closed the door. "What's going on?" Gayle said. "You are not going to believe this," said Dave. "Try me," said Gayle.

Dave then proceeded to explain the situation to Gayle. He outlined that the work environment is an open cubicle environment, where workers work in relatively close proximity and can hear each other's conversation. Each employee has a computer that is connected to the internet. Barriers between workstations prevent one worker from being able to see the computer screen of another. He then outlined that the event started this morning with one employee, Christine being at her workstation and starting to cry uncontrollably. When Dave had heard this, he went to see her, and asked her to come into his office to talk about it. When he approached her workstation he could see an online chat session open, with the words "Why are you having an affair with my husband? Then, as Dave was walking with Christine to his office, he, as well as a number of other workers heard the phone ring on Steve's desk. When Steve answered the phone, a woman on the other end of the line was screaming at Steve so loud that all could hear. Steve was trying to calm the person at the other end of the line, but there was no calming them. What became apparent was that it was Steve's wife on the other end of the line and she was screaming "Why are you having an affair?"

HR Manager Gayle meets with Dave the Manager

When Dave spoke with Christine, she outlined that she was in a relationship with someone that she was chatting with on-line, and all of a sudden the on-line chat with her boyfriend shifted and she realized that her boyfriend's wife had hacked into her boyfriend's account, and was now writing horrible things to Christine. Christine didn't even know he was married. Furthermore, Christine had never even met him face to face. According to her, they would just chat on-line from time to time. To make matters worse, she now realized that her on-line boyfriend was Steve, even though she never realized that while they were chatting. Dave asked her if she was ok to go back to work or would she like the day off. She said she'd go back to work, but might leave it she felt she could not work.
Dave then called Steve into his office, getting a very similar story that Steve and Christine had been chatting on-line occasionally, and Steve's wife was now very unhappy even though Steve and Christine had never physically met romantically. However, what came out was that Dave knew Christine as one of his co-workers, but he never revealed this in his on-line contact with Christine.

Dave too stayed at work. The environment on the call-centre floor was quiet and somber.

In the time that it took for Gayle, the HR Manager, to arrive, Dave, the manager had run an internet usage report for the last three months for both Steve and Christine. The report showed that they each, on average, spent three hours a day chatting on-line. The content included extremely graphic language of a sexual nature. The communication appeared to be very consensual, with each of them expressing great affection for the other.

So Dave asked, "What do I do with this?"

Gayle was initially perplexed. She wondered if this was a sexual harassment case or whether this was an inappropriate use of company assets case. She wondered whether both parties were at fault here. The only way to assess this would be to conduct an investigation, interviewing both Christine and Steve.

HR Manager Gayle meets with Christine

By the time Gayle met with Christine, 2 hours had passed since the original incident. Christine had calmed down from the emotional outbreak she had experienced, but was now visibly fearful. Gayle's goal was to keep the discussion as calm and possible and try to understand the situation from Christine's perspective. By now it had sunk in that she had engaging in an intimate discussion with one of her co-workers without realizing it, and that he was married. So she was extremely hurt and angry, and had a difficult time restraining her emotions. She told Gayle that she had a profile on an on-line dating site, and this nice guy contacted her and they started chatting. Christine had a picture of her on-line, but "MrNiceGuy" the person she was chatting with, did not. However, soon after starting to chat, "MrNiceGuy" had sent her a picture, and she found him attractive. The picture was of someone other than Steve.

Gayle asked Christine how often she would chat on-line. She said every couple of days, but most of this was in the evening while at home. Gayle knew this was a lie as she had just seen the internet usage report that showed she was spending extensive work time engaged in on-line banter. Christine asked Gayle if she was going to be fired. Gayle let Christine know that this case was extremely serious, and they would have to fully investigate the situation to determine how it should be addressed. Christine went back to her desk and lay down her head and cried.

HR Manager Gayle meets with Steve

When Steve came into the meeting room to meet Gayle, he looked terrible. Gayle asked him to explain the situation. Steve wasted no time. He said, "Well I guess I have really screwed up this time. I have been chatting with Christine on-line and my wife just found out. Christine and I have never actually gone out on a date, but my wife does not believe me." When Gayle asked Steve how often he and Christine would chat online, he responded "Once in a while." When Gayle asked where her did this, he said he did it mostly while on breaks and on lunch, sometimes using his phone and sometimes using his computer. What Gayle really wanted to understand was how come Christine did not know it was Steve, and but yet he knew her.

Steve explained this issue of hidden identity. Steve had registered on an on-line dating site for fun. In a search, he saw Christine's picture and profile. Steve has always had a crush on Christine, but he has been too shy at work to speak to her. He thought that if Christine got to know him on-line first, once she knew that she liked him, he would reveal his true identity. He said he had also been thinking of separating from his wife, and he wanted to sort that out first. When Gayle asked Steve if he had shared pictures, he said yes, but none of his face. When Gayle probed further, he revealed that he had posted a picture of his brother's face instead of his own out of fear that his wife would search the on-line dating site.

Gayle ended the meeting outlining that this was a serious issue. He was instructed to go back to work.

Case Questions:

1. Explain why or why not this is a case of sexual harassment? If so, who is at fault and why?

2. Explain why or why not this is case of inappropriate use of company equipment? If so, is this a major or minor aspect of the case and why?

3. Please outline any other key issues to be considered in the case.

4. What should Gayle recommend in this case and why?