Cost of Trips: $800
Potential Exposure for Out-of-Office Accidents: $25,000 per employee
Litigation value for Dunder Mifflin’s missteps: $0.
This has to be some kind of record. For the fourth week in a row on The Office, we have a new episode in which no one at Dunder Mifflin did anything to put the company at risk of some sort of judgment for money damages. (Note — if Darryl touched Holly in the truck on the way to Nashua, that could have opened the company up to something.)
Of course, the reason the company can’t be held liable for anything in the “Employee Transfer” episode is that they took The Office out of the office! Pam and Jim were in New York, and Michael, Darryl, and Holly were on the road. The only storyline in the office revolved around Dwight messing with Andy about applying to Cornell. No one’s getting sued for that — unless Cornell sues The Office for defamation.
Seriously, the fact that The Office is portraying Andy Bernard interviewing Dwight Schrute on behalf of the university is a slap in the face to Cornell. Heck, it’s a slap in the face later in the episode when they’re fighting over beets!
Nevertheless, besides not creating any liability, Dunder Mifflin Scranton actually did a good job of promoting workplace morale by letting everyone dress up for Halloween. Except for Creed. That was creepy. As I’ve said before, a little bit of fun can go a long way in keeping your employees happy and motivated.
Overall, this episode, and so far this season for the most part, has shown us that even Michael Scott and company can get it right — once in awhile — after years of getting it wrong. But who knows what twists and turns lie ahead. You know what they say: Life is a highway.
