Articles

Tis’ the season to worry about holiday party lawsuits.

As offices everywhere prepare to celebrate end-of-winter festivities and to ring in the New Year, it is a holiday-must to limit the potential liability resulting from office shenanigans. So says labor lawyers familiar with the party fallouts.

Among some of the potential hazards are instances of sexual harassment, the risk of workers’ compensation liability, excessive alcohol consumption, and wage and hour claims by non-exempt employees, according to information from the Holiday Party Liability Prevention Checklist published by Practical Law Company.

Although not as commonly litigated, some companies are also careful not to infringe on the religious beliefs of their employees, something that generally has few legal implications unless an employee works for the government or is discriminated against, said labor lawyer Michael S. Mitchell of Fisher & Phillips.

Mitchell has written and spoken extensively on the subject of holiday party liability. He said in reality, religious objections to calling a party a “Christmas” party, for example, as opposed to a “holiday” party, are not as salacious as their Hollywood portrayal.

“It’s rare to get a religious objection to a Christmas party for a couple of reasons. Many employers, maybe most of them, are political[ly] sensitive enough to this issue to automatically refer to holiday parties generically. And most employees are not the hypersensitive, thin-skinned, professional victims, that you see on TV,” he said. “There are far too many of them, of course, and they can make life miserable for the rest of us, but in this case there really is no legal basis for complaining unless the employer is a government entity. A private employer is free to call a party by any name it chooses, including Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur, etc. [There is no legal issue] as long as no employee is being forced to go along with the employer’s religious beliefs and is not discriminated against if they choose not to participate.”

Mitchell offers a few suggestions to help prevent litigation following a holiday party. Not serving alcohol is one way to prevent some of the more serious incidences. Inviting spouses and significant others could also help keep employees on their best behavior, he said. A cash bar, as opposed to an open bar, and making sure there is food and non-alcoholic beverages also can ensure a fun and liability-free party.

Further, professional bartenders, a no-cost taxi service and keeping the mistletoe packed away are also smart moves. Applicable laws vary state by state, according to the Holiday Party Liability Prevention Checklist and information from Mitchell, but many states have “dram-shop” laws that place liability on bartenders and bar owners when clearly inebriated patrons who are planning to drive home are continually served.

“Large awards … would most likely occur when an employer serves, or allows a bartender to serve, an obviously inebriated employee or guest, knowing that he or she will be driving home,” Mitchell said. Further, the liability prevention checklist notes “although the law varies from state to state, workers’ compensation benefits may be available to employees who are injured during, or because of, an employer-sponsored event.”

Disassociating the function from the employees’ duties, ensuring employees know there is no business purpose for the event, letting them know attendance is not mandatory and holding the event off site are ways to protect against workers’ compensation claims, it reads.

• Prev
• Next