Another week without even a rerun, so to find something to write about, we turn to Steve Carrell’s movie catalogue. Anchorman proves to provide plenty of HR lessons — lessons that are strikingly similar to those we see with Michael Scott and gang in Scranton.
LITIGATION VALUE: $1,000,000 (in pre-inflation, 1976 dollars).
Obviously, there is a staggering amount of behavior that would make us reach for the Tums. From Ron telling Veronica that she was “just a woman with a small brain” to Brian and Champ objecting to Veronica doing the news by saying that she doesn’t belong in the newsroom, as “it is anchorman, not ‘anchorlady.'” Now, these comments sure aren’t subtle and would make it easy to make a claim against Channel 4. (Remember, sexual harassment was first recognized by the courts right around the time this movie was set!)
Though we very rarely see such obvious and explicit harassment and gender discrimination claims, Anchorman still points out a more subtle and equally troublesome issue. The most significant — complaints of women and men being treated differently — are on the rise and open employers up to liability. Here, Veronica was upset that she was left covering unimportant stories (like kitty fashion shows) while men covered the real news. Now, there could be good business reasons for the decision, but we always need to evaluate that and document the reasons if anyone complains — formally or informally.
Addressing the issue (even if not to the complainant’s liking) sometimes nips a lot of claims in the bud. As you well know, some employees just like to feel like their complaints and concerns are being treated seriously. I think Ron put it best when he said that we’re not just co-workers, but we’re also co-people. Recognizing that we’ll never be able to satisfy some of our co-people (because they are really monsters in human clothing), we can limit our exposure by addressing all complaints consistently!
There may not be reruns on NBC, but we get them twice a week on TBS (two episodes every Tuesday). They’re up to early season 3, where Jim is in Stanford.
What about the drinking on the job? That is a great movie!
Nothing like a seven-figure verdict to drive home the point that diversity isn’t just “an old wooden ship used in the civil war area.”
I’m not sure things would have ever gone Veronica’s way in court… not during the ’70s, at least. Re-examine the Christine Craft case from the early ’80s… Told she was too unattractive, too old (she was 38) and not deferential enough to men, she was removed as co-anchor of the nightly news in Kansas City. A jury originally awarded her a half-mil, but the award was zapped on appeal.