Is anyone taking “The Office” seriously? Should we?

Hey, I admit it — I like to watch the NBC workplace comedy “The Office.”

Do I sit around thinking about how a plaintiff’s employment lawyer might build a lawsuit on the sometimes outrageous, often inappropriate, and typically stupid conduct exhibited by the hapless manager, Michael?

No, not much anyway. But the show certainly contains plenty of material that could be used for lessons in HR and employment law.

So I was pleased to discover that Julie Elgar, a management employment attorney with Ford & Harrison, has started a blog entitled “that’s what she said,” that takes each episode of “The Office” and uses it for such lessons.

Sponsored by HR Hero, the blog’s pitch reads as follows:

Outing a gay employee, forcing a female employee to act out a lesbian love scene as part of sexual harassment training, and mass emailing romantic pictures to the entire company – such are the antics of Michael Scott, regional manager of Dundler Mifflin, the fictional paper company that serves as the setting for NBC’s hit show, The Office.

If Michael was your boss what would you do in these uncomfortable situations? If you said, “sue for millions,” you’d have a good case according to . . . Julie Elgar’s new blog, That’s What She Said. . . .

Named after Michael’s trademark punch line, That’s What She Said puts a price tag on each episode, estimating how much the politically incorrect behavior of Michael Scott and Dunder Mifflin would cost real-life companies to defend.

For instance, in the episode entitled “The Convict,” Michael reveals to the entire office that employee Martin has a criminal history. According to Julie’s blog, if it were a real life situation, Martin’s suit against Michael and the company could cost upwards of $500,000 after the company paid its lawyers, Martin’s lawyers and any award assessed by the jury. The settlement value of the episode “The Coup” (in which the boss forces an employee to stand atop his desk wearing a sign that says “liar” because of their perceived disloyalty) is $65,000.

As someone who litigates employment disputes on behalf of management, Julie enjoys watching The Office, but also pays special attention to the legal consequences presented in each episode. Through Julie’s blog, Ford & Harrison is able to provide HR executives and managers, as well as fans of the show, with a light and fun, but also educational take on today’s workplace.

“Because the show itself is hilarious, we hope HR executives and managers will find the tone of That’s What She Said light and fun. But the bottom line is that a real boss who behaved like Michael (as sweet and well intentioned as he is) would end up costing a real company hundreds of thousands of dollars. And that’s no laughing matter,” said Julie.

Yes, Michael is not a model of professional management in the modern legal environment. Yet I would question whether it is quite accurate to price these episodes as Julie does.

One element that is missing is an assessment of the likelihood the matter would go so far as to become a costly lawsuit. (True legal cost of conduct = probability of lawsuit x cost of lawsuit.)

If Michael’s antics don’t result in anyone getting fired or feeling that Michael is improperly thwarting their job advancement, the question is whether his employees’ temporarily hurt feelings will actually lead them to pursue legal action.

The workers in “The Office” strike me as getting along OK most of the time, and I think it’s really not a toxic work environment, despite Michael’s bumbling. (“Angela” could be a problem, though . . . seems like she can’t take a joke.)

But I don’t mean to say there aren’t good lessons in “The Office” (better safe than sorry, Michael), and I love the concept of Julie’s blog. Certainly, Michael takes unnecessary risks, and has done some things that probably warranted immediate termination (like hiring a stripper to perform in the office).

Bottom Line:

I immediately added “that’s what she said” to my blogroll, accessible through the Interactive Blogroll” mini-browser at right, and look forward to reading it as an essential companion to watching “The Office.”