Lawyer’s FOIA Request Reveals More Information About SEC’s Porn-Surfing Employees
The Securities and Exchange Commission has responded to a lawyer’s freedom of information request with revelations that it counseled or disciplined porn-surfing employees at seven different locations.
The information was disclosed in response to a request by Denver lawyer Kevin Evans, who also sought the names of the disciplined employees, according to the Denver Post, 9News.com and TheDenverChannel.com. In December, a federal judge refused to release the employees’ names, citing privacy concerns.
The seven locations are: Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Fort Worth, Texas; Los Angeles; and Washington, D.C.
An SEC investigation had revealed last year that 24 SEC employees and seven employees of SEC contractors had viewed pornography during work hours on agency computers. One Washington, D.C.-based lawyer admitting accessing porn for up to eight hours a day at work, filling up the hard drive of his computer with downloaded files.
Evans told 9News.com that he and his firm pursued the FOIA request “because we’re fed up.”
“Some of these SEC employees, these lawyers, were making well over $200,000 a year for spending hours, countless hours at their computer, not working, but engaging in pleasure in whatever form,” he said.
