50 fired for e-mail lapses

DETROIT (AP) - In the latest clash involving e-mail privacy, Dow Chemical Co. has fired 50 employees and disciplined 200 others after its investigation found that workers had e-mailed pornography and violent images from company computers.

"We have to protect our other employees," Eric Grates, spokesman for Dow's Michigan Operations, said last week. "This sort of activity creates a harassment environment that we can't tolerate."

Firing employees for accessing pornographic Web sites and distributing offensive e-mail messages is not confined to Dow Chemical.

The New York Times fired 22 employees in Virginia last year for allegedly passing around potentially offensive e-mails. Xerox Corp. also fired 40 workers for spending work time surfing pornographic and shopping sites on the Web.

Dow's investigation was sparked by an employee complaint in May.

The company does not monitor e-mail on a regular basis, Grates said.