#ExtraordinaryWorkplaceMisconduct

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Should an employee who, while at a convention, knocks on a coworker’s hotel room door, enters, then heads to the coworker’s bed wearing nothing but a robe be fired, even if the employee claims to have been sleepwalking at the time? Or, as George Costanza of Seinfeld fame asked, “was that wrong?”
Continue Reading Extraordinary Workplace Misconduct: The Case of the Somnambulant Sales Rep

As reported in the New York Times, more than two dozen employees were injured last week during a team-building activity in which they walked over hot coals in their bare feet (?!!!). The Times described that “Ten ambulances, two emergency medical teams and police officers from multiple agencies were deployed to help, according to the Zurich police. Thirteen people were briefly hospitalized.” The Times further noted that this activity – originally a religious ritual found in a number of cultures – has become popular as a corporate team-building exercise in recent years. (Ummmmm….)
Continue Reading Extraordinary Workplace Misconduct: Perhaps Firewalking Is Not the Best Team-building Activity…

In the latest entry in our series on extraordinary workplace misconduct, we must come to terms with the fact that not everyone loves birthdays or surprises. And, when an employee tells you that they don’t want a surprise birthday party, you’d best oblige them or you could face a discrimination suit and a nearly half a million-dollar jury verdict!

As the Washington Post, New York Times, and our Twitter scrolling reported, a Kentucky-based medical laboratory, Gravity Diagnostics, was found liable by a jury for disability discrimination when it fired an employee who suffered from an anxiety disorder that caused panic attacks. As a result, the jury awarded $450,000 in damages for lost wages and emotional distress. However, it’s the series of events that prompted the employer’s actions that are truly extraordinary.Continue Reading Extraordinary Workplace Misconduct: Celebrating you is a piece of cake…

Here’s another entry in our occasional series of really bad behavior in the workplace – police officers who decided to continue playing Pokémon Go rather than respond to a robbery in progress! And then had the chutzpah to challenge their firing despite the fact that their gaming activity – and astonishing decision not to respond to the call for assistance with the robbery – was recorded by their in-car video-system!
Continue Reading Extraordinary Workplace Misconduct: No Pokémon Go While Policing!!

In our occasional series spotlighting outrageous workplace conduct, we have come across an incredible, albeit petty, means of payment: pennies. Rarely does the inconsequential piece of copper find itself in the headlines. But, one former employee likely saw enough pennies in one day to last him a lifetime.
Continue Reading Extraordinary Workplace Misconduct: Petty Pennies

In our occasional series of outrageous workplace conduct, the marked increase in remote work during the pandemic has created interesting opportunities for employees to engage in some poorly-considered multi-tasking. One that caught some media attention recently involved a Maryland state legislator who attended several legislative voting sessions remotely (that’s fine – everyone did), from an operating room (um… ok? Not really…), during an actual operation (yikes!), in which she was actually performing major surgery! (You can insert your own reaction here. Mine was NSFW).
Continue Reading Extraordinary Workplace Misconduct: Multitasking … While Performing Surgery