Soak the rich

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 8th, 2009 - 8 comments
Categories: workers' rights - Tags:

Coming soon to a workplace near you, if Kate Wilkinson gets her way:

According to this report by Roll on Friday, a receptionist formerly employed by a major US law firm is suing the firm, saying she had no choice but to wet herself.

Rebecca Landrith was employed by Littler Mendelson, a leading employment law firm. She claimed there was no other receptionist and that the firm had no “consistent policy or procedure as to when or how [she] could take a restroom break”.

Unbelievable. What does this woman expect us to do? Tie up businesses in red tape by legislating for regular breaks?

[Hat tip: Greg Cain.]

8 comments on “Soak the rich ”

  1. In expectation of someone raising the canard that most employers are reasonable: employment law isn’t there to protect us from reasonable employers – its there to protect us from the unreasonable ones (or, in this case, evil stupid pricks who want their very expensive foyer to smell of piss).

  2. Nick 2

    And the point of this post is???????

    • Eddie 2.1

      Read the first line again, maybe click through to the linked article if you haven’t been keeping up with the news.

  3. Shouldn’t these employment lawyers know better than to treat their staff that way?

    They could at least have given their staff access to free diapers…

  4. Nick 4

    Right, the Gnats are going to pass a law banning taking a piss during work.

    It’s you guys who are now taking the piss!

  5. gargoyle 5

    If she really wanted to make her point a beef vindaloo the night before followed by a dump at reception would have been more effective.

    I recall a similar experience at Heathrow after a flight from Mumbai ……… people were retching and passing out from the stench.

  6. QoT 6

    From the Roll on Friday article:

    Cynics might comment that it’s hard to justify continued employment for anyone who thinks that sitting in their own wee all day is preferable to leaving reception unmanned for two minutes.

    I understand it’s not an entirely serious comment, but it definitely screams of someone who’s never had to make that decision, knowing that of course the second you step away from the desk the single most important call of the WEEK is going to come in and you’re going to be the one in the firing line if it gets missed – legal entitlements and basic human dignity be damned.

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