美国国家公共电台 NPR Holiday Parties Gone Wrong: Careful Where You Hang The Mistletoe

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Office holiday parties have the potential to go very, very wrong. Your boss, colleagues, booze - often not a great mix. This year, NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports sensitivity is running particularly high in the age of #metoo.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE¹: Office holiday functions do serve a legitimate² business purpose. They can boost morale³ and reward workers for jobs well done. Louis Lessig is an employment attorney in Westmont, N.J.

LOUIS LESSIG: In a world where telecommuting and virtual work and the gig economy is structured such that we don't have a whole lot of face time anymore, it's a natural opportunity to get together.

NOGUCHI: But with parties, come occasional mischief⁴. And because holiday parties are still work functions, Lessig says employers are often legally liable even if incidents occur at venues⁵ offsite.

LESSIG: When it comes to your small to mid-sized company, there's an awful lot of concern because, certainly, one significant hit for a claim like this could put them out of business.

NOGUCHI: And he says what happens at a party, rarely stays at the party.

LESSIG: Everyone has an iPhone or Android phone, which means everyone can take a picture or video of anything that happens in a moment's notice.

NOGUCHI: Jim Reidy is an employment lawyer based in Manchester, N.H., and hears a fair amount about office holiday parties gone wrong. Last year, the high-profile CEO of a local company kicked things off by hanging mistletoe from the front of his pants belt.

JIM REIDY: And dancing around and making suggestions about, you know, it's the holidays. Can't you see the mistletoe? And making suggestions and so on.

NOGUCHI: This spectacle did not meet his HR department's definition of holiday cheer.

REIDY: His response was I was kidding. Everybody knows I'm kidding. I would never do that. But, you know, what runs contrary to that is the fact that he was hanging mistletoe off of his belt.

NOGUCHI: Reidy says it also put employees in a quandary⁶.

REIDY: They were also a segment of people saying you know, do I say something, and fear for retaliation⁷ or being sort of that buzz kill at the party. That's emblematic⁸ of why a lot of employers have gotten away from this.

NOGUCHI: Reidy says a lot of his cases sound like scenes from sitcoms⁹.

REIDY: Everything from the misuse¹⁰ of the photocopier¹¹ for people to take pictures of body parts and send them to others or post them around the office to dancing the forbidden dance was a case that we had.

NOGUCHI: 2017 was a good year for many companies, and they have cash to spend on parties. But Reidy, who surveyed about 40 companies in his area, says, this year, more than half opted¹² to go non-alcoholic at their shindigs. Vox Media fired its editorial director in October for sexual harassment¹³. Earlier this month, the company sent an email to its New York employees saying, instead of an open bar, it would issue two drink tickets for every guest. It changed its policy, Vox said, at many employees' request.

For those serving alcohol, Reidy advises other measures like limiting the length of the party or holding the event during the day and inviting¹⁴ spouses¹⁵ and children. Overall, says Riedy, workplace parties are far tamer than they were during the 1980s and '90s.

REIDY: That said, a lot of employers assume that everybody got it with regard to sex harassment, yet we're still seeing these claims now surface.

NOGUCHI: Mark Spund, an attorney in New York City, says there may be an upside to the heightened concern among employers hosting parties.

MARK SPUND: They are getting much more sensitive to it. We are getting more calls about it. I've advised employers to republish their sexual harassment policy to be given out prior to any holiday party.

NOGUCHI: And that, he says, might make for a lot less eventful morning after. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

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1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

3 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

4 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

5 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

6 quandary   

n.困惑，进迟两难之境

参考例句：

• I was in a quandary about whether to go.我当时正犹豫到底去不去。
• I was put in a great quandary.我陷于进退两难的窘境。

7 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 emblematic   

adj.象征的，可当标志的；象征性

参考例句：

• The violence is emblematic of what is happening in our inner cities. 这种暴力行为正标示了我们市中心贫民区的状况。
• Whiteness is emblematic of purity. 白色是纯洁的象征。 来自辞典例句

9 sitcoms   

n.情景喜剧( sitcom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is the stuff most stadard TV sitcoms are made of. 这是大多数标注的电视幽默剧所采用的题材。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In most countries, prime-time Monday night television is dominated by sitcoms. 在大多数国家，周一晚上的电视黄金时段都由连续剧所占据。 来自互联网

10 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

11 photocopier   

n.复印机

参考例句：

• You've left your master in the photocopier.你把原件留在影印机里了。
• If the photocopier stops working,just give it a clout.如果那部影印机停止运转的话就敲它一下。

12 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

13 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

14 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

15 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句