In my humble opinion, NBC’s The Office is the world’s #1 employment law training aid. All you have to do is (1) watch it and (2) do the exact opposite of everything you see.

To help enhance your viewing experience, each week I provide a critique of the action from an employment lawyer’s perspective.

Last Night’s Episode: Manager and Salesman.

The Plot: Here’s NBC’s official description: “The office prepares for a visit from the Sabre CEO” (the very scary Kathy Bates).

My Analysis:

1. Issue: How NOT to Select a Manager
   Description: It didn’t take long for the new CEO to determine that having co-managers of an office (especially when the co-managers are Michael and Jim) is not a great idea. However, rather than using job-related business reasons to decide who should be manager, she let Michael and Jim decide. The fact that the ultimate “winner” was Michael — a man who has violated every conceivable employment law at least once in his career — could expose the company to serious liability in future lawsuits.
   Risk: $$$$$$$
2. Issue: Pets in the Workplace
   Description: The new CEO brought her two horse-sized attack dogs into the office. They immediately started harassing, intimidating and annoying the employees (particularly Andy). The CEO’s actions exposed the company to liability for any injuries caused by the dogs and opened the door for other employees to bring their pets into the workplace. How long will it be before Angela brings in her cats and/or Dwight brings in farm animals?
   Risk: $$$
3. Issue: Inappropriate CEO Comments
   Description: The CEO’s very first comments to the employees focused on their appearance. If the company takes any adverse employment actions, employees may claim that the decisions were rooted in legally impermissible factors such as age, race, gender, etc. The CEO continued to make inappropriate comments throughout her visit. Plaintiffs’ attorneys love it when senior executives say unlawful things out loud.
   Risk: $$$$
4. Issue: Insubordination
   Description: Dwight committed insubordinate act #594 by my unofficial count when he refused to stand up to acknowledge the new CEO. The fact that the CEO praised his lack of respect could encourage future acts of insubordination.
   Risk: $
5. Issue: Valentine’s Day Harassment
   Description: Andy gave all the employees Valentine’s Day cards. In doing so, he (1) gave Meredith a paper cut when he threw her card to her, (2) communicated unintended and arguably inappropriate messages to a variety of people, (3) led Kelly to think that he was coming on to her, (4) sent a completely ineffectual e-mail retraction and (5) continued the most pathetic flirting in American history with the real target of his affections, Erin.
   Risk: $$$
6. Issue: Diabolical Plot
   Description: When Jim was temporarily the manager, Dwight and Ryan continued their nefarious conspiracy against him, threatening “psychological torment,” various acts of physical violence and defaming his character. Among other things, they attempted to convince the office’s new IT person to give them Jim’s password under false pretenses. The fact that the company continues to employ the obviously dangerous Dwight and ex-con Ryan exposes the company to serious risk if they ever follow through on their lame-o schemes.
   Risk: $$$$$
7. Issue: Noxious Odor
   Description: Employees were exposed to potentially toxic fumes in the workplace but management did nothing to stop it.
   Risk: $$
8. Issue: Electrical Appliances
   Description: While I wasn’t asked to review the new Sabre employee handbook, it undoubtedly bans several of the items Michael has hidden under his desk (space heater, humidifier, dehumidifier, fan, foot fan, food dehydrator and musical keyboard). It probably won’t be long before other employees follow suit and bring in their own comfort devices, thereby creating potential safety hazards and driving up energy costs.
   Risk: $$$
9. Issue: Lack of Training
   Description: The CEO informed the employees that they would now be selling printers when their core competency (incompetency?) is selling paper. The employees were given no training on the new product, which could potentially lead to lawsuits if they misrepresent product features, etc.
   Risk: $$
10. Issue: Damage to Employee Property
    Description: By the end of the episode, things were back to “normal” with Jim in his old sales job and sitting next to Dwight. Jim picked up where he left off, promptly harassing Dwight by dipping his tie into his coffee mug. The episode ended with Dwight running into Michael’s office to file a complaint, just like the old days.
    Risk: $
11. Issue: Various Other Inappropriate Comments/Actions
    Description: Once again, virtually every employee said or did something inappropriate. The main culprits this week were the new CEO (as discussed above), Michael (various comments about body parts and sexual orientation), Meredith (basically, everything she said) and Jim (comment about being in management “for the women”). At this point, virtually every employee could sue the company for something and win.
    Risk: $$$$$$$$$

OFFICIAL “ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A LAWYER?” CONTEST: Anyone who leaves a comment below identifying an employment law issue that I missed will win a valuable prize. If you didn’t get a chance to see the episode, you can view it on NBC’s official web site here.

As always, thanks for your participation!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 9:01 am and is filed under Office, The. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.