Rojgar Job News

Scary stuff. It’s that time of year again. When employees dress up in inappropriate outfits and engage in general stupidity. I am speaking, of course, about Halloween. Don’t believe me? I’ve got several blog posts to prove it. For example, in prior years, I’ve warned you to be on the lookout for “Naughty Nurses”.   Yes, somewhere out there some employee is thinking this is a good idea. But costumes aren’t the only source of trouble.  Buying an employee Halloween presents with a “lustful” look in your eyes, led to another lawsuit. Then there was the supervisor was fired after he “responded to a question about his stated intention to dress as a woman for Halloween by saying that he was a hermaphrodite who menstruated and used to wear a bra.”  You’ll have to read that one for yourself. In any event, Halloween doesn’t have to be the source of trouble.  Even though one judge told one litigant th...

“Let’s engage in a Halloween-type party where everybody would be having sex.” Or perhaps, “So, are you going to wear a bikini for your Halloween costume?” What is it about Halloween that brings out the creep factor in the workplace? The first quote is from a real district court case earlier this year which documented a series of alleged comments made relating to a sexual harassment complaint. (If you’re scratching your head at the reference to a “Halloween-type” party, I’m right there with you.) The second is from a different case that is no less offensive in its descriptions of pervasive inappropriate conduct in the workplace. (And, as if you needed confirmation, Princess Leia in a bikini from Return of the Jedi is not appropriate in the workplace, however cool Princess Leia is.) Now, long time readers may recall a 2008 post about the perils of costumes in the workplace, and another post in 2010 about the perils of enabling sexual h...

From time to time, I take a look back at a prior post that may have particular relevance now. With Halloween knocking on our doorstep and sexual harassment claims on the rise, this post from 2010 has just as much meaning today.… For most people, Halloween is a fun and silly holiday. Yet the holiday has a distinct place in employment law history.  Indeed, for some employers, the holiday has brought more tricks than treats. In Marrero v. Goya of Puerto Rico, 304 F.3d 7 (1st Cir. 2002), a supervisor was alleged to have gone out to buy Halloween presents. Allegedly, he gave the employee “a direct penetrating look with lust,” and said: “I have a little present for you that you’re never going to forget and if you don’t do the things I tell you and order you to do I am going to fire you.” In Grubka v. Department of Treasury, 858 F.2d 1570 (Fed. Cir. 1988), a supervisor appealed his demotion for engaging in alleged acts of misconduct in ...