Five Tips To Keep A Lawsuit From Crashing Your Holiday Party

Atlanta Partner Tracy Moon was quoted in the December 17 Law360 article “Five Tips To Keep A Lawsuit From Crashing Your Holiday Party.” Each year, as companies gear up to celebrate the holidays with festive get-togethers, attorneys advise employers to keep their parties merry and lawsuit-free.  Tracy said: “Employers want to celebrate with their employees, but they also want the party to be politically and legally correct. They know that it can potentially cost thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees and lost productivity if things get out of hand during a holiday party.” He noted that smart employers appoint managers to oversee, police and enforce policies so that they can deal with potential issues before they become a problem. These managers should be briefed before the festivities about dealing with bad behavior immediately and steering workers away from harassment or exchanges that look like they are becoming too heated. “Even if a manager is not a designee to police [the party], he or she has got to know that they are setting the example. Employees will do what they do, so they need to conduct themselves as managers and supervisors and they need to be reserved.”