The three rules of office parties :(

Orionaut

Orionaut

Orionaut

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See https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-two-Brexit-lawyer-47-bottom-150ft-cliff.html

#1 Don't go! Catch flu, break a leg, do whatever you need to do to get out of it!
#2 If you can't get out of it, Don't drink alcohol!
#3 Above all else, do not even think of attempting to pay any compliments (Or even to talk to) anybody of the opposite Sex (Or even the same sex in today's world, you never know!)

And the fourth rule of the three

See Rule #1!

Now, WRT the linked story.

I know somebody who pretty much had the exact same experience (Minus the throwing himself off a cliff part, thankfully)

He was exonerated in the end but it cost him some £70,000 in legal fees (Unrecoverable)

Not fighting it was not an option since that would have been the end of his career.

In his case, He didn't want to go to the damn party in the first place but, since clients were invited too, the party was more or less a parade requirement (Like a regimental diner) and failing infirmity he didnt feel able to not go.

but really. Office parties simply dont seem woth the risk these days.

Thank goodness for self employment and sole trader status! :/
 
Yup, if you can't keep your hands or sexist comments to yourself, probably a good idea to avoid works parties.
 
The Daily Mail appears to be slipping as the article only manages about half a dozen references to Brexit.

Anyway, to bring this back to GD level I suppose i should thank my lucky stars that I appear to be a member of the lucky 99.9% of people that can attend a works party/social event and somehow not generate multiple complaints about inappropriate behaviour to female colleagues.
 
Or just know who your friends are and what is/isn't acceptable.

You'd have to be really bad socially or potentially on the spectrum somewhat to say refuse to interact with a member of the opposite sex to the point where you're too frightened to even pay them compliments.

I think some people who think along those lines would probably be having palpitations if they witnessed some of the stuff that went on at my previous workplace.
 
I can't imagine you throw yourself off a cliff because Susan from accounts accused you of saying she had a nice pair of ****, it must have been a pretty serious accusation for him to do that before even an investigation?
 
Kenai said:
I can't imagine you throw yourself off a cliff because Susan from accounts accused you of saying she had a nice pair of ****, it must have been a pretty serious accusation for him to do that before even an investigation?
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There is always more to the story.
 
Kenai said:
I can't imagine you throw yourself off a cliff because Susan from accounts accused you of saying she had a nice pair of ****, it must have been a pretty serious accusation for him to do that before even an investigation?
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Does seem pretty strange - must be much more to it unless he had severe mental health issues in the first place.
 
Do everything, **** it.

We are lucky enough not to have any flakes in our office, so can actually have fun and do banter. I think if we had any of the full-time offended types working there, some of us would be in prison by now :p
 
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As this thread shows, not only is guilt routinely presumed but guilt of something very serious is routinely presumed even when the only accusation known was a meaningless phrase that could have meant anything or nothing and there is no known evidence.

In those circumstances, why would suicide be so surprising?

Kenai said:
I can't imagine you throw yourself off a cliff because Susan from accounts accused you of saying she had a nice pair of ****, it must have been a pretty serious accusation for him to do that before even an investigation?
Click to expand...

To pick one example, Michael Douglas was accused of sexual harassment because 32 years ago he was on the phone with a friend and a 3rd person overhead him and claimed he was "speaking raunchily" to his friend on the other end of the phone. Anything, absolutely anything, can result in a complaint. Or nothing at all, since accusing a man is such an effective way of harming him and no evidence is required. With that degree of imbalance in power, some people will abuse it.

In the current climate, any such accusation against a man is a serious one. The details of the accusation don't matter as much because the harm done is severe regardless of the details as a man is routinely presumed guilty of Very Bad Things anyway. If you cry "WITCH!" during a witch-hunt, it doesn't matter a great deal exactly how much of a witch you're accusing the person of being.
 
FortuitousFluke said:
I went to my work Christmas party. I had a drink. I wasn't accused of sexual misconduct and didn't therefore kill myself. Am I one of the lucky few? No. Don't be stupid.
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I routinely walk through Hanley, a nasty area of a nasty city, at night. I haven't been robbed, beaten, stabbed, raped or killed. Does that mean those things don't happen? No. Don't be stupid.
 
At one place I worked at (private sector), one of the lady from the sales team would flirt with the guys. She would feel sheepish on the next day for her actions, but everyone would otherwise just get on with things as the rest of the year rolls round. No one perma-offended. I'm not sure why the media pinpoints Christmas do's in particular, although I guess it must be true as we've had birthday do's as well and they all involved alcohol without further ado. People seem to get into more mischief at Christmas time.
 
Angilion said:
I routinely walk through Hanley, a nasty area of a nasty city, at night. I haven't been robbed, beaten, stabbed, raped or killed. Does that mean those things don't happen? No. Don't be stupid.
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Absolutely not. But the info in the OP implies that this stuff happens as standard. It doesn't, hence the need for a bit of a sense check.

That's not to mention the fact the report is light on details and from what I can see, if something did happen, up to the point he killed himself the process seemed pretty standard. Accusations made, inform the accused, investigate.
 
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