wow. gross situation.

could you say something that might make him realize how unprofessional this is without stepping over any lines?

perhaps something like 'i think it would be best for efficiency of the company if we set up around email account for your more personal emails that are not business related'?

really hard, i would definitely want to say something, even at the risk of overstepping my boundaries, if i felt disrespected.

Well, you could try saying something. It might not change anything. Or you could just say "I'm not comfortable opening your emails anymore" and then you wouldn't have to be faced with it anymore. But to be honest, I think it's an overreaction. Show me a guy who DOESN'T look at porn. It's just odd that he does it in his office. Now if it was child porn, that's a totally different story.

That is so wrong! Lots of guys have a porn problem, but most of them know better than to share it with their subordinates, for crying out loud! Telling him you are no longer comfortable opening his email sounds like a good start, but if he's really getting off on making you uncomfortable, you may have to forward this stuff to all the senior partners, or whomever has authority to do something about it. Bigger companies have rules about situations exactly like this.

I understand that all guys look at porn and that's fine with me, but this is totally inappropriate. He should not be getting tons of porn at work and it could easily be sexual harassment because he is ccing you on these e-mails.
I'd tell him that you are no longer comfortable checking his e-mails or being cced on everything because of their content. Tell him he should use a private account for these e-mails as you would like to stay out of it.
If he blows you off (as I suspect he might) I'd check for your company policy on computer and e-mail use. I have a feeling sending and downloading pornography would be frowned upon by his superiors and he's most likely violating the rules by doing that. So if he does not stop including you in his porn habit, go above him and tell a superior (or equal to him if there is no one specifically higher) what is going on and that you have tried to address the situation with your boss and he did not respond well to your concerns.
They will probably do something about it, and if they too blow off your concerns, I'd start looking for a new job (and thinking about filing a lawsuit for sexual harassment if all of your superiors ignore your complaints).

my only thought was, mind your own business! tell yourself "I didn't see anything." Lol! If you want to keep your job, anyways. Somtimes you have to put up with wierd stuff like this. You couldn't change his ways no matter what you do. This is just life sometimes.

I thought about this for a while before posting. This may be a situation where your best bet is to look for a new job.

Obviously ****ing off in the office is completely inappropriate and a waste of company time and resources. Maybe he's just kidding when he says "I had to close the door," but maybe he's not. And the fact that your computer system is slowed and made vulnerable by the pornography is a serious problem. But if he's the boss, who's going to make him change? What will your comments do but make the situation more awkward, or potentially even worse?

I actually don't think you're overreacting. Depending on what kind of a company you work at, viruses on a computer can make an entire company vulnerable to hackers and outsiders having access to confidential client material. If you look for a new job you have a perfect reason for leaving--just say you were uncomfortable with the lack of professionalism in your old office. It's true, and shows you care about your work. Good luck... this is tricky.

I disagree with fleurfairy. You are not overreacting and like justanerd said -yes it's true, you may have to put up with it if you want to keep your job. But you are definitely not overreacting. You are at work, in a professional office. It is not professional to have sexual images/porn in the workplace!

The reason you may have to put up with it is: if your office has less than 15 people, I don't think any law could protect you - sexual harassment laws apply to firms with at least more than 15 people. However, it is highly inappropriate and wrong. He isn't just "a guy," he is a partner at work.

If there is even a small chance that you could quit, quit. Sorry but you really shouldn't stay in this situation. If you must stay, tell him you are not comfortable checking private e-mails. He may ask you why you never said anything before though, so be ready to answer that. Remember that no job should make you feel this uncomfortable, or have you disrespect the most important person, yourself! Good luck!

I don't think you're overreacting at all.

But, this is a no-win situation. You can't take a stand and expect there to be no consequences at all.

I agree you might consider finding another job. And as much as I hate the litigious nature of our society, this sounds like it could be construed as sexual harassment. It's clearly making your work environment uncomfortable, and it will probably get worse if nothing is done. You might want to talk to a lawyer if you decide to stay.

You need to take it to the big man up stairs, who ever is in charge. Usually its HR, so hmm not exactly sure. But something needs to be done. He doesnt get payed to look at porn, and you surely don't have to put up with that crap and having to delete it. The whole situation is unprofessional, and you shouldn't be in that kind of situation. Talk to your fellow employees about it, and see if they notice his rude behavior or just anything out of the ordinary. If nothing is done then you could try looking for a new job, with a better working environment. Id dread going to work if I had to put up with the crap you do.

I agree though, talk to a lawyer and ask what should be done about the situation.

You are not over reacting. I would certainly tell this man that you are uncomfortable opening his personal emails. If it was printed porn, would you be expected to look at it on his behalf? He's a creep.

i agree that this is a yucky situation and i don't think you are over-reacting, i would feel uncomfortable too.
however, it is unlikely you will be able to change his behaviour and in all liklihood you will just end up making things more difficult for yourself.
i think you could ask him to not include you in 'forward' type emails whether it jokes or porn. avoid being confrontational about this request as it sounds like he doesn't understand what is wrong with his behaviour.
i would suggest looking for a job in a nicer work environment, this guy sounds awful and in small workplace you don't have much alternative so far as transfering to a different position so you don't have to deal with him.
maybe my suggestions are 'weak' but i really don't think this guy sounds like anything you say is likely to change his behaviour, other than getting yourself more grief.

