With the holiday season approaching, employers should be mindful that office holiday parties can create HR headaches. As pandemic restrictions have declined, employers are eager to host, and employees are eager to attend, in-person social events.
However, a number of employment laws could be implicated from a holiday party gone wrong. Consequently, employers should keep these statutes top-of-mind this holiday season.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Be Merry, but Stay Away from the Mistletoe
An office holiday party can implicate multiple theories of liability under non-discrimination/non-harassment laws. First, laws such as Title VII prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of religion. So, if an office holiday party theme relates to a particular religious holiday, such as Christmas or excludes other seasonal religious celebrations, an employee could object to attending on religious grounds. In one case, an employer faced a Title VII discrimination lawsuit after it fired an employee who refused to attend the employer’s holiday party for religious reasons.
Second, sexual harassment is prohibited – and these protections extend beyond the four walls of the office – including to company social events. An employer can be liable for sexual harassment in the workplace when the harassment is severe or pervasive. As such, even one isolated incident of sexual harassment at an office holiday party may be sufficiently severe to result in liability. For example, if...
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