Litigation Value: $0 – 300,000
Well, it didn’t take long for the Michael Scott Paper Company to go broke. Surprisingly, it wasn’t because of any judgments for sexual harassment, unfair competition, or defamation. Not surprisingly, it was because of irresponsible pricing.
During its short tenure, Michael’s company could have been sued several times. Unfortunately, it is possible that Dunder Mifflin might be on the hook for some of those potential claims because it entered into a de facto merger with the Michael Scott Paper Company. Hopefully, David Wallace thought of that when he agreed to accept all of Michael’s demands.
Plus, Dunder Mifflin better prepare for a rash of claims in the coming months. Michael has only gotten worse (in terms of doing things that might create liability for the company) since he left Dunder Mifflin. For example, you can’t tell an employee, “Your donuts make me go nuts.”
In the end, it’s almost too bad that David Wallace didn’t go with Dwight’s apiarist idea (i.e., releasing a torrent of bees in Michael’s office area). The injury claim would have been cheaper than the flood of lawsuits that I’m confident we’ll see over the coming weeks. Check back next week to see how Michael handles some employees taking “Casual Friday” too far.
This show is turning into a fairytale, don’t you think?
I always enjoy reading your blog. As an Office fan and current law student, it’s nice to know I can take a break (for a few minutes anyway) and read something more entertaining than Chemerinsky on Con Law, ha. Keep up the good work.
Your blog is great! I am huge fan of the office. Also, I’m a labor and employment lawyer in Seattle and can always identify numerous causes of action when watching the show. Looking forward to reading your blog in the future. Please visit my blog at http://www.seattlecounsel.com/blog.
An interesting blog as always, please continue!
Another consideration, slightly outside of the employment context, how about a possible stockholder derrivative suit against DM for breach of fiduciary duty and due dilligence for a buyout/de facto merger with a company that was broke and negligent “re-hiring” of Ryan.