Meet the Bosses Who Could Win the Awful

Alan Rupe (/authors/421-alan-rupe/articles)

February 22, 2008
Dressed in their Sunday best, everyone leaned forward to hear the words: The envelope,
please.
Anticipation grew. Who would win and who would lose? The room was hushed. The
envelope loomed large in the announcer's hand. "And the winner is ..."
This could be a scene from the Academy Awards. Or it could be a scene from any
courtroom in the country, any day of the week. Actors who receive an Oscar are honored for
their behavior on-screen. Employer-defendants who receive a jury verdict in favor of a
plaintiff are also recognizedfor their bad behavior in the workplace.
Here, in no particular order, are this year's nominees for the Awfulsmy Bad Boss Behavior
of the Year Award.
First: American Apparel CEO Dov Charney, noted for his role in the lawsuit Mary Nelson v.
American Apparel, Inc., et al. Mr. Charney often referred to women as sluts. He testified,
however, that some of us love sluts. ... It could be also an endearing term. Mr. Charney is
also nominated for posting a video on his company Web site showing him running around in
his underwear in the workplace. The video was later removed from the site, but someone
(heres a surprise) saved a copy. Charneys defense to the claims of sexual harassment?
None of his conduct or speech was directed at the plaintiff because of her gender; he wore
his underwear in the presence of employees to test product fit, and plaintiff was not treated
any differently from male employees.
Next up is the judiciary's contribution in 2007: Judge W. Kennedy Boone of Washington
County, Maryland, Circuit Court, who christened three African-American female public
defenders appearing in his courtroom The Supremes. Judge Boone suggested the three
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women wear matching gold sequined miniskirts and shake their groove thing. Judge
Boone encouraged the criminal defendant accused of assault and cocaine possession to
get an experienced male attorney. Judge Boone has received one award already: He was
reprimanded by the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities.
Our next nominee is a group performance: Alarm One, a California alarm-sales company,
and two supervisors. Most of the employees in the companys Fresno office were 18 to 25
years old. Plaintiff Janet Orlando was 52. The supervisors held a meeting every morning
before the field supervisors and the sales team left for a day of selling alarm systems door-
to-door. The meetings had a pep rally atmosphere with yelling, chanting and cheering.
Motivational techniques used at the morning meetings included passing out bonuses,
singing in front of the group, pies in the face, eating baby food, wearing diapers and
spanking with Alarm One and its competitors yard signs. Employees were spanked for
arriving late or for losing a sales competition.
On January 14, 2004, Janet Orlando was spanked and sustained a cut and a bruise. She
filled out an injury report and was taken to the doctor. Alarm Ones defense? Orlando was
not injured; she never reported the injury; and she never sought medical care. The verdict
was in Orlandos favor, and the jury awarded her $500,000 in compensatory damages
against the company and the two supervisors, plus $1 million in punitive damages. (An
appeals court sent the case back to the trial court because of a judge's erroneous jury
instruction, but defense costs continue.)
Former Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison also gets a nod. In a year in which Kansas
experienced floods, tornadoes and damaging winter storms, Morrison, a member of the
American College of Trial Lawyers and once described as a poster boy for a Kansas
Democratic Party on a roll, stands out for his role in the two-year-plus sexual relationship
he had with Linda Carter, an administrator in the Johnson County District Attorneys Office.
Morrison and the administrator had sex in the Johnson County Courthouse many times,
including the day before he was sworn in as attorney general, as well as on business trips
together across the country. At one point, Morrison bought Carter a ring, appraised at
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$16,000, and promised he would get a divorce and marry her. (After the pairs relationship
deteriorated, Carters husband found the ring and sold it for $4,750. And then deposited the
money in his bank account.)
To prove his love, Morrison went to a shop in Kansas City and got a tattoo in the shape of a
heart with the initials LC. Eventually, Carter filed a federal sexual harassment complaint
against Morrison. Morrison resigned five days after a local newspaper broke the story, and
he told the media he was trying to get right with God. He urged a state ethics board to
investigate his conduct. They did. One award has already been given: to the Topeka Capital
-Journal for its investigation and reporting of the story.
Our last nominee is Houston District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, whose office has sent more
people to death row than any other local agency in the country. There were allegations of
racism in the District Attorneys Office, and some defense attorneys and former prosecutors
claimed black potential jurors were struck because they were seen as soft on crime. Black
leaders believed that blacks were punished more harshly than whites.
Rosenthal was faced with a citation for contempt of court for deleting more than 2,500 e-
mails that had been subpoenaed in connection with a federal civil rights lawsuit. But 800 e-
mails and attachments preserved on Rosenthals office computer contained nudity, hard-
core pornography and racist jokes and comments. Rosenthal refused to resign, saying
stupidity was not grounds for quitting. But just this week, Rosenthal resigned as district
attorney and said that prescription drugs may have impaired his judgment.
Award-ceremony custom calls for the speaking of the magic words, And the winner is ...
But in these situations, there arent any winners.
When bad boss behavior occurs, it generally happens in an atmosphere in which the law is
ignored, company policy is ignored, and the line separating good business practices from
boorish conductand often unlawful conductis crossed. A dose of stupidity, mixed with a
larger dose of arrogance, is the guaranteed formula for bad boss behavior. Litigation usually
results.
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And in a lawsuit, just like the Academy Awards, losers far outnumber winners. While
sometimes it is necessary for a company to defend itself against plaintiffs attorneys and
former and current employees hellbent on litigation, the fight is not without cost, even if an
employer wins. There is anxiety, uncertainty, corporate downtime, a loss of employee
morale and the risk of a judge or jury acting as supervisor for a day, and directing how a
business should be run.
Following the law and following company policy will keep you out of a situation in which a
winner needs to be announced. No envelope, please.
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