Suzy,Originally Posted by Suzy Harrison
Cookies, Temporary files, Password autofill, etc will all leave traces of sites you have visited. If you want to make sure the company does not know, you have to clear all of these off of your laptop. Even then there are sophisticated programs that can retrieve deleted files. The only way to be sure is to not use your work computer.
If they don't want workers using their computers to access content such as Adult material or Crossdressing that they shouldn't view then they should have put a block on those particular sites in the first place.
If you fight this though then they could use the fact that you viewed Crossdressing support websites against you and it will make you look bad.
But at least you admitted you were in the wrong.
Do it on your own computer by all means but don't do it again in a work place because if fellow workmates saw you looking at those sites and discovered you're a crossdresser then you could leave yourself open to bullying and you don't want that do you?
Some will understand and some won't.
If you do find employment again try and find somewhere where they have equal opportunities policies because i work for a supermarket in the UK called Tesco and most of them know about my crossdressing and they are accepting of it as long as it doesn't affect the job i do.
I applaud you for taking responsibility for what happened. I can't believe some people bringing up the lawyer thing. In my opinion the is the biggest problem in the world today, sue someone or say everyone else does it. The bottom line is you should not have done it and knew that. Quit acting like children, be honest, be responsible for you. If you had won an online lottery for a million dollars would you say everyone else is on the Internet, I should share the money with all of them? I think not, and anyone who says different should think about their honesty.
sorry to hear it happened, now pull up your big girl panties and get on with life.
bobbi
It all depends. If other employees where she works surf the Internet and don't get fired, then she might have a case to keep her job. I'm not suggesting that she should sue anyone, just think that she should fight to stay employed if she has been singled out for firing simply because someone didn't like the sites she visited. She is protected against anti-TG discrimination here by several laws, so if this is a case of someone not liking her being a crossdresser and firing her solely for that, then her employer has broken laws at the city, county and state level.
If others have been fired for surfing, then she probably has no leg to stand on.
I too think that firing her for the first offense is very harsh, which makes me suspect that there may be some anti-TG bias involved too.
Carol
I just had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't 1968. That company seems a bit backwards to me. As my grandmother always said as one door closes another opens. Good Luck
Last edited by trisha59; 11-15-2008 at 02:44 PM.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC][SIZE="3"]Wild Women Never Get The Blues[/SIZE]
I'm so sorry. I've been unemployed for a while too. At least try to make sure you can get unemployment! Maybe contact the local LGBT office and speak to one of their attorneys. If you weren't looking at porn, and others surf non-work sites, you may have a case.
Unless you want to be outed at work, don't use company computers to visit crossdressing sites. Either at work or at home. Browsers can be reconfigured to do absolutely anything. Don't assume, because you think you're doing X, that X is really what's happening. (Deleting all your cookies, for example.) Do a google search on "Spyware" to see what companies can do, and do do, to watch what their employees are doing on line. There are tools out there that will mail the contents of your cache to your boss every time you try to clear it. You can assume that your boss is looking at a snapshot of your screen all the time! Just because your access to a questionable site isn't blocked doesn't mean that your boss didn't receive an E-Mail notice the instant that you went there.
Computers are cheap. Buy an old one at the Goodwill computer store, if you have to. Internet access is cheap too. Sign up for Roadrunner or DSL and keep your private life private.
Lotsa Hugs,
--Pam
Hello!!!!!!
Work is for workWhy in the world would you be crusing any sites non work related???? Seriously why do you have to go to CD sites at work????
This baffels the crap out of me.
I would fire the whole lot of you for wasting my company time crusing the internet unless it is work related or on you own time.
I'm sitting here with my mouth open just shaking my headthat so many of you are crying fowl. Don't any of you do an honest days work???
Kitty
One question comes to mind.
Was this the first time you were approached?
If you were given warnings about doing it before & kept doing it, well duh, you should have stopped.
But if this was a "we have be monitoring you for some time" & here are your walking papers, well then go after them.
I would say at best, visiting unwelcome websites, & general misuse of computer/computer time is a slap on the wrist for the first time, not being outright fired.
You really have to read over their policies to see if a break of any of the rules is reason to terminate on the first occurance.
Warning: This post may contain up to 63% post consumer recycled Sarcasm ... or Peanuts."
"Sammy, really next time do try to make your point without being quite so abrasive." -RD
I stand by my comments. I defy you to show me anybody from the CEO on down who spends every second of the work day doing "Company Business" Letting the mind wonder doing harmless activities actually improves creative thought and problem solving. For a company to fire someone who was doing their job, because they logged onto sites like this one is in my opinion is a backwards thinking company.Hello!!!!!!
Work is for work
This baffels the crap out of me.
I would fire the whole lot of you for wasting my company time crusing the internet unless it is work related or on you own time.
