As I said before, being a jerk isn’t illegal.  Typically.  And Michael’s conduct, although extremely self-centered and rude, probably does not violate anything more than the accepted standards of conduct in polite society.  But rude conduct at work can be more problematic.  At least according to a recent case from the Delaware Supreme Court. Recently, the court held that an employee could bring suit against his co-workers for injuries he received in a prank gone wrong.  According to the case, co-workers detained the plaintiff in the bathroom and wrapped him from ankles to shoulders in duct tape (the case didn’t explain why but it is a story that I am dying to hear).  The plaintiff was injured and sued his colleagues.  Breaking from established precedent of dismissing such claims under the “workers compensation exclusivity” doctrine, the Court said that workplace horseplay can be so far removed from the scope of the prankster’s employment that it takes it out of workers compensation system and into court.

Some food for thought the next time that Jim decides to trick Dwight using Pavlov’s theories.

LITIGATION VALUE: $800,000+

If an executive learns that a regional manager has sponsored a bachelor party in the warehouse, hired a stripper, offered to “deflower” the bride, taken an employee to a sex store, received a lap dance, and allowed a pervert dressed up like Benjamin Franklin to make a lewd statement to the receptionist, she should fire him. As soon as possible. Anything else and the company is looking at significant liability. Of course, at Dunder Mifflin, Jan is likely caught in a Catch-22. As soon as she fires Michael, she could be facing a charge for her own conduct in having an affair with her subordinate. Ah, what a tangled web we weave….

As this week’s episode colorfully illustrates, it is not enough to have an anti-harassment policy. Dunder Mifflin has one (as Michael mentioned- twice) and look what happened. Rather, employers must demonstrate that they take the policy seriously and that they are committed to stopping sexual harassment in the workplace. If they can’t, a court is likely to find the policy ineffective. And when it does, the company can say goodbye to its affirmative defense and say hello to punitive damages.

When I first saw this episode, I thought, surely initiation pranks don’t really occur at work. After all, adults know that the workplace is not an extension of their fraternity houses. I did some research. I was wrong.

In one case, Los Angeles firefighters mixed dog food into the spaghetti dinner of a co-worker who referred to himself as the “Big Dog.” The firefighters called it a prank — the recipient called it racial harassment. And the city almost paid the employee $2.7 million to settle his claims. That was, of course, until photographs surfaced on the Internet of the plaintiff hazing other firefighters.

read more…