Elections employee banned from Internet

CINCINNATI, March 4 (UPI) -- An elections employee in Ohio was banned from using the Internet at work and lost a day's pay for using an online dating website during work hours.

Ken Spruce of Cincinnati, a Hamilton County Board of Elections data clerk, appealed the disciplinary action against him Monday morning, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

He alleged other employees in the office used the Internet for personal reasons while on the clock without discipline.

Spruce, who was caught looking at Match.com several times in February, despite being asked not to use the dating website, called the board's computer policy "outdated" and "insufficient" to the "corporate and business environment of today."

However, the board decided to uphold its original ruling barring Spruce from using the Internet while at work and docking him one day's pay.

Deputy Board of Elections Director Sally Krisel said employees going to non-work related websites could compromise voter registration security. In the past employees have unwittingly let in viruses, Krisel said.