Tag: Litigation Value

Back to Business

Litigation Value: $0 Since Troy is away on business, I’m guest-blogging again. And what a week to do so –- there’s a lot to talk about from the “Casual Friday” episode. Although many HR folks can appreciate HR director Toby Flenderson’s dilemma dealing with employees taking casual Friday too far, there wasn’t a lot in […]

Going for Broke

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 […]

All’s Not Fair in Love and War

Litigation Value: $250,000 Things escalated quickly during the “Heavy Competition” episode of The Office. Michael Scott ratcheted up his sales efforts by trying to get Dwight Schrute to give him some of Dunder Mifflin’s customers. But when new Dunder Mifflin boss Charles Minor gained Dwight’s respect (with a well-appreciated handshake –- “it’s firm!”), the deal […]

Take One for the Team

Litigation Value: $60,000 There was just too much going on last night on The Office. Two Episodes, multiple story lines, and several unlawful actions that could lead to big money damages against Dunder Mifflin -– and the new Michael Scott Paper Company. On the “Dream Team” episode, Michael and Pam set out to start the […]

Solicitation Defamation

Litigation Value: $75,000 No new episode this week (darned ER series finale), but that doesn’t mean there isn’t activity in Scranton. Shortly after Michael’s departure from Dunder Mifflin last week, Michael sent out an email to job seekers about the Michael Scott Paper Company. It read: Dear whom it may concern, Bored? Poor? Lonely? Not […]

The Michael Scott Paper Company

Litigation Value: $100,000 * and possibly a permanent injunction On the “Two Weeks” episode of The Office, Michael decided that since he was leaving Dunder Mifflin, he would start his own company, the Michael Scott Paper Company. This raises a lot of issues about what’s going to happen to the Scranton gang without their fearless […]

Quitting Time

Litigation Value: $60,000 Michael, Michael, Michael. What went wrong? What happened to turn you into this new, bitter man? And why couldn’t you have quit before you cost the company thousands more in potential judgments? Before we get to Michael’s actionable conduct, let’s first touch on the new guy, Charles Minor. Fortunately, it is almost […]

That’s Not the Ticket

Litigation Value: $25,000 – $50,000 Michael was unusually evil in the Golden Ticket episode of The Office. Juries don’t like evil managers, so Dunder Mifflin is probably looking at another judgment, this time in the range of $25,000 – $50,000. Michael’s outrageous conduct in getting Dwight to fall on his sword (not literally this time) for […]

The Taming of the Schrute

Litigation Value: $50,000 The last time we wrote about the Crime Aid episode of The Office, we advised that Dunder Mifflin might not be on the hook for any potential judgments for anything that happened in this episode. But on further review, I’m not so sure that was right. It’s entirely possible that a jury […]

And the Winner Is …

Litigation Value: $0. The last time The Surplus episode of The Office aired, we talked about Dunder Mifflin’s good behavior (relatively speaking). In the spirit of award season –- specifically the Golden Globes, which are on this Sunday –- let’s give some awards to folks for their exemplary behavior during the episode. Best Actor – […]