Abstract
This Note argues for expanding employers’ access to legal remedies that allow them to recoup the costs of protecting their employees from swatting, doxing, and other online harassment arising from their employees’ professional activity. Part I provides a brief description and history of the online harassment problem and its potentially deadly dangers. Part II describes employers’ legal responsibility to take action to protect their employees from harassment aimed at their employees within the scope of their employment. Part III explores common legal remedies that are currently available to employers, using the state of Washington as an example. Part III also evaluates the various costs and shortcomings of those remedies.
Finally, Part IV analyzes a recent development in this area of tort law in the state of Washington that expands Washington employers’ right to recoup the costs of protecting their employees from online harassment. Part IV also addresses how state legislatures can enable courts to fashion similar equitable remedies, as well as how legislatures can independently expand employers’ ability to protect their employees and help employees recover their damages from harassment in rapidly evolving online spaces.
Recommended Citation
Alexander Barnes, Real-World Consequences for Online Actions: The Case for Expanding Employee Harassment Protection via Employers’ Rights of Action, 48 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 165 (2024).
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