“Why does it seem as if most of the decisions in my workplace are made by drunken lemurs?”

“Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent.”

“Why are talented people so busy?”

“They’re fixing the problems made by people who have time.”

One single post on this blog has received more traffic than any other: Man fired for posting ‘Dilbert’ comparing boss to drunken lemur. Back in December, I posted a snip from the Des Moines Register on how casino employee Dave Steward locked horns with his managers about a posted cartoon. Cartoonist Scott Adams even commented on the absurdity of the situation on his DilbertBlog.

This week, Adams did more than muse on it – he actually has Wally experience what Steward did. Of course, Adam’s version is funnier. Check it out:

20-Feb-08: Pointy-Haired Boss, “Our surveillance cameras caught you posting this anti-management comic on the wall.“

21-Feb-08: Catbert, “You won’t be eligible for unemployment benefits unless you can prove you were stupid as opposed to malicious.“

22-Feb-08: Wally, “The company will be fine without my secret and exclusive knowledge of critical systems.“

23-Feb-08: Dogbert, “Would you say you worship Satan, or do you simply respect his no-nonsense approach to discipline?“

The Dogbert Gazette Des Moines Register also has a follow-up story.

A story in the Des Moines Register points out the dangers for those who believe they have an unrestricted right of free speech in the workplace (and the dangers of working for people without a sense of humor.)

Bosses fire worker who put up ‘Dilbert’ comic

A Fort Madison man who posted a “Dilbert” comic strip on an office bulletin board has lost his job for implying his bosses were a bunch of “drunken lemurs.”

On Oct. 27, shortly after company officials announced that the casino would be closing and 170 workers could be laid off, Steward posted a “Dilbert” comic strip on an office bulletin board.

Steward said he was fired three days after posting the comic, with his boss telling him he wasn’t a team player. The casino then challenged Steward’s claim for unemployment benefits, but Administrative Law Judge Lynette Donner sided with Steward.

Donner ruled that the posting of the comic strip represented “a good-faith error in judgment,” not intentional misbehavior.

For the full story, click the link above, and this link to a follow-up Register story.

For the complete view, check out the great commentary from Dilbert man himself, Scott Adams, on his DilbertBlog. Adams makes the following observation:

If you intend to mock your boss with Dilbert comics, the trick is in knowing which comics to pick. Apparently there is a fine line between posting a comic that criticizes a particular policy decision, versus a comic that calls your boss an inebriated prosimian. (Thank you, Wikipedia.)

In order to get his unemployment benefits, the perpetrator had to convince a judge that he was merely stupid, not intentionally misbehaving. He succeeded, but it’s not the sort of victory he should feel good about, as in “Yay! The judge agrees I’m an idiot! It’s going to be in the newspaper and all over the Internet!”

The moral of this story is that if you plan to circulate a Dilbert comic calling your boss a drunken lemur, the best way is to use your boss’s unattended computer to e-mail it to the entire company.

Discrimination. Arbitration. Me-too legalism. Fiduciary Liability.

Just the things we all stay awake at night contemplating.

The Supreme Court session starts in October, and this year’s session brings some interesting cases. Michael P. Maslanka at Law.com has an interesting take on four cases on the docket that will possibly affect how we all work together:

Four Employment Cases on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Menu
Michael P. Maslanka
August 9, 2007

What is the U.S. Supreme Court dining on from the employment law menu this coming term? It’s a four-course meal, and here is what the discerning diner needs to know.

Click the title above for more on these four cases:

• Holowecki, et al. v. Federal Express Corp.
• Hall Street Associates LLC v. Mattel Inc.
• Mendelsohn v. Sprint/United Management Co.
• LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates Inc.