Minneapolis Librarians Reach Settlement
In August 2003, the City of Minneapolis settled a lawsuit brought by a dozen of its public librarians who alleged that workplace exposure to Internet pornography made the city's downtown library a hostile workplace. Since 1997, when the library began offering computers with Internet access to its patrons, the computers allegedly became a "magnet" for users who sought images "displaying virtually every kind of human sexual conduct," according to the suit which was filed in federal district court in Minneapolis on March 24, 2003, in an effort to stop patrons from viewing explicit Web sites in an area where the librarians, as well as the public, would be exposed to the images. At times, librarians who asked the computer users to refrain from viewing obscene sites were met with threats, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Although one of the librarians complained to then-library director Mary Lawson, staffers believed she did not take their complaints seriously, the Star Tribune reported, prompting a group of librarians to file suit against state and federal agencies. Several librarians then filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Complaint, and in 2000, guidelines designed to curtail viewing of obscene sites were adopted by library officials. However, in 2003, twelve librarians filed suit against state and federal agencies for three years of suffering in Adamson v. Minneapolis Public Library, No. 03-2521.
At the encouragement of Judge Jonathan Lebedoff working with new library director Kit Hadly, a settlement of $435,000 was awarded to the librarians. Even though a majority of the trustees of the Minneapolis public library oppose the installation of filtering software, as a condition of settlement, library officials will consider installing Internet filters, as well as making changes in policies regarding the printing of Internet materials and penalties for library patrons who access pornography on city library computers. Penalties may include banning individuals from city libraries for up to a year; viewers of child pornography could lose library privileges permanently. Under current policy, patrons who view obscene sites could have their privileges suspended for 90 days.
In a joint statement, the plaintiff librarians said, "We believe the financial settlement in this case sends a strong message to libraries around the country." The plaintiffs cited the stance of the American Library Association favoring open access to information at libraries as contributing to the delay in resolving the dispute. (See "Librarians File EEOC Complaint in Minneapolis" in the Winter 2001 issue of the Silha Bulletin.)
—Thomas Corbett
Silha Research Assistant
—Elaine Hargrove-Simon
Silha Fellow and Bulletin Editor