New York Lawyer
October 28, 2004

Q:
I work in-house as the legal counsel of a company. One of the employees began passing out flyers for some New Age self-improvement seminar at work. I immediately joked to her that it sounded like a cult. Sure enough, I did some research on the group on the Internet, and it's definitely a cult. The employee keeps trying to recruit her co-workers to attend seminars sponsored by the group.

Do I have any obligations to speak to the employee's supervisor or the HR department, or should I simply stay away from this mess?

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A:

Many organizations have rules about what sorts of materials can be passed around or sent via email, what material can be put on bulletin boards, etc. So first, check your company handbook to see if her actions violate any existing guidelines. If so, mention to her in a low-key way that what she�s doing isn�t appropriate under company policy. If she persists, go to her supervisor or the HR person to tell them what�s going on.

It could be that her actions don�t violate any existing guidelines, or you don�t have a company handbook that makes the policies clear. If, however, her actions are making you and others uncomfortable, you can use her cult-building as a basis to suggest to HR and/or responsible management that perhaps they need a system to govern such practices.

HR manager Gayle Englert, at Hackensack, N.J.�s Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, says her firm puts clear limits on such activities: "While we permit employees to post information in the employee lunch room, such as items for sale or charitable events, we do not permit direct solicitation. And we have an anti-harassment policy in place that covers any conduct that interferes with an individual�s performance or is found to create an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment."

As to whether you have an "obligation" on this issue: my feeling is that if those in charge aren�t handling issues such as this, you do have an informal obligation to try to deal with the situation. It�s easier to "stay away from this mess," but more appropriate and pro-active to deal with it in a politically sensitive and aware manner.

Sincerely,
Holly English