來源Why Office Romance Is on the Wane
譯者冬季戀歌
Why Office Romance Is on the Wane
With legal threats on the rise, especially from "third parties," office affairs could be the latest recession casualty
隨著法律風(fēng)險(xiǎn)上升，尤其是來自“第三方”的訴訟，辦公室戀情最終是經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退最新的受害者。
By Spencer Morgan
作者：斯賓塞·摩根
linkedin connections In 2002, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) dispatched an investigator to Guatemala City on a top secret assignment: to spy on factory inspection manager James W. Lynn as he toured a facility with a female colleague. During four days of surveillance, the investigator eventually uncovered the evidence he was after in the form of "moans and sighs" emanating from their Holiday Inn bedroom. In accordance with Wal-Mart's rigid "no-fraternization" policy, Lynn was fired.
2002年，沃爾瑪超市派了一名密探去危地馬拉城執(zhí)行一項(xiàng)絕密任務(wù)：以隨同一名女同事參觀為名，暗中監(jiān)視工廠檢查經(jīng)理詹姆士W•林恩。最終，在四天的監(jiān)視中， 密探苦苦追尋的證據(jù)從他們的假日旅館的臥房以“呻吟和喘息”展現(xiàn)。按照沃爾瑪?shù)膰?yán)格的“不深交”政策，林恩被解雇了。
The time-honored institution known as the office romance has survived threats like corporate no-fraternization policies, philandering chief executives, and David Letterman. (Or, in the recent case of former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Mark Hurd, ambiguous contractors.) Now there's a new legal menace: scorned workers who claim that an office affair fostered an invidious work environment, even if they weren't actually involved in the romance themselves. So-called third party or hostile work environment sexual harassment claims are difficult to prove but easy to allege, particularly by employees fearing for their jobs in a sluggish economy.
這個(gè)因辦公室戀情而久享盛名的機(jī)構(gòu)在不深交政策、玩弄女性的首席執(zhí)行官、《大衛(wèi)•萊特曼秀》之下得以幸免。(或者，近期前任惠普公司首席執(zhí)行官馬克•赫德中含混不清的合約商。)現(xiàn)在又出現(xiàn)一個(gè)新的法律威脅：蔑視聲稱辦公室戀情產(chǎn)生充滿妒忌的工作環(huán)境的員工，即使他們自己沒有涉足戀情。對(duì)于所謂的第三方或帶敵意的工作環(huán)境下的性騷擾索賠說起來容易證實(shí)起來難，特別是在當(dāng)前經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣的情況下雇員們擔(dān)心失業(yè)。
As job insecurity has mounted and third party claims have risen, the office fling may become the recession's latest victim. "It seems likely that there's a certain opportunistic element to what's happening out there," says Sondra Solovay, a director of Workplace Answers, a San Francisco-based compliance services company. "Employees who fear for their jobs are making sexual favoritism complaints as a means of ensuring their own job security."
隨著工作的不安全感的增加以及第三方索賠案件上漲，辦公室風(fēng)流將成為經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退的最新的受害者。“看來其中可能有些投機(jī)取巧的因素，” 職場(chǎng)問答主管桑德拉•索洛韋說，職場(chǎng)問答是一家總部設(shè)在舊金山的行為準(zhǔn)則服務(wù)公司，“為工作擔(dān)憂的員工把抱怨性徇私作為保障自己職業(yè)安全感的一種途徑。”
The most pressing threat to the office romance, Solovay says, is the rise of the retaliation lawsuit. Such suits are waged by workers who claim they were fired to prevent them from filing a discrimination claim against their employer. Currently, retaliation suits are contributing to a wave of litigation that has employers in a panic. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's records show claims involving retaliation grew by 23 percent in 2008—roughly twice the rate of all other claims. They totaled 32,690 and accounted for approximately one-third of claims filed with the agency. Retaliation claims rose again last year, accounting for 36 percent of the total. The EEOC, whose mandate is to enforce federal antidiscrimination laws, has added 170 investigators across the country, in part to address the issue.
