Tag: employee

Ain’t No Business Like Snow Business

Litigation Value: Not much, yet; but, potentially millions if Dwight goes on a murderous rampage. Is hurling snowballs really that big a deal?! Last week, it was the Cincinnati Bearcats mascot; this week, it’s Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert — one gets arrested, the other two undergo corrective counseling. Having already addressed the tribulations of […]

You Don’t Have to Be Blind to See

In his blog The Oswald Letter, M. Lee Smith Publishers’ President Dan Oswald shares a story from YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE BLIND TO SEE by Jim Stovall about a woman determined to find her kidnapped baby. Ever the businessman, Oswald draws a connection between this mother who triumphs over adverse conditions that paralyze the […]

Dummies, Morons & Idiots

Litigation Value: $0 (which is good because Dunder Mifflin has no money left!) Unfortunately, tonight’s episode was another repeat. Matt Rita did a fantastic job covering most of the employee relations issues raised by this episode when it originally aired in November. In this post, we will discuss two moments not discussed in the previous post. First, Oscar’s […]

Mother Knows Best

Last week, I wrote about the decline of civility in our world. It seemed to me that if we all would reflect on what we were taught as children by our mothers, we’d treat one another a whole lot better. That got me to thinking about the impact my mother has had on my life […]

Office Scuttlebutt

Litigation value: $100,000 A new season of The Office is upon us!  Although Michael Scott is hardly a man for all seasons (and unlikely to be confused with Thomas More, or any other saint), in last night’s premiere he provided us with yet another object lesson on employment law.  This time the principle involved was […]

Employee’s Blogging Justified Firing — But Dismissal Overturned Anyway

Social networking sites and blogs are growing phenomena that present challenges to employers. Internet blogging allows people to publicly express their opinions like never before. Sometimes the viewpoints expressed affect the employment relationship. Canadian case law on this topic is just starting. There are only a few decisions where injurious blogging concerning workplace-related matters warranted […]

Gender Stereotyping Not Grounds for Termination

If there’s a critical time to watch what you say in the workplace, it’s when you terminate an employee. If an employee is accused of sexual harassment or other misconduct, ensure that you conduct a fair and comprehensive investigation. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that the allegations are true just because a complaint was […]

Who Owns the Inventions of an Entreprenerd?

Tonight featured two more repeats of The Office. Summer is great, well, except for the TV (come on, is NYC Prep really giving you your fix?). Since I figured we pretty much covered everything blogworthy in those episodes when they first aired, I turned to the show’s official website for inspiration this week. NBC’s fun […]

Documentation Can be Your Golden Ticket

This week was a rerun of the episode “Golden Ticket,” where we learned that Dwight keeps a diary, mostly about what Michael does.  While I’m not recommending that you document every little thing the people in your office (and particularly your boss!) do, the episode is a good reminder about the importance of documentation. It […]