The Legal Minefield of Office Group Chat

ByRebecca Greenfield, Bloomberg News

We, the modern, group-chatting professional class, saw our personal nightmares play out in a courtroom this week. On Tuesday, John Cook, executive editor of media company Gawker, had to explain , in open court, penis jokes he and his staff made in work group chat platform Campfire in 2012. “I would characterize it as workplace humor,” he said, in a taped deposition that was played in front of a jury and live-streamed to anyone who wanted to watch.

Gawker is being sued for $100 million by Terry Gene Bollea, the wrestler also known as Hulk Hogan, for ...