Workplace Cyberharassment: Employer And Website Operator Liability For Online Misconduct

Abstract

While workplace harassment has been a serious issue for many years, the rise of workplace harassment in cyberspace demonstrates the increasing complexity of this phenomenon. Workplace harassment law has not kept up with the evolution of online digital media. The current law treats only workplace harassment that occurs in traditionally protected settings such as the physical workplace or school environment and assumes that the act and harm of workplace harassment both occur in the same physical setting. As a result, the current law is unable to address harassment that occurs outside of the traditionally protected settings.

Since cyber harassment creates harm that is equal to or even more severe than real-life harassment, a clear legal remedy for cyber harassment is greatly needed. The legal system is beginning to realize that workplaces and schools are not just physical locations but sets of social relations that may or may not have a distinct geographical nexus. Updating current workplace harassment law to include the multiple-setting approach would allow the victims of cyber harassment to seek proper redress for any harm they may have suffered.

Keywords: Cyber Harassment, Workplace Harassment Law, Digital Media Harassment