Weekly Office Analysis & Contest
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: Whistleblower. Here’s NBC’s official summary: “Michael tries to figure out who leaked the story about Sabre’s printers.”
My Analysis:
- Issue: Choose Your Spokesperson Carefully (i.e., Don’t Choose Michael)
Description: Michael made a number of public appearances to defend the company against allegations that its printers occasionally blow up. It was a lesson in how NOT to handle PR of a lawsuit. He made ridiculously overbroad denials but still managed to admit key facts, contradicted himself several times and generally looked anything but trustworthy. PR in a potential class action lawsuit must be handled very delicately and intelligently, neither of which is Michael’s strong suit.
Risk: $$$$$$$ - Issue: Send Packer Packing
Description: Approximately 99.99998% of Todd Packer’s comments in the workplace are grossly inappropriate. This week was no exception. Fire him now, please (after a fair and thorough investigation, of course).
Risk: $$$ - Issue: Theft of Company Time
Description: Once again, no employees did any discernible work. Michael ordered the entire office to watch YouTube clips of his TV appearance over and over. Everyone did so briefly but then became transfixed by a video featuring the zoo’s new baby otter. Ryan spent an inordinate amount of time “tweeting” and “woofing” on various social networking sites for purely personal reasons. Everyone else basically spent the rest of the workday trying to avoid getting blamed for leaking the printer problem to the press.
Risk: $$$ - Issue: Workplace Violence
Description: Another week, another slew of violence and threats that went unaddressed. Andy threatened to do terrible things to Phyllis’ face with her eyeglasses. Dwight physically attacked Nick the IT Guy. Nick responded with threats and obscene gestures of his own. Michael and Jo, the company’s CEO, made various threats about harming the whistleblower. The fact that Jo was accompanied at all times by her two humongous attack dogs made her threats even more disturbing. The company’s repeated failure to take appropriate action against such behavior — plus the fact that senior executives openly encourage it — exposes it to significant liability if anyone ever sues.
Risk: $$$$$$$$$ - Issue: Computer Confiscation
Description: The company’s “search and seizure” of everyone’s computers was done haphazardly and not pursuant to any formal process or policy. Every company should (1) have a clear and reasonable policy that clearly reserves the company’s right to access any and all data on company-owned computers and hard drives and (2) consistently enforce it. Far too many companies — including Sabre — fail to do either.
Risk: $$$ - Issue: How NOT to Investigate / Retaliation
Description: The company’s “investigation” of the whistleblowing incident was basically wrong at every turn. The sole purpose was to identify the whistleblower so that the company could retaliate against him/her. Click herefor our handy “how to” investigation tips. Once Andy was outed as the whistleblower, his co-workers (except Erin) took turns retaliating against him. Those actions won’t sound so great to a judge or jury.
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!