I'm sitting here with my mouth open just shaking my head
Kitty
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC][SIZE="3"]Wild Women Never Get The Blues[/SIZE]
Not sure advocating a level playing field equals the promoting of the action... I didn't mean to give that impression. Certainly never doing anything against policy would be the best...
It sucks to lose your job for any reason.
Where I work there are the " Haves " and the " Have Nots " when it comes to geting by with things at work. I am a " Have Not " but my job does not require Internet use. They did tell us in a meeting there is a No Tolerance Policy on personal internet use but a number of people came to my mind who would get a pass.
Life at work is not fair but the health insurance is good.
Ok I disagree that it is a harmless activity. I have lots of co-workers and one in particular comes to mind. He was constantly on sports web sites and the rest of us did his damn job. He kind of got forced out and the internet was banned at his new place of employment because of him. He only got to keep that job because there is a shortage of people in our field.
If you are on non-work related sites you are NOT doing your job and if you are NOT doing your job then someone else IS!!! It is a selfish activity in my opinion.
Lets talk about why you would need to talk about make-up and panties on work time???? I think that says you are obsessed and maybe can't have healthy relationships either. At the very least you might be sort of self absorbed. That is my take on it because I have expirenced it and took up the slack for the selfish internet crusers and a selfish crossdress whose only thought was to get his own needs met. The worst of both worlds in my opinion.
I still think that the original poster has grown and learned a lesson. He has taken responsibility for his actions and earned my respect.
I hope another good job comes along soon.
Kitty
DEFINITELY consult an attorney. If there is some form of legal aid where you live, check into that. The first thing you need to find out is if anyone has been terminated within the past year or so, the reasons given, and their status & circumstances. There is little chance the company will divulge this info, so you need to ask anyone at work you've been friendly with. Gather as much information as you can before seeing the attorney. It's obvious age & gender discrimination could be an issue here, so look for a nail to hang this on. I suspect there is more going on here than just internet use policy.
Best of luck,
Donna
ALWAYS plan for the worst, then you can be pleasantly surprised if something else happens!
"The important thing about the bear is not how well she dances, but that she dances at all." - Old Russian Proverb (with a gender change)
I'm sorry for you hun.
Portable firefox and a web-based proxy have saved me from stuff like that before even on DOD computers....
But I have been reading your posts for a long time and I know what you have been through and what a sensible, good-hearted person you are.Exactly, don't you go to work to work??? Why do you need crossdressing support when you should be working?
I'll bet your wife is upset. I would be. It just shows that you have lost perspective, If you have to access a crossdressers support site at work then you may be too wrapped up in and out of balance. You got a reality check.
Move on and move toward gaining perspective and balance with this part of your life.
Kitty
And you have made me reflect on this issue with your posts. I have a little business, for example. You made me ask myself how I would feel if my employees were not doing their job but instead of working, they are surfing. I would not like it.
The original poster may not have been abusing her time at work and may have been getting all his work done, but the company does not necessarily know this, nor can it make this evaluation about this on everyone. Also just because we know this site to be clean, it could be seen as a perversion by someone outside our circle.
I still think she had a bad break and the company was harsh to her, but it was obviously within its prerogative.
Thanks for setting us straight, Kitty. I have learned from this thread. Personally I am fed up with my job and how much the company takes advantage of me, but getting fired for something like this would not do me or my family any good, even if I have a business to fall back on.
It is not easy for many of us to find that balance you are talking about. Many times I either totally neglect my crossdressing which only ends up making it come back with a vengeance, or I over do it. I have to remind myself that "it is all fluff out there" and that my family is the only thing that matter and they must come first.
Thank goodness there are people like you to remind us how important it is to "keep it in perspective".
Love,
Michelia
"Genius is the recovery of childhood at will." Rimbaud
Yes I do an honest days work. My day starts very early so I can communicate with co-workers in Europe, continues with co-workers across the US and ends late with co-workers in Asia. Since I work with people in all time zones, my day is very long. Sometimes I work over a 12-14 hour stretch. If a take some time off during the day to do some browsing, it should not be a big deal. But that is my opinion.
I'm sitting here with my mouth open just shaking my head
Kitty
The key here is "take time off during work". I could give a rip what people do on their own time. The fact that you actually "take time off" to do your browsing says that you do have your head on straight. To me that says your priority is work, browsing is on your own time. I don't think that this would get you fired nor make your co-workers mad.
Kitty
I agree, sometimes I forget that my situation is a little different. If you are an hourly wage employee and are on the time clock. You need to put in your 8 hours. Since I am salaried, I have to do what it takes to get the job done. If that means working extra hours then I do. I also am a teleworker which means I work from home. I get up in the morning make coffee and start working. If I need to have a meeting at night, I just go to my office and have the online meeting. The only issue with being a teleworker is sometime I have a problem separating work and home.The key here is "take time off during work". I could give a rip what people do on their own time. The fact that you actually "take time off" to do your browsing says that you do have your head on straight. To me that says your priority is work, browsing is on your own time. I don't think that this would get you fired nor make your co-workers mad.
