Litigation Value:  $300,000 per claim (until respected HR manager is in place).

Though there is so much to write about — interoffice romance, sexual harassment, what Kevin might be regarded as, pranks involving animals, and fraud — tonight, in honor of Toby’s departure, I want to focus on monsters.  It is no secret that Michael thinks Toby is one of the worst out there.  Not known for his subtlety, Michael referred to Toby as “His Horribleness,” called him an “idiot” several times, and compared him to Satan — all in between beeps on his watch alarm.  Over the last 12 years, Michael has mocked (and blocked) Toby’s HR efforts every step of the way.  The “Suck This” rock best sums up Michael’s feelings toward Toby.

Unfortunately, we sometimes see that companies in the real world have similar (though rarely as impassioned) views of HR.  Some on the business side see HR as an obstacle rather than a tool — and want us “Tobys” to all go off to South America.  Now, we know that this mindset is very dangerous and can create significant liability.  When employees see that management doesn’t take HR seriously, they don’t either.  This causes even more violations of policy — usually left unreported (because why bother).  And it really opens the company up to more claims and being blind-sided because HR can’t possibly have a pulse on an organization in this type of environment.

Like all finales are supposed to do, this one left us with a lot of unanswered questions.   What’s going to happen with Angela and Andy/Dwight?  Where is Mose’s raccoon?  Is the force with Holly?  Might she turn out to be E.T.?  Might Kevin have special needs, as that would explain a lot?  And the list goes on.

But two things remain certain.  First, Dunder Mifflin will have plenty of problems for us to write about next season.  And HR folks are not monsters at all.  Ask your management:  “Have you hugged your Toby today?”  Okay, don’t — it might violate your harassment policy!

Now don’t miss That’s What She Said over the summer.  I’ll look at the repeats each week and examine more juicy issues that we haven’t yet looked at.  So, keep on blogging!

HARASSMENT CLAIMS: $200,000 - $300,000.

NEGLIGENCE/PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS: $50,000 - $75,000.

WATCHING ANDY EAT IT IN THE SAND PIT: Priceless.

It is truly my honor to take over this blog for my good friend, Julie Elgar. She has provided us all with great practical and legal tips over the past year, and we will miss her. Though big shoes to fill, I promise to do the same, and I guarantee that we’ll all have fun. As a former HR professional myself, I understand the importance of humor in the face of our daily challenges.

Well, this week’s episode gives me the opportunity to talk about HR Rule #1: Never offer up your employee’s body for bidding. Michael’s attempt to lure Justin to Dunder Mifflin by letting him know that Pam is the “office hottie” and that she will “do” him given her reputation for dating her co-workers is just not good manners. That aside, it is obviously really bad evidence. A less obvious complication is that Oscar (who Michael referred to as “Oscar Mayer Weiner Lover” in last week’s show) was visibly offended. Though not the target of Michael’s comments at the job fair, Oscar could also bring a harassment claim because he took offense to these sexually-charged comments about Pam. And, Michael’s comment when witnessing Pam and Jim making out in the office is generally not the type of reprimand that we advise employers to give employees for such inappropriate conduct. Instead, “kiss her real good” is more probably another sexually-charged comment that is simply the cherry on top of Pam’s (and possibly others’) harassment claim.

After litigating the dead loser harassment claim or claims, Dunder Mifflin should probably settle all other potential claims for the out-of-office “experiences” that we watched. It is not generally a good idea to let folks like Andy drive a golf cart or let Michael near a ball in a crowd (or anywhere for that matter). Seriously, Dunder Mifflin is probably on the hook for Andy’s fall into the sand pit and the injuries suffered by any unfortunate student that didn’t get out of the way of Michael’s booted ball. And the beers after the last hole (though delicately downed by a straw for some) only add fuel to the fire and money to those claims. Even though they were out of the office, all of these employees were working – whether recruiting at the fair or attempting to develop business. As a result, the company is on the hook.

The only thing offsetting this bad HR day out of The Office is the likely recovery of the money Kevin took from petty cash. But, as you can tell a few hundred bucks is not going to cover this bill.

LITIGATION VALUE: $450,000 (could be more if several employees file claims)

As Julie has been called upon to practice law this week, she asked me to blog in her place. I’m Troy Foster, a fellow labor and employment attorney with Ford & Harrison and also a big fan of the show. Thankfully this week’s episode gave me plenty of material.

Mama Mia! Andy’s not only “taking a chance” on Angela, but also with Dunder Mifflin’s pocket book. Things are ripe for a sexual harassment claim that will be difficult to defend. Angela is probably in the driver’s seat with this one. In addition to Andy’s serenade, his asking her out for dinner “and maybe more,” touching her back, and commenting to others about her attractiveness are making this an uphill battle for Dunder Mifflin. Add to that Dwight’s constant badgering her to get back together, and her rejection after rejection of his advances, and we’ve got a real problem. And, that’s only what happened in one day. (Don’t forget that Jim’s claim could be next if Meredith keeps lifting her dress up and whispering sweet nothings.)

As usual, Michael is not helping things either. He knows about all of the inter-office relationships (whether it’s Dwight and Angela, Jim and Pam, or Andy’s efforts to secure Angela’s heart); on top of that, he condones and even encourages office romance. Managers really should know that these relationships are absolutely taboo. (If companies want to allow any co-workers to have romantic relationships, they should make them sign the agreement that Jim and Pam tried to get Toby to hand over – when he said let’s just see what happens.) As in any relationship, things can be going along smoothly, and then once the relationship hits a rather large rut – like when your beau becomes Kitty Kevorkian – things go south quickly. Angela’s frustration and anger at Dwight, combined with Andy’s persistence to get Angela to “take a chance,” may soon turn into a sexual harassment claim against the company. And, it may not be the bear horn that Angela’s ringing – it’s the bell when the jury awards her big bucks!