LITIGATION VALUE: 1,000,000 +
The “women’s appreciation” meeting was a bad idea that was poorly executed. I’m not saying that Dunder Mifflin cannot or should not recognize the achievements of its female employees. It should. I just think that the meeting shouldn’t be announced by saying “I know the crap out of women” and should not end by taking the women to a shopping mall because the office is too much of a “male environment.” If the trip to the mall wasn’t bad enough, it was “game over” when Michael offered to buy them some new panties at Victoria’s Secret. The only way it could get worse would have been for Michael to use a company credit card and for Dunder Mifflin to actually approve the expense.
Should the women of Dunder Mifflin (collectively or individually) later choose to challenge the company’s employment practices as discriminatory, then this type of evidence is going to seal its fate. And, as for Michael’s inquiries whether female employees who are upset with him are having their periods and his reenactment of the “flasher” who exposed himself to Phyllis by putting his finger in his zipper and pretending it is a penis, well, that just introduced Dunder Mifflin to seven-figure damage calculations.
This episode may have been the closest to an outright mutiny since Dwight got to design the health plan… the look on the employees’ faces was priceless. I was waiting for a scene in which the women finally duct tape Michael to a chair and set the building on fire.
Michael crossed the line further than he ever had before by putting his finger through his zipper. That should have caused an instant mutiny. But I think the women of Dunder Mifflin know Michael well enough to see that even though he’s a big jerk sometimes and always makes everyone uncomfortable, it’s just best to go along with it and let him ride it out. They definitely could’ve been more mutinous against him but they just handle it in their own ways – like drawing pictures of Sexual Predator Dwight.
I like your idea about Michael using the company card to buy them panties, they should’ve done that. That would’ve been great!
Could Dunder-Mifflin be held liable to Dwight for Pam’s depiction of him as a sex offender?
Was it sexual harrassment when in his attempt to bond with ladies asked, “What exactly is a Pap Smear?”
Standing alone, I doubt that asking female employees about pap smears one time would constitute sexual harassment. But it would certainly go on the laundry list of harassing things that Michael has said and done over the years and, when viewed in the totality, I’d say the women in the office might have a pretty good harassment claim.
Julie- as you predicted, Michael and Jan’s relationship has gone sour. I predict a future episode where Michael claims sexual harassment.