Pornography allegation

A member has been accused of having pornographic images on his laptop computer, to which other people have access. The police were called in to investigate, and concluded that no pornographic sites were visited. But he is still on suspension and his manager is saying that she will not have him back at work. What is his position?

Even if your employers have a policy allowing them to discipline or dismiss someone for accessing pornography, they will still need to carry out a reasonable investigation in order to form a genuine belief that the member is guilty of the misconduct. The standard of proof for disciplinary action, including dismissal, is much lower than for a police investigation.

However, if the police have concluded that he did not access any pornographic sites, your employers will have difficulty showing that they had reasonable grounds to believe that he did.

If his manager has already made up her mind that he is guilty before the investigation has been concluded, this is strong evidence that the result of the investigation has been pre-determined - and could make disciplinary action unfair.