Fox News is reporting on a case that went to a California jury yesterday in which a 51-year old female employee claims she was spanked during a "team-building" exercise at her company. According to the story:
Employees were paddled with rival companies' yard signs as part of a contest that pitted sales teams against each other, according to court documents. The winners poked fun at the losers, throwing pies at them, feeding them baby food, making them wear diapers and swatting their buttocks.
One of my colleagues raised the question of why this case even got to the jury, because it was undisputed that both male and female employees were paddled with equal vigor. Last time I checked, discrimination laws (even the ones in California) required a showing that something was done because of a person's gender, and it's a little tough to do that when males and females are being treated equally (albeit equally badly).
Regardless of the legal analysis, it seems like we're developing a theme for Administrative Professionals Week.
5/2/06 UPDATE: JURY AWARDS $1.7 MILLION IN THIS CASE. We just learned that the "six-man, six-woman California Superior Court jury awarded Janet Orlando $1.2 million in punitive damages and $500,000 in compensatory damages, including a $450,000 emotional distress award, $40,000 in future medical expenses, and $10,000 in lost wages." For being spanked. Voluntarily. Along with men. Fraternity pledges everywhere are rushing to seek legal counsel, and waves of class actions are expected.