TY - JOUR
T1 - Online Harassment in the Workplace
T2 - the Role of Technology in Labour Law Disputes
AU - Tenório, Nelson
AU - Bjørn, Pernille
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - In this paper, we explore the role technology plays in online workplace harassment as it emerges in the legal verdicts of labour law courts. Analysing 106 official legal verdicts on labour law violations, we demonstrate how technological traces are used as evidence for both indictment and the defence. We find that chat technologies risk providing a platform for online workplace harassment which extends beyond the boundaries of work and into private life. In contrast to online harassment on social media sites, online harassment in the workplace exists within situations of known audiences in hierarchical organisational structures. Thus, speaking up against a violator can have severe financial and social consequences for the survivor. Our data show that chat technology, by capturing and documenting abusive behaviours, makes harassment visible, allowing survivors to hold the harassers legally accountable. Furthermore, we find that online harassment, because it extends beyond the physical workplace, extends the legal and ethical responsibility of the employer. We argue that research on computer-supported co-operative work should consider how the design of co-operative technologies can help survivors speak up, as well as inhibit violators’ abusive behaviour. We also propose that design strategies must consider employers’ extended responsibility for moral and ethical conduct.
AB - In this paper, we explore the role technology plays in online workplace harassment as it emerges in the legal verdicts of labour law courts. Analysing 106 official legal verdicts on labour law violations, we demonstrate how technological traces are used as evidence for both indictment and the defence. We find that chat technologies risk providing a platform for online workplace harassment which extends beyond the boundaries of work and into private life. In contrast to online harassment on social media sites, online harassment in the workplace exists within situations of known audiences in hierarchical organisational structures. Thus, speaking up against a violator can have severe financial and social consequences for the survivor. Our data show that chat technology, by capturing and documenting abusive behaviours, makes harassment visible, allowing survivors to hold the harassers legally accountable. Furthermore, we find that online harassment, because it extends beyond the physical workplace, extends the legal and ethical responsibility of the employer. We argue that research on computer-supported co-operative work should consider how the design of co-operative technologies can help survivors speak up, as well as inhibit violators’ abusive behaviour. We also propose that design strategies must consider employers’ extended responsibility for moral and ethical conduct.
KW - Abusive behaviour
KW - Chat technology
KW - Labour laws
KW - Legal disputes
KW - Legal evidence
KW - Moral harassment
KW - Online harassment
KW - Sexual harassment
KW - Skype
KW - WhatsApp
KW - Workplace harassment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066072416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10606-019-09351-2
DO - 10.1007/s10606-019-09351-2
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85066072416
SN - 0925-9724
VL - 28
SP - 293
EP - 315
JO - Computer Supported Cooperative Work
JF - Computer Supported Cooperative Work
IS - 3-4
ER -