索洛韋說，對(duì)辦公室戀情最迫切的威脅是報(bào)復(fù)性訴訟的興起。訴訟主要由宣稱為防止他們琢磨著向雇主提出不公平待遇索賠而被解雇的工人提出。目前，這種報(bào)復(fù)性訴訟掀起了新一波的起訴浪潮，這使得雇主們惶惶不安。平等就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)委員會(huì)（Equal Employment Opportunity Commission，EEOC）的記錄表明2008年以牙還牙式訴訟中的索賠增長(zhǎng)了23%——約為其他所有的索賠的增長(zhǎng)比例的兩倍，共計(jì)32，690件，約占總額的三分之一。去年該類投訴案件再次增長(zhǎng)，占總額的36%。職責(zé)為執(zhí)行聯(lián)邦反歧視法的EEOC在全國(guó)范圍內(nèi)又增加了170名人員，一定程度上是為了解決這一問題。
A once-amorous workforce already seems to be feeling the effects. This February, 75 percent of U.S. workers surveyed by job search website Monster.com (MWW) believed a workplace relationship could bring a conflict. Sixty-two percent said they felt office romances were a distraction from job performance. Careerbuilder.com's annual Valentine's Day romance poll has shown an alarming decline in reported office trysts. In 2006, 50 percent of respondents claimed to have partaken in a workplace relationship during their career. Earlier this year, the number dropped to 37 percent.
曾經(jīng)多情的員工貌似已經(jīng)感受到了這一效果。今年二月， 美國(guó)75%的接受求職網(wǎng)站Monster.com （MWW）調(diào)查的員工認(rèn)為職場(chǎng)戀情會(huì)引起沖突。62%的人稱他們認(rèn)為辦公室戀情降低工作績(jī)效。Careerbuilder.com網(wǎng)站一年一度的情人節(jié)浪漫民意測(cè)驗(yàn)顯示公開的辦公室幽會(huì)顯著下降。在2006年，50%的受訪者宣稱曾在職業(yè)生涯期間發(fā)展過職場(chǎng)戀情。今年年初，這一數(shù)字下降到了37%。
This is disturbing news not only for employees but also for their bosses. Some management experts believe that a workplace fling can "greatly increase something called 'engagement,' " says Stephanie Losee, co-author of Office Mate, a guide to finding love in the workplace. "That's when you're excited to come in and work and you care about your company." For these reasons, National Public Radio, Princeton Review (REVU), Pixar (DIS), and Southwest Airlines (LUV) encourage in-house matchmaking. Frederick S. Lane III, author of The Naked Employee, argues that co-worker couples spend more time at work, take fewer sick days, and are less likely to quit.
這一消息不僅令員工坐立不安，而且令他們的老板們心神不定。一些管理專家認(rèn)為辦公室戀情能“大大提高所謂的‘義務(wù)感’，” 職場(chǎng)尋愛指南《辦公室伴侶》的合著者Stephanie Losee說:“屆時(shí)，你會(huì)興沖沖的來上班，關(guān)心你的公司。”由于這些原因，國(guó)家公共電臺(tái)，《普林斯頓評(píng)論》（REVU），皮克斯（DIS），西南航空公司（LUV）鼓勵(lì)內(nèi)部配對(duì)?！冻嗦愕穆殕T》一書作者Frederick S. Lane III認(rèn)為同事夫婦投入到工作的時(shí)間更多， 病假更少，辭職的可能性更小。
More than ever, all it takes is one overly amorous apple to ruin the fun for everyone. Claims of such behavior led to the landmark office romance legal ruling—Miller vs. Dept. of Corrections, in 2005—involving a story of a classic prison love triangle. Plaintiffs Edna Miller and Frances Mackey, both corrections officers, claimed they were discrimination victims of Chief Deputy Warden Lewis Kuykendall, who allegedly was sleeping with three of their colleagues. Miller and Mackey alleged that Kuykendall habitually rewarded the three women with promotions, bonuses, and other special treatment. On one occasion, they said, a paramour announced that if she didn't get promoted, she would take the warden down with her knowledge of "every scar on his body."
