Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Great to have Jeremy Rosenthal back on the program, a
premier legal analyst. Jeremy, good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
How are you good.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
To have you back here. I'm well, thanks, I was
interested in and what's happening. This issue is kind of
highlighted by the cheating couple at the Coldplay concert that
were captured on the big screen, the jumbo tron, and
it brings to light office romance in general and how
companies are trying to deal with it, and some of
(00:30):
them are instituting what I suppose you might call a
love contract, right.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
That's right. This is sort of a glorified terms and
conditions of employment. The more and more sophisticated your employer is,
the bigger they are, the more corporate they are, the
more chances that when you come into work that you
have signed a bunch of HR documents and somewhere in
there is usually language about what happens. If there's a
(00:58):
romance in the office, you have to disclose it. Fratonization policies,
These quote unquote love contracts are a little more direct
and a little more specific and kind of highlight when
people are having a relationship at the office. The dues
that don't the upside downs, the sideways, all that stuff.
So yeah, yeah, yeah, it was as I was saying
(01:21):
that it was, you get it.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah yeah, Well anything well as particularly troublesome of cour
use if there's a superior subordinate relationship, right, and I'm
sure a lot of companies say, wait, we can't have this,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I don't know that a contract of that type is
really going to work because when you're when it's a
superior subordinate relationship, in those instances, the real functional problem
that you have is that one person is controlling the
pay and the rays and the promotion over other people,
and that gets pretty and and when you have that
(02:02):
type of a relationship, then there's really no there's really
no legal way that you can just sort of everybody
just pretend like it's not there. But yeah, it's more
for bigger companies that have a lot of employees in
different locations or different you know, planes, or even on
the organization chart, that are that are really in different spots.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Suppose it's not superior subordinate, suppose it's peers. Can a
company legally prohibit that kind of relationship?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I think they can. I think that you don't have
the right to necessarily work at a specific place. So
I think a company can say, look, this is against
our policy, and if you're going to be in love,
then one of you has to go or maybe one
of you is going to go to a different department,
(02:55):
one of you is going to go to a different branch,
one of you is going to be at a different facility.
But I think they can do that.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I don't know that that's good business, but it's America,
and you're you're in America. You are allowed to run
your business as poorly as you want.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah. On the other hand, if if a romance blossoms
between peers, if they're smart, and I work for a
company like that, there will be not one hand of
it in the office. Nobody will know. Well, well that's
hard to do.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, it's hard to do and and and sometimes love
just kind of takes over, doesn't it. So it's uh,
if folks can do that. And I think these love
contracts is kind of a way for the the company
or the business to sort of recognize it, acknowledge it,
at least bring it out into the open, into into
the light, because they know it's happening, right, they know
(03:47):
these things are going to happen if you if you
employ one thousand people or five hundred people or two
hundred people, is going to happen. So you may as
well kind of bring it out into the into the
open and and and deal with it and say, all right,
here's the expectations, here's what's okay, here's what's not okay,
here's what's going to get you in trouble. And ultimately,
(04:10):
companies corporations, I think they work on fear and they're
afraid of getting sued, and so this is their way
of kind of saying, look, I told you.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
So, Yeah, what about if you add the the element
of adultery in the mix. Uh, Now you're talking about
potentially a moral turpitude problem, right, and a lot of
companies have that in the contract.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It can certainly make it a lot stickier because if
if you're if you're having that situation and then somebody
winds up in divorce court, that gets very messy, very ugly,
and then subpoenas start going out to co workers and
oh sorry, our finance department go all everybody has to
(04:56):
go testify today so in court. And that that that
that that that makes a lot of discomfort and uh
and and it's just it's just not pleasant at all.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah. Almost thirty percent, according to one survey of US
workers are in or have been in a workplace romance,
so it's very common. Be careful out there, my friends. Jeremy, thanks,
you got it. Have a great weekend. You bet. Always
good to have you on. Jeremy Rosenthal here on kfa
b's morning News
Great to have Jeremy Rosenthal back on the program, a
premier legal analyst. Jeremy, good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
How are you good.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
To have you back here. I'm well, thanks, I was
interested in and what's happening. This issue is kind of
highlighted by the cheating couple at the Coldplay concert that
were captured on the big screen, the jumbo tron, and
it brings to light office romance in general and how
companies are trying to deal with it, and some of
(00:30):
them are instituting what I suppose you might call a
love contract, right.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
That's right. This is sort of a glorified terms and
conditions of employment. The more and more sophisticated your employer is,
the bigger they are, the more corporate they are, the
more chances that when you come into work that you
have signed a bunch of HR documents and somewhere in
there is usually language about what happens. If there's a
(00:58):
romance in the office, you have to disclose it. Fratonization policies,
These quote unquote love contracts are a little more direct
and a little more specific and kind of highlight when
people are having a relationship at the office. The dues
that don't the upside downs, the sideways, all that stuff.
