Legal experts have warned companies to do more to stop pornographic spam emails reaching employees, revealed a report.
Firms that do not take sufficient steps to block sexually explicit emails could face lawsuits from employees suffering distress because of exposure to offensive images.
The report said experts had warned businesses to use anti-spam tools to stop offensive messages before they reached employees' inboxes.
"This is an obvious case where employers are directly liable to their employees," said internet legal expert Dr Brian Bandley.
He said many companies thought of their duty to staff in terms of laws governing a healthy and safe workplace. But Bandley said there were also a significant number of additional common law obligations for employers in relation to their staff.
Bandley said this common law requirement demanded that employers tackled all factors affecting a safe working environment, revealed the report.
"This means all of the hazards, physical, mental and now emotional, that employees are exposed to," concluded Bandley.