而且，毀掉所有人樂趣僅僅需要一個(gè)濫情的家伙。在2005年，對(duì)此類行為的索賠制定了具有里程碑意義的職場(chǎng)戀情法規(guī)——米勒監(jiān)獄法案。其中涉及到一個(gè)經(jīng)典的獄警三角戀。原告埃德娜•米勒和弗朗西斯•麥基二人均是獄警，聲稱她們是被副監(jiān)獄長(zhǎng)Lewis Kuykendall歧視的受害者。據(jù)稱，他與三名女同事有染。米勒和麥基聲稱，Kuykendall習(xí)慣性地以升職、獎(jiǎng)金以及其它特殊待遇嘉獎(jiǎng)這三名女性。有一次，她們說，其中一個(gè)情婦宣稱，如果她沒有得到升職，就憑自己知道該監(jiān)獄長(zhǎng)“身上的每一處疤痕”把他拉下位。
Worse, Miller and Mackey described a prison rife with awkward tension, lovers' quarrels, and public displays of affection. When Miller told Kuykendall about an additional affair one of his girlfriends was having with another female employee, she said, the message was passed on to the paramour, who summarily beat Miller into submission and locked her in a closet.
更糟的是，米勒和麥基描述的監(jiān)獄充滿緊張不安、情侶間爭(zhēng)吵以及公開示愛。米勒告訴Kuykendall他的女朋友與另一名女性雇員有私情，她說， 這名情婦得知此事后，把米勒打到求饒，還把她鎖在壁櫥里。
In its ruling, the California Supreme Court declared that neither Miller nor Mackey were victims of traditional sexual harassment. However, it concluded, their claims implied they suffered the collateral damage of an office romance, even though they weren't intimately involved. The case subsequently redefined sexual discrimination liability—and the intervening years have only seen the law evolve more.
在裁定期間，加州最高法院宣告米勒和麥基均不是傳統(tǒng)性騷擾受害者。然而，歸根究底，她們的訴訟暗示她們也遭受了職場(chǎng)戀情帶來的附加傷害，盡管他們的關(guān)系并不密切。隨后，該案件重新定義了歧視的責(zé)任，前幾年見證了該法規(guī)的進(jìn)化過程。
Third party discrimination claims have helped further the rise in retaliation and develop the legal theory of "Sex Plus." Regarding the latter, courts have ruled that when a romance enters the office, an employee can prove discrimination based on gender "plus" another particular characteristic. If a manager's failed office romance forces him or her to focus more heavily on the work, his increasing demands on, for example, a pregnant underling could give her the grounds for a lawsuit. Under Sex Plus, the pregnant woman could allege that the office romance had provided an underlying basis for a separate act of discrimination. "When the courts find in favor of the client, then interpretation of the law gets expanded," says Dr. John A. Pearce II, an endowed chairman at Villanova School of Business. "We're seeing the emergence of more and more third party cases. Attorneys go to court and say, 'Following the logic of these laws, we think that you ought to find in favor of our client in this particular new twist.' And that's exactly what's happened."
第三方歧視索賠進(jìn)一步促進(jìn)報(bào)復(fù)性訴訟的增長(zhǎng)以及“性好處”的法律理論。之于后者，法院已裁定，在辦公室發(fā)展戀情時(shí)，雇員可以利用另外一個(gè)獨(dú)特的特征證明其是基于性別“以及”另一特征的歧視。如果經(jīng)理因?yàn)樽约恨k公室戀情的失敗而強(qiáng)迫他或她能做更多的工作，要求也越來越多。 例如，懷孕的下屬就可以以此為由提起訴訟。在性好處的情況下，孕婦則可聲稱辦公室戀情為單獨(dú)的性別歧視行為提供了潛在基礎(chǔ)。 “當(dāng)法庭的發(fā)現(xiàn)更支持訴訟委托人時(shí)，那么對(duì)該法律的解釋將會(huì)得到擴(kuò)展，”大學(xué)維拉諾瓦商學(xué)院主席John A. Pearce II博士說:“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)出現(xiàn)越來越多的第三方的案例。律師上法庭會(huì)說:‘根據(jù)這些法律的邏輯，我們認(rèn)為你們應(yīng)該在這個(gè)特殊的新困境中支持我們的委托人’，當(dāng)時(shí)就是這樣。”
According to the EEOC, money paid out by companies in sexual harassment lawsuits has averaged only $47.8 million over the last 12 years. That low figure, many believe, is indicative of employers' preference to settle out of court rather than face an ugly lawsuit. However, thanks to the rise of third party discrimination claims, the EEOC recovered $376 million on behalf of discrimination victims in 2009.