So yeah, yeah, yeah, it was as I was saying
(01:21):
that it was, you get it.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah yeah, Well anything well as particularly troublesome of cour
use if there's a superior subordinate relationship, right, and I'm
sure a lot of companies say, wait, we can't have this,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
I don't know that a contract of that type is
really going to work because when you're when it's a
superior subordinate relationship, in those instances, the real functional problem
that you have is that one person is controlling the
pay and the rays and the promotion over other people,
and that gets pretty and and when you have that
(02:02):
type of a relationship, then there's really no there's really
no legal way that you can just sort of everybody
just pretend like it's not there. But yeah, it's more
for bigger companies that have a lot of employees in
different locations or different you know, planes, or even on
the organization chart, that are that are really in different spots.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Suppose it's not superior subordinate, suppose it's peers. Can a
company legally prohibit that kind of relationship?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I think they can. I think that you don't have
the right to necessarily work at a specific place. So
I think a company can say, look, this is against
our policy, and if you're going to be in love,
then one of you has to go or maybe one
of you is going to go to a different department,
(02:55):
one of you is going to go to a different branch,
one of you is going to be at a different facility.
But I think they can do that.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I don't know that that's good business, but it's America,
and you're you're in America. You are allowed to run
your business as poorly as you want.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah. On the other hand, if if a romance blossoms
between peers, if they're smart, and I work for a
company like that, there will be not one hand of
it in the office. Nobody will know. Well, well that's
hard to do.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, it's hard to do and and and sometimes love
just kind of takes over, doesn't it. So it's uh,
if folks can do that. And I think these love
contracts is kind of a way for the the company
or the business to sort of recognize it, acknowledge it,
at least bring it out into the open, into into
the light, because they know it's happening, right, they know
(03:47):
these things are going to happen if you if you
employ one thousand people or five hundred people or two
hundred people, is going to happen. So you may as
well kind of bring it out into the into the
open and and and deal with it and say, all right,
here's the expectations, here's what's okay, here's what's not okay,
here's what's going to get you in trouble. And ultimately,
(04:10):
companies corporations, I think they work on fear and they're
afraid of getting sued, and so this is their way
of kind of saying, look, I told you.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
So, Yeah, what about if you add the the element
of adultery in the mix. Uh, Now you're talking about
potentially a moral turpitude problem, right, and a lot of
companies have that in the contract.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
It can certainly make it a lot stickier because if
if you're if you're having that situation and then somebody
winds up in divorce court, that gets very messy, very ugly,
and then subpoenas start going out to co workers and
oh sorry, our finance department go all everybody has to
(04:56):
go testify today so in court. And that that that
that that that makes a lot of discomfort and uh
and and it's just it's just not pleasant at all.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah. Almost thirty percent, according to one survey of US
workers are in or have been in a workplace romance,
so it's very common. Be careful out there, my friends. Jeremy, thanks,
you got it. Have a great weekend. You bet. Always
good to have you on. Jeremy Rosenthal here on kfa
b's morning News
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