Litigation Value: < $10,000 to settle the claims from Kevin’s inappropriate behavior; $50,000 in attorneys’ fees to deal with the ICE investigation for hiring an undocumented worker; potential untold damages for negligent hiring and retention if the friendly former surgeon later hurts someone like he did at his last employer.

This week, Oscar wants to spend more time with Matt from the warehouse so he convinces Darryl that they should organize a happy hour for the warehouse and office staff. Everyone attends and most of the rest of the episode occurs at the bar/arcade where the happy hour takes place and Date Mike makes an appearance. Whether Dunder Mifflin (or ultimately Sabre) would be liable for the antics at the bar would largely depend on whether the happy hour was a company-sponsored event. Given the way it was organized and that Darryl and Michael attended, it could be company-sponsored.

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Litigation Value: No liability (or sales leads) “per se.” However, the seeds of workplace discord have been planted, leaving open the possibility that they will take root and blossom into future legal problems.

Sales personnel are lording it over their non-sales counterparts; protégés are maligning their once-valued mentors; and even the simple act of borrowing a writing instrument devolves into a wrestling match. Where has all the love gone in Scranton, home of TV’s most well-known office? Perhaps it’s in the “lost and found,” which is itself lost (except perhaps to the bespectacled Creed), or maybe it’s holed up in some two-bedroom condo with Johnny Depp. Whatever the case, the latest episode of The Office suggests a topic worthy of discussion in this employment law post: workplace communication.

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Litigation Value: Probably neglible, seeing as no one seemed to be offended by Michael’s Irish jokes, and Michael himself looked slightly flattered by the long hug with Todd “PacMan” Packer and Meredith.

Who knew that St. Patrick’s Day was such an important holiday at Dunder Mifflin? This week on The Office, we saw our favorite regional paper (and now printer) supplier’s office and employees decked out in their green colors. As Michael put it, “it’s the closest the Irish will ever get to Christmas.” (Points for cultural awareness, Michael, as always.) But the gang almost didn’t make it to the bar for their green beer-soaked celebration, because new boss Jo had them all working late by suggesting that Michael (and everyone else, by extension) should leave work only if he is completely satisfied with the work he has done for the day.  What’s a group of Irish-for-the-day salespeople and accountants to do?

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Litigation Value: Not much.

With collective attentions devoted almost entirely to the miracle of childbirth, the Scranton branch didn’t leave us much to work with tonight. Whereas Dwight Schrute’s senseless destruction of Jim and Pam Halpert’s kitchen cabinetry exposes him to a cornucopia of civil and criminal liabilities in his own right, it’s unlikely that his misconduct would be attributable to Dunder Mifflin.

Indeed, Dunder Mifflin got off light this week. Were it not for the fact that Michael Scott’s systematically inappropriate behavior has become the norm -– considerably lowering the bar and desensitizing the work environment -– his rather unhealthy interest in Pam’s pregnancy might otherwise expose Dunder Mifflin and himself to a rare, but potentially fatal, harassment-based-on-pregnancy claim. Of course, in order to prove pregnancy harassment, Pam would have to show that she was both subjectively and objectively offended by Michael’s repeated references to, and his actions based on, her pregnancy; and that they were pervasive enough to interfere with her ability to perform her job or to otherwise create a hostile work environment. Inasmuch as Michael means well, and Pam doesn’t appear to be overly offended by his innocuous behavior, it’s doubtful this variation of a sex/pregnancy discrimination theory would hold up in court.

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