據(jù)EEOC稱， 僅在過去12年，由公司支付性騷擾訴訟案件中就達(dá)到每年47，800，000美元。許多人認(rèn)為，該數(shù)據(jù)如此之低揭露了雇主喜歡庭外解決，而不是通過丟面子的官司。然而，由于第三方歧視索賠的不斷增多，EEOC于2009年代表被歧視的受害者收回3.76億美元。
Fearing such settlements amid a recession, a growing number of companies are fighting back. One popular method is forcing employees to sit through Web-based compliance training sessions that underscore the perils of a little affection in the copy room. By consolidating sensitivity seminars and policy education into a mandatory online tutorial, companies can put the onus of awareness on the employee. "The dollar amounts that companies are spending on training in general are significantly down from the 2007 and 2008 period," says Gary Fusco, a senior director at Workplace Answers. "But [one of] the two areas where companies actually grew in terms of real dollars targeted was compliance."
經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退期間，由于擔(dān)心EEOC的解決方法，越來越多的公司正發(fā)起反擊。普遍的一種方法是迫使雇員坐下，利用網(wǎng)絡(luò)進(jìn)行行為準(zhǔn)則培訓(xùn)，甚至強(qiáng)調(diào)復(fù)印室里的絲毫私情的危險(xiǎn)。通過將理性研討會(huì)和政策教育鞏固成強(qiáng)制性的在線輔導(dǎo)，公司將強(qiáng)化雇員的責(zé)任意識(shí)。“從2007年和2008年期間，公司一般用在培訓(xùn)上的資金顯著下降，”，職場(chǎng)問答的高級(jí)主管蓋理•福斯柯：“但是實(shí)際上公司投入資金增長(zhǎng)的一種方式是服從。”（此句求眉批）
Another strategy is forcing employees to sign "love contracts," the office version of a prenup, stating their mutual affection will not interfere with the workplace. If such documentation effectively takes the fun out of an office romance, well, that's the point.
另一個(gè)策略是迫使雇員簽署“愛情合約”，婚前協(xié)議辦公室版，聲明雙方的情感不會(huì)妨礙工作。如果這樣的文件能有效的辦公室戀情中的樂趣抹殺，這才是問題的關(guān)鍵。
Most companies, however, haven't yet decided what to do. According to a survey of more than 600 companies by the Society for Human Resource Management, 13 percent reported having a written policy addressing intra-office affairs; 14 percent claimed they had an unwritten one. "Companies are still on the fence," says Fusco. "They want to see what happens next before making their move."
然而，大多數(shù)公司還沒有決定要怎么做。根據(jù)一項(xiàng)由人力資源管理機(jī)構(gòu)對(duì)600多家公司開展的調(diào)查，13%的公司有書面政策解決辦公室戀情，14%的公司聲稱他們有不成文的規(guī)定。“公司依然報(bào)觀望態(tài)度，”，F(xiàn)usco說:“他們想看看在采取措施之前接下來會(huì)發(fā)生什么。”
One such company is discount retailer Costco (COST). A recent issue of its monthly magazine, The Costco Connection, featured a photo of two co-workers locking lips over a queue divider under the banner headline, "Should dating co-workers sign a 'love contract'?" The Connection offered a panel of experts to inform the debate. "At issue here is whether an organization should invite a host of organizational vulnerabilities so as not to impede an office romance," noted Francie Dalton, one of the featured "experts from the field" and founder of Maryland-based management consultancy Dalton Alliances. "That it may happen anyway is not sufficient to negate the need for clear policy....This isn't being hard-hearted—it's acting to avoid ill-advised risk."
其中一個(gè)這樣的公司便是美國(guó)科思科連鎖企業(yè)（COST）。最近一期月刊《科思科通信》上以兩名同事的嘴唇被一排鎖扣住，通欄大標(biāo)題為“與同事約會(huì)要簽‘愛情合約’”？該雜志邀請(qǐng)一組專家參與爭(zhēng)論。“爭(zhēng)論中，組織是否應(yīng)該征求一大堆組織上的漏洞，以免妨礙辦公室戀情發(fā)展，”，“該領(lǐng)域重要專家”兼馬里蘭的管理咨詢公司道爾頓聯(lián)盟的創(chuàng)始人佛朗斯•道爾頓說：“這也是遲早的事，并不足以否定對(duì)明確政策的需要....這么做并不是鐵石心腸，這只是為了避免不明智的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。”
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