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New hipness in employment law
BY ROBIN SHEA ON 12.2.22
POSTED IN HARASSMENT, RETALIATION
The right to bore, and not to be bored.
These two cases are not from the U.S.A. But they have some good lessons for U.S. employers.
Case One: "C'est cool d'être ringard." (English translation: "It's hip to be square.") A court in Paris, France, has ordered an employer to pay its former employee (terminated in 2015 for "professional inadequacy") the U.S. equivalent of $3,154.82, with the possibility of a further recovery of up to the U.S. equivalent of almost $500,000. The former employee, identified only as "Mr. T," alleged that his employer terminated him because he was too boring.
Specifically, the employer required Monsieur T to participate in team-building exercises that included "excessive alcohol intake" and sharing beds with co-workers. According to the court, "the company engaged in 'humiliating and intrusive practices regarding privacy such as simulated sexual acts, the obligation to share a bed with a colleague during seminars, the use of nicknames to designate people and hanging up deformed and made-up photos in offices."
Sounds like what we in the States would call a "hostile work environment."
It is, of course, legal to fire a U.S. employee for being "boring," not to mention being "professionally inadequate." But if being "fun" and a "team player" requires one to get drunk, engage in "simulated sexual acts," share a bed with co-workers -- and I don't even want to know what the "nicknames" and "deformed and made-up photos" were about -- it is likely that a U.S. court would agree with the Parisian court. Only here, it would be called "harassment,""assault," or "intentional infliction of emotional distress." Or all three.
I wanted to post a video of Huey Lewis & The News here, but YouTube won't let me. :-( Here's a link.
Case Two: "Finnegans Asleep." Meanwhile, over in Dublin, a finance manager at Irish Rail has sued his employer because his job is too boring.
Dermot Alistair Mills contends that the railroad took away almost all of his job duties in retaliation for a whistleblower complaint that Mr. Mills made in 2014. He is still employed as we speak, and he's making the U.S. equivalent of roughly $130,000 a year to come to the office and do nothing all day. He alleges that he spends his "work" day "reading newspapers, taking long walks, and eating sandwiches."...Continue Reading >>>
