Apparently I’m not the only one who finds today’s story at the top of Page A1 totally bizarre. Readers visiting FresnoBee.com have made the “Workplace spanking leads to lawsuit” story the most viewed item today on the Web site. A former employee of Alarm One in Fresno is suing because she was spanked by her supervisors while her co-workers watched and jeered.
I just can’t even imagine a work environment where that type of behavior would be condoned by an employer as a means of building “camaraderie among the sales force.”
Lawyers for the company are saying the practice wasn’t discriminatory because supervisors spanked both male and female employees. Forget discriminatory – how about it’s just plain wrong?
Wow! I would love to be that employee because she is totally winning that lawsuit! I have supervised employees for 9 years and this goes against every kind of training I have ever been through. How stupid is this company?
It does sound a bit bizarre - although I've heard of a lot of odd things that go on as "motivation." And a lot of workplaces have off-color humor and practical jokes that wouldn't look so good in print, either in a newspaper or a deposition transcript.
But what I also found a bit perplexing is why this was displayed so prominently on the front page. It mostly looks like a run-of-the-mill "she says/he says" constructive discharge/harassment case to me. Was the Bee just hoping the titilating headline would sell papers?
a.) Was it formal attire or business casual?
b.) What kind of food and/or beverages does one serve at company spankings?
c.) Does this qualify as a "mixer"?
d.) Was this covered during the Human Resource videos?
e.) Did she NOT get the memo?
f.) Does this come up at review time?
g.) How quickly will this news reach Leno or Letterman?
I absolutely cracked up when I read Mike's comment! Thanks for the good ''belly laugh''!
Oh, my mistake, thanks to Sean for the hilarious post! :)
Awww, now I'm heartbroken! :(
The lady will get her just dues in court.
The only question I have is: What was it doing on the front page of the Bee? I wasn’t aware that the month of April was a "media sweeps" month for newspapers.
Well, whether or not the woman gets her dues depends on how much the judge weighs her willingness to participate.
As for Fresno Bee headlines, I find it is often the practice of ALL newspapers to try and capitilize on what society considers important or "headline" news. We may not agree that it is appropriate, but it's intent is to catch the reader's attention, not engage them in debate and argumentation theory.
Bottom line, it sells.
Just be thankful there was no mention of body shots with Ted from Accounting...
;-)
I don't understand people, I really don't. Did they just suddenly ambush their employees and start the spanking or did these employees know it was coming? If they did and they did not agree with these methods why, oh why, did they allow it to happen?
Why not just stand up and tell your boss a few choice words and walk out? People are afraid to do anything now a days about the things they don't agree with it makes me sad :(
Oh, sorry Mike. I liked your story too. :)