Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog
Gauthier v. Keurig Green Mountain, an appeal from the Supreme Court of Vermont, involved a claimant who began working for defendant in May 2007. He was working full time as a maintenance technician, and his employment was considered to be at will.
Claimant’s job at the factory was to maintain production equipment and machinery and repair any broken machinery when needed. For some reason, claimant’s supervisor became concerned claimant or his coworkers were using the Internet excessively while they were supposed to be working. The company provides Internet access for its maintenance technicians but expects it to be used for work-related needs. The supervisor asked human resources (HR) to perform what the company calls a “Websence” report of claimant’s login account and the accounts of his ten coworkers. With respect to claimant, the report showed he had nearly 42,000 hits in the month of July alone, which the company considers more than two times the acceptable level of Internet use by an employee. Continue reading