General Motors of Brazil dismissed 33 employees for inappropriate internet and email use to access and distribute pornographic material. While GM would not comment on the decision, a union representative said the dismissal was justified as the employees did not need to access those sites for work. Brazilian law does not have specific internet use policies for employees, but misusing company assets can justify termination, and more companies are monitoring email and internet usage.

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September 202002 - Brazil
! General Motors take: actio~ against e~ployee web misuse
I
General Motors of Brazil has dismissed 33 employees for inappropriate use of the Internet and email
to access and distribute pornographic material. Despite this extreme action, the company agreed
with the trade union to make the dismissals without just cause, which gives more rights to employees
than if they were dismissed with just cause.
Although General Motors would not comment on their decision, the general secretary of Metallurgic
Labour Association said that the dismissal was in fact "just" because "the employees had no need to
access such sites to perform their work."
In Brazil there are no specific laws governing internet access byemployees. However, in general,
the misuse of a company's assets may justify dismissal. Similarly, while there is no legislation on the
monitoring of employee emails and internet use, recent statistics indicate that an increasing number
of Brazilian companies use filters or have in place an email policy.
Erica Aoki, Stroeter, Royster & Ohno - Advogados Associated with Steel Hector & Davis LLP, São
Paulo
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