Appeals court says security firm not negligent in Internet porn case

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A state appeals court said a judge in Hudson was wrong to award $1.4 million to 10 female workers who had their security badge pictures placed on Internet porno sites.

The Third District Appeals Court in Wausau said Wednesday that a security firm was not negligent when an employee copied pictures of 30 women, defiled them at his home in New Richmond, and put them on adult Web sites including some he created.

It happened in 2005, and 10 of the women filed suit.

They worked at Polaris Industries in Osceola, where the firm of Securitas provided security.

The women’s photos were on badges made by Securitas, and its head of security, Troy Schmidt, was fired after the porno sites were discovered.

Circuit Judge Eric Lundell said Schmidt was liable for defamation and invasion of privacy and the company was liable for negligent training and supervision.

But Wednesday, the appeals court said the firm was not negligent and Securitas did nothing wrong in not monitoring Schmidt’s access to the company photos. Judge Michael Hoover said employers have quote, “no duty to supervise employees’ private conduct, or to persistently scan the World Wide Web to ferret out potential employee misconduct.”

Had the damage awards been upheld, Hoover said the expansion of corporate liability would have been limitless. The women were upset at the ruling and plan to appeal.

The company said the ruling was correct, saying it should not responsible for what employees do in their own homes.

Schmidt was never charged criminally. The district attorney reviewed the case, but said there was no prosecutable crime.

Tags: security badges, porn sites, wisconsin, courts, internet, polaris