Worst Employer Ever?

[Long Run]

Nice to know that at least one judge is willing to give employers the benefit of the doubt and say that nearly drowning an employee is not against "public policy". The legal part of the case is about the state high court reversing the lower court for not allowing the plaintiff a chance to rewrite his complaint (apparently there were some flaws in the initial complaint), but the facts, even if if partially true are appalling.

Chad Hudgens, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
Prosper, Inc., and Joshua Christopherson, Defendants and Appellees.
No. 20090391.

Supreme Court of Utah.
Filed November 23, 2010.

* * *
¶1 This appeal arises from the district court's dismissal of claims made by Chad Hudgens against Prosper, Inc., and Joshua Christopherson (collectively, "Prosper") for injuries related to the alleged waterboarding of Mr. Hudgens by Mr. Christopherson.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Because this is an appeal from dismissal under Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), we must accept all of Mr. Hudgens's factual allegations as true.[1] The facts in this section are set forth in accordance with this standard.

¶3 This case arises from an incident that occurred on May 29, 2007. At that time, Mr. Hudgens was an employee of Prosper under the direct supervision of Mr. Christopherson. During the ten months that Mr. Hudgens worked for Prosper, Mr. Christopherson had engaged in numerous questionable management practices. Specifically, when an employee did not meet performance goals, Mr. Christopherson would draw a mustache on the employee using permanent marker or he would remove the employee's chair. Additionally, he would patrol the employees' work area with a wooden paddle, which he would use to strike desks and tabletops. Prosper was aware of Mr. Christopherson's actions and encouraged his behavior because it led to increased revenue.

¶4 On May 29, 2007, Mr. Christopherson asked for volunteers for a new motivational exercise. He offered no explanation to his team members regarding the nature of the exercise. In his search for volunteers, Mr. Christopherson challenged the loyalty and determination of his team members. Mr. Hudgens volunteered to be a part of the exercise to prove his loyalty and determination. Mr. Christopherson then led his team members to the top of a hill near Prosper's office. Once on the hill, Mr. Christopherson ordered Mr. Hudgens to lie down, facing up, with his head pointed downhill. Mr. Christopherson ordered other team members to hold Mr. Hudgens down by his arms and legs. Mr. Christopherson then slowly poured water from a gallon jug over Mr. Hudgens's mouth and nose so that he could not breathe.[2] Mr. Hudgens struggled and tried to escape but, at Mr. Christopherson's direction, the other team members held him down. After concluding the exercise, Mr. Christopherson instructed his team members that they should work as hard at making sales as Mr. Hudgens had worked at trying to breathe.

¶5 Mr. Hudgens reported the incident to Prosper's human resources department. Prosper took no action in response to the incident prior to the time that Mr. Hudgens quit working for Prosper. Mr. Hudgens quit working because the waterboarding incident caused him to suffer sleeplessness, anxiety, depression, and to feel sick to his stomach at work. Because of the distress caused by the incident, Mr. Hudgens has undergone psychological counseling and has suffered physical and emotional harm.

¶6 Approximately seven months after the incident, on January 15, 2008, Mr. Hudgens filed a complaint against Prosper and Mr. Christopherson asserting four causes of action.
* * *
¶9 In a ruling issued on July 23, 2008, the district court dismissed Mr. Hudgens's complaint without prejudice. The court concluded that Mr. Hudgens's complaint failed to state a claim for common law assault, battery, or intentional infliction of emotional distress because the purpose of Mr. Christopherson's exercise was to motivate his team members, not to injure Mr. Hudgens. The court also concluded that Mr. Hudgens's complaint failed to state a claim for wrongful termination because it failed to adequately allege the violation of a pulic policy.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... i=scholarr

[Sue U]

Utah has no public policy against physical abuse/reckless endangerment of employees? Has anyone told Delaware? 'Cause DE's gonna lose a lot of corporate business, once word gets out.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Death by slow strangulation is what is called for here. A piece of wet leather tied around the neck then allowed to dry should work.

[Scooter]

Why should a private employer be held to a higher standard than the U.S. government, which claims that waterboarding is completely harmless?

[Rick]

Why should a private employer be held to a higher standard than the U.S. government, which claims that waterboarding is completely harmless?

Supposedly, the US water boards OTHER folks employees.

Not their own...