“Two Microsoft employees who had to watch ‘horrific images’ of murder, child pornography and bestiality as part of their ‘online safety’ job have sued the company after developing post-traumatic stress disorder,” June Williams reports for Courthouse News.
“Henry Soto and Greg Blauert say Microsoft failed to warn them about the dangers of the job and failed to provide psychological support. They sued the company in King County Court on Dec. 30, alleging negligence, disability discrimination and violations of the Consumer Protection Act,” Williams reports. “The men were customer service workers assigned to Microsoft’s online safety program, responsible for deciding whether content should be removed or reported to law enforcement.”
“They say they never were told about dangerous psychological impacts of the job, which included viewing child pornography, and were not allowed to turn down the assignment,” Williams reports. “Instead of providing trained therapists for the safety team, Microsoft developed a ‘Wellness Program’ that advised employees who were disturbed by images to take ‘walks and smoking breaks’ and redirect thoughts by playing video games, the men say.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: That a Microsoft “Wellness Program” would include “smoking breaks” makes perfect sense.