Kitty
I know... seriously.. anyone would think people went to work to get paid for surfing the internet... who woulda thought you could get sacked for it... jeez... You go to work to work, not get paid for surfing websites, so if you got the sack for it, you only have yourself to blame. That would be like me going to do someones nails, taking my laptop with me and said to my client 'hold up a sec, I just want to waste your time, use your internet for free and do some online shopping'... get real... you are being paid to work, it doesn't matter what year it is, I'd sack you as well... *shakes head*Hello!!!!!!
Work is for work
This baffels the crap out of me.
Administrator
Missing my Libra babe Sherlyn, I hope she's rocking up there with the angels
Missing our Rianna, doesn't seem right, gone to early, hope she's partying with Sherlyn
I am truely sorry you got terminated at work. Thats painful and I think I read somewhere that emotionally getting fired ranks up there with some very bad things that can happen in life.
I personally at my office only surf the news usually buisness stuff! Lets say a customer has bad news like shutting down plants or big layoffs. Will call my boss and say hey look at so and so on the net.
I also have a laptop which is a huge temptation on the road. Would be fun as heck to surf CD stuff and all that while boring stuck in a hotel room at night. But I never do that anymore. Some IT people I know warned me a while back.
But I confess!!! My very first company laptop like 10 years ago. I got on racey sites and all that stuff! After figuring out IT would be looking over my computer when I turned it in for a new one...I managed to have someone that worked in IT to totally clean my hard-drive. I was still nervous when I turned it in and learned my lesson.
So as I understand it if you work at a company or hey even the goverment if you are on the network you will get spotted! Then even if on a laptop you have to watch out for when you turn in the computer or lord say it has problems. The IT people are devishly clever on spotting what you have looked at! So avoid any surfing or personal use...esp sites that your org thinks are off limits
By the way at my own work several times after someone left the company the rumor mill with in days was humming about what kinky stuff they had looked at!!!
I'd like to add something that a few have missed.
Delete cookies / history etc as much as you like. It doesn't matter. If your company has more than a few employees, they will almost certainly access the internet via a gateway on a server. It is easy to set up a log (my company does) which records each and every address visited by each and every PC on your network. If you have your own PC on your desk, its pretty easy to trace useage back to you.
Every place I've worked has operated a similar policy on personal internet useage. It seems they turn a blind eye to surfing at lunchtimes etc, but would be less than happy to see you using it all day and / or visiting sites regarded as 'specialised' shall I say. This site, rightly or wrongly, could count as such a site.
Also, it is impossible to 'clean' a drive beyond recovery. I know someone who works in computer forensics, and he tells me the only safe way to make sure data can never be accessed is to physically destroy the disk. ie, a big hammer!
Last edited by Vicki65; 11-16-2008 at 01:28 PM.
I fully agree that her employer was very harsh for a first occurrence, but I'm not sure that they handled the situation properly and may have violated laws.
I think several people are missing a point here: if she was the only employee fired on the first offense for surfing during work, and others were known to be surfing but at non-T sites and weren't fired, then she should fight to keep her job because, as I mentioned, the city of Chicago has a law prohibiting discrimination based on real or perceived gender identity, as does Cook County and also the state of Illinois, so if she was fired only because of the nature of the sites she visited, then that's discrimination, and she should fight it, as her employer violated laws at 3 levels.
She was definitely wrong for surfing on her employer's time, and surfing T-related sites isn't a good idea at work if you want to remain stealthy, but you need to look at the whole situation.
Carol
Oh dear Linda,
I am so sorry to hear that news. Its funny isn't it, what we feel is perfectly normal the rest of society are still struggling with and think of us as some kind of perverts.
I know of another person who got caught out in a similar situation. He was a teacher and he lost his job. Although I am not in the slightest bit ashamed of my partner I do worry that if he were to be found out whether or not my job would be safe because I work within the Childcare Sector. I hadn't realized just how many dinosaurs there are out there who genuinly believe that all CDs are sexually premiscuous perverts and a real threat to society.
Take care and hope you do soon find another job
Bev
I, too would like to say I.m sorry that you lost your job, right now is not a good time to be unemployed. However,
When ever you use a company owned computer, your online activity/usage is or can be monitored. If you are accessing websites that your company or I.T. department considers offensive, you as a user of the company owned computer can be diciplined or fired for that activity. If you want to surf the internet go home and surf there.
Last edited by Tamara Croft; 11-16-2008 at 05:49 PM. Reason: Do you really need to quote the 1st post?
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