{"id":530,"date":"2012-03-07T21:28:01","date_gmt":"2012-03-07T21:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/dont-be-stupid\/"},"modified":"2012-03-07T21:28:01","modified_gmt":"2012-03-07T21:28:01","slug":"dont-be-stupid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/dont-be-stupid\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Be Stupid"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2008, New York Giant Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress accidently shot himself in the thigh at a New York City nightclub.\u00a0 Burress was then indicted for criminal possession of a handgun and he eventually accepted a plea deal.\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games in 2010 due to violations of the NFL\u2019s personal conduct policy.\u00a0\u00a0 His suspension stemmed from allegations that he had sexually assaulted a young woman at a bar.\u00a0\u00a0 Regardless of whether you believe that Burress or Roethlisberger actually committed crimes, they engaged in conduct that that led to serious problems for them personally and professionally and impacted the success of their employer. \u00a0\u00a0Some people consider their actions as lacking good judgment or being reckless.\u00a0 I think they were plain stupid.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When an employee does something really stupid, there is often liability that cannot be avoided.\u00a0\u00a0 Attorneys are not miracle workers.\u00a0 They cannot wave a magic wand and make problems disappear. \u00a0As comedian Ron White says, \u201cYou can\u2019t fix stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a human resources standpoint, there are many workplace actions that are \u201cstupid\u201d and cannot be fixed.\u00a0 One example is quid pro quo sexual harassment.\u00a0 Whenever a supervisor conditions job benefits on whether or not an employee engages in sexual relations there is strict liability.\u00a0 This means that the employer is liable for the supervisor\u2019s conduct.\u00a0\u00a0 While the employer can raise arguments to limit the amount of damages, this is not a position an employer wants to find itself.<\/p>\n

Using a company\u2019s internet to search pornography or using a company\u2019s email system to spread racially offensive jokes are both acts of stupidity.\u00a0\u00a0 Posting offensive messages about a co-worker on Facebook is stupid. \u00a0Sending sexually explicit messages via text messaging (\u201csexting\u201d) is also stupid.\u00a0 Unfortunately, these types of misconduct will continue to happen, especially as social media usage increases.<\/p>\n

What then can employers do to avoid having to defend acts of stupidity?\u00a0 As an initial matter, employers should make sure that their employees know the policies and rules of the organization.\u00a0\u00a0 This begins with making sure employees receive employee handbooks and work rules and are told up front what is expected from them.\u00a0 Throughout their employment, employees need to be reminded about how to act in the workplace.\u00a0 \u00a0Harassment policies should spell out clearly what conduct is prohibited.\u00a0 Training sessions about policies and employment laws should clearly be told that engaging in stupid behavior will likely cost them their jobs and create liability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2008, New York Giant Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress accidently shot himself in the thigh at a New York City nightclub.\u00a0 Burress was then indicted for criminal possession of a handgun and he eventually accepted a plea deal.\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games in 2010 due to violations of the NFL\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Be Stupid - Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/dont-be-stupid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Be Stupid - Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2008, New York Giant Wide Receiver Plaxico Burress accidently shot himself in the thigh at a New York City nightclub.\u00a0 Burress was then indicted for criminal possession of a handgun and he eventually accepted a plea deal.\u00a0\u00a0 Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games in 2010 due to violations of the NFL\u2019s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/dont-be-stupid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-07T21:28:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken Winkler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ken Winkler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/dont-be-stupid\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/dont-be-stupid\/\",\"name\":\"Don't Be Stupid - 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