Litigation Value: $100,000 * and possibly a permanent injunction

On the “Two Weeks” episode of The Office, Michael decided that since he was leaving Dunder Mifflin, he would start his own company, the Michael Scott Paper Company. This raises a lot of issues about what’s going to happen to the Scranton gang without their fearless leader -– and about unfair and unlawful competition.

The good news is that for once, we’re not talking about how much Dunder Mifflin might have to pay in court. Instead, we can talk about what the company might receive in court.

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Litigation Value: $60,000

Michael, Michael, Michael. What went wrong? What happened to turn you into this new, bitter man? And why couldn’t you have quit before you cost the company thousands more in potential judgments?

Before we get to Michael’s actionable conduct, let’s first touch on the new guy, Charles Minor. Fortunately, it is almost impossible for a manager to file a claim for sexual harassment, because the new Dunder Mifflin vice president was the target of some pretty disturbing (read: awesome) and unwanted flirtation. Kelly made no bones about her quest to get the “black George Clooney” to buy her a prime rib; and Angela wasn’t much better, stealing Charles’ scarf and being overly creepy and affectionate toward him. Even though Charles may not have a claim against the company, though, others might. The risk in this situation is that Kelly’s and Angela’s shenanigans could lead to an unintended victim claiming to be offended by their actions.

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Litigation Value: $25,000 – $50,000

Michael was unusually evil in the Golden Ticket episode of The Office. Juries don’t like evil managers, so Dunder Mifflin is probably looking at another judgment, this time in the range of $25,000 – $50,000.

Michael’s outrageous conduct in getting Dwight to fall on his sword (not literally this time) for Michael’s failed golden-ticket idea was unabashedly wrong. If Blue Cross hadn’t saved the day by making Dunder Mifflin their exclusive office supply provider, Dwight would have been fired (or as we call it, constructively discharged), and his claim against Dunder Mifflin would have been even higher.

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Litigation value: $ 100,000

On the Blood Drive episode of The Office, Michael took things to the next level, or at least got creative in finding new ways to do something actionable, by stopping work and throwing a Valentine’s Day mixer. Sure, in the past Michael has said crude things, turned a blind eye to inappropriate behavior, and engaged in dangerous office relationships, but I don’t think he’s ever gone out of his way to get others involved like he did this week.

Even though no one actually complained during the episode, there could have been many unintended victims of Michael’s forced mixing. Anyone at the office that day had a viable claim against the company, even if they weren’t specifically forced to mingle. We’ll call it $100,000 for now.

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