Filed under: News
Anyone with a day job is probably intimately familiar with the sometimes awkward practice of "Team Building." Bosses make employees do silly things sometimes akin to fraternity hazing, all in the name of "synergy" and "enhanced camaraderie." In my professional career I've been asked to do everything from singing commercial jingles to whitewater rafting. And of course I'm often asked/expected to partake in after-work activities like competitive beer drinking, drunken karaoke, and occasional visits to gentlemen's clubs.
In case you're wondering, yes I'm a married man, and yes I know when to push back when I'm being asked to do something (ie: strip clubs) I don't agree with. Yes, this is all part of the job, but you've still got free will and the right to say "no." Strangely, a California woman didn't know when to say "no," found herself in an embarrassing predicament and now finds herself laughing all the way to the bank:
A saleswoman from California who won a substantial settlement for enduring being spanked during a company team-building exercise, finally has the right to collect her money. Janet Orlando, 57, was a saleswoman for an Anaheim-based security company when she claims she was sexually harassed four years ago.
Jurors had awarded Orlando $10,000 for economic loss, $40,000 for future medical costs, $450,000 for emotional distress, pain and suffering, and $1.2million in punitive damages.
The Fresno County resident had only worked at the home security company for five months between late 2002 and early 2003. She quit her job claiming to have been humiliated by being spanked in front of her co-workers with a competitor's yard sign. Her employer claimed it was just a camaraderie-building exercise.
Orlando said she was embarrassed, permanently scarred and mentally anguished by the fraternity-like atmosphere and sales-building exercises at Alarm One Inc. Employees were also paddled if they were late for a sales meeting. (The Daily Mail)
We've all been asked to participate in similarly whimsical activities that don't really have anything to do with our actual job. While I find this particular exercise of being paddled in front of co-workers rather silly, I'm curious as to why Orlando simply didn't just say "Hell naw ya'll ain't paddling me! I'm out this piece. Deuces!" in the first place. The paddlings apparently were a regular occurrence, so it's not as if she didn't see it coming. Suing your employer for something that was an established norm, then claiming you've been "embarrassed, permanently scarred and mentally anguished" sounds kinda frivolous, but that's just me. She's got her payout now, so I doubt she'll have to worry about anymore team builders.
Related:
+Debrahlee Lorenzana Back in the News for Being "Too Hot": Did She Inspire New Citigroup Lawsuit?
+Juan Williams Incident Proves That Freedom of Speech is Dead in the Workplace
Still, for the rest of us, I suppose this raises some interesting questions.
What Do You Think?
Was Janet Orlando's lawsuit legit or frivolous? Have you ever been asked to participate in a team-building or extracurricular work activity that you deemed embarrassing or demeaning? How did you handle it?
Are you concerned that not participating in such exercises sends the message that you aren't a "team player" or take yourself too seriously?
Jay Anderson is a freelance writer from Washington, DC, whose work has been featured in the Washington Post and on NPR. When he's not busy talking smack here, he runs the award-winning blog AverageBro.com. Follow him via Twitter @AverageBro.