This is a weird situation. If you confront him about the emails and tell him to use personal email for his personal things you think he would get offended and fire you? If you don't think he will do that then You should deff confront him. I mean it is very disrespectful especially if he knows you are receiving those msg. If that doesn't work you should take it higher people if there are any...good luck

I think the guy is getting a huge kick out of CCing you on those emails and he's getting his rocks off imagining you all irked and troubled on the other side of the door. It's a total power trip: not only is he being inappropriate, but he's actually a pervert who is using your presence to get a bigger high from his porn. He knows that he owns you and you can't say anything. Totally unacceptable. Of course, this doesn't mean you have a way around it, because again, if you confront him, you will probably in some way or another get retribution; you may get fired, or he may make your life hell to force you to quit.

I would be so pissed off that I would take him down. I would start by hiring a lawyer who'll work on a percentage of the money he's going to make you. Then I'd sue your boss' ass 13 ways to Sunday. You would absolutely, 100%, win the case.

Or, I would find myself a new job, and make sure before I leave - without notice - to forward a package of those emails to his partners and his biggest clients, with a quick note explaining what's been going on : "This is what I've been forced to deal with for the past [x] years. This is what Z does with the time you are paying him for. I don't know about you, but I'm leaving."

Don't take this sh*t. Seriously, it's unthinkable. Stand up for yourself and let this pig know you can't be manipulated like a defenseless pawn stuck in his yucky fantasies.

I agree that you should look for a new job, but I definitely disagree with Karlotta's suggestion that you forward the emails to his partners and clients. That is highly unprofessional and exactly thekind of situation you are trying to avoid.

Personally I think your best bet would be to ask him if he would please use personal email to view porn. Lie and say it's against your religion or something like that or just tell him that it makes you uncomfortable. Tell him that is why he always has viruses and install virus protection on his computer so you don't have to deal with it. If it doesn't work I'd consider asking some of the other assistants if they have to deal with this from their bosses. If they don't I'd go to one of the other partners and see if they could do something about it. If you can't come to a resolution and this really bothers you than you should get a new job. If you have one lined up you can always threaten to quit if he doesn't stop but that's more of a childish thing to do.

This is sexual harrassment, pure and simple.

Can you talk to one of the other senior partners about it? That's where I would start (after documenting everything).

If you get no help there, then hire a lawyer. Let them know you mean business. Nobody should have to put up with this crap on the job.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's going to be any way to save your job, unless this partner gets fired. But perhaps you can get a big fat settlement check to make it easier on yourself while you look for a new job.

I don't think you're over-reacting at all. Maybe just send him a reply to one of the e-mails he CCs you on and say, "I don't feel comfortable having to sort through e-mail like this at the office. Could you open a separate, personal e-mail account?"

I agree with petite42. This is a pretty clear cut case of sexual harassment, and luckily for you, since he was dumb enough to email you porn, you have loads of undeniable evidence at your disposal. If you chose to file a lawsuit, you would win or force them to settle, hands down.

Show the emails to a senior partner. If he/she ignores you then you should probably start looking for another job. Why would you want to keep working for a cocky pig who goes out of his way to make your work environment uncomfortable? And then perhaps look into the lawsuit. Lawsuits are always a pain in the butt, and no company EVER wants to have to deal with one. I don't think everyone should go around suing everyone else all the time, but at the very least, this type of lawsuit will force them to reevaluate what they consider acceptable practices in the work environment.

But please, don't just ignore the problem. That would just reinforce the stereotype of young women being helpless cowards in the workplace who let older men walk all over them without saying a word. You have too much power to be that girl.

Go to one of his partners and inform him. You can come from the increased virus exposure angle. Since this guy is a senior person in the company that is the only option I see.

If this does not resolve it then you will probably have to quit and sue. You have enough evidence by the way.

Well put Karlotta, I couldn't have said it better.

Wow I would look for another job..stat.

ur boss knows it very well that u know wt he does at office. had he only meant to see porn and derive pleasure of this, he would have diverted the trackbacks to his personal mails, which he doesn't.

so the main question is - why does he have u check such mails. there can be many reasons. one of them is that he is giving u signals (god such a sick way of giving signals). don't accept. he is sick.

so what can u do? overreacting won't help. in such small companies with no HR depts., there is no formal greivance handling mechanism. so chances are that overreacting will backfire against u.

tell it plainly to the boss - it will be good on ur part to divert such mails to ur personal mails and not cc to me.

good that he accepts. if not, leave that damn job. there are so many jobs available. and best is get rid of the boss. www.sellyourboss.com tells you how. also win reward.