Law firms block company gossip site

CANBERRA, Australia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Two Australian law firms have banned employees from a workplace gossip site due to postings critical of bosses.

Law firms Mallesons Stephen Jaques and Clayton Utz said the Firm Spy site prints inaccurate rumors about their business practices and managers, News.com.au reported Thursday.

Mallesons blocked access to the site in July, shortly before it published allegations of artificially adjusting performance ratings to justify lower pay raises, and Clayton Utz blocked the site when it printed claims that more than 100 lawyers were being quietly fired while partners received boosted payouts.

However, Mallesons spokeswoman Kris Barry said blocking the site had nothing to do with legal matters, but rather was the result of stories being posted about the private lives of employees.

Firm Spy's operators, who declined to reveal their identities, said Web traffic increased after the blocks.

"To our minds, the decision to block us is ... a very short-sighted one, given that employees who feel restraint in sending us info over the (ostensibly monitored) work computer, will feel no such concern when doing so from their personal computer/phone," the operators said.