"It's not only a message to people in our company but even people at other companies: Companies are looking at this very seriously," said Blue Cross spokesperson Helen Stojic. "We acted immediately. We take these things very seriously ...We take any violation of our policies very seriously."

The seven employees from the company's Southfield and Detroit offices were fired on grounds they misused the company's e-mail system and violated another policy forbidding dissemination of sexually explicit materials.

An employee who did not want to be identified said the e-mail contained sexual jokes and attachments of pornographic photos. Stojic refused to describe the lascivious missives but noted: "This wasn't playing card games or sharing grandma's biscuit recipes on the Internet."

Managers fired the seven workers after other employees saw the sexually explicit material on their computer screens. Saying they were offended, they reported the incidents to their managers.

It is unclear whether the fired employees were sending material to others within their offices or whether they were sending it outside the company. All the terminated employees actively sent e-mail, and none was fired for simply receiving naughty notes. Stojic said she did not know the gender of any of the employees involved.

The terminations are believed to be the first involving lewd e-mail at Blue Cross, but firing employees for sending pornographic computer messages is not new.   In August, First Union Corp. fired seven employees for sending pornographic and other inappropriate e-mail. Employees at the nation's sixth-largest bank, based in Charlotte, N.C., apparently circulated e-mail that included videos of people having sex and other material of a sexual nature. Managers identified the e-mail when the volume of messages became so heavy it slowed the company's Internet server.  

Companies throughout the United States have been struggling to police e-mail and forbid the electronic spread of obscenities as Internet access becomes a mainstay of the workplace. According to a July survey by the Pew Research Center, 49 percent of Americans go on-line to the Internet or send e-mail.

In addition to the growing number of employees with e-mail access, corporations are becoming increasingly intolerant of what could be considered sexually harassing or explicit. Juries have found that entire companies -- not just individual perpetrators of sexual harassment -- are responsible for creating a hostile work environment.

But the mere dissemination of child pornography or obscene material -- via any medium -- is criminal, according to the Communications Decency Act of 1996. 

For more information on the MIMEsweeper product, contact:

Jim Shaeffer

James C. Shaeffer & Associates, Inc.

655 Fairfield Court

Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Phone: 800-298-9987 or 734-741-9527

Fax: 734-741-9528

BBS: 734-741-9529

E-Mail: jcs@jcsinc.com