He's no longer on the A Team

Those among us who choose to be "wet blankets, party poopers and killjoys" because they do not wish to go out with the office gang after work and tie on a snootful in the name of someone's idea of camaraderie can take heart from the ruling in France's highest court.

They said that "Mr T" (not our Mr T, mais non) was wrongfully dismissed by the Paris consulting firm that let him go for not being "fun enough" at work. The precedent cited was from the 1972 Woody Allen movie "Play It Again, Sam," in which Allen's character claimed that his wife was not entitled to a divorce on the grounds of "insufficient laughter." 

This French Mr T was with Cubik Partners until 2015, when he said he would not attend any more seminars and weekend social events that he claimed involved "excessive alcoholism” and “promiscuity.”

Rather than finding these extra-curriculars enjoyable, Mr. T said the "fun culture" of his coworkers centered around “humiliating and intrusive practices," such as  mock sexual acts, crude nicknames and making him share his bed with another employee during work functions.

In its judgment this month, France's highest court, the Court of Cassation, said T was entitled to “freedom of expression” and that avoiding workgroup socializined is a “fundamental freedom” under labor and human rights laws, and not grounds for his dismissal.

After working with Cubik Partners for four years (and being promoted to director after three!) T got the well-known ax for what they called  “professional incompetence” for "failing to adhere to the firm’s convivial values."

No work function I ever attended had alcohol as part of the bill of fare, but I participated dozens of time in those games where a group is given a list of items - a box of chocolate, some matches, fresh water, a length of rope, etc - along with a scenario about being broken down on the surface of Mars or outside Cleveland. The goal was to work with the group to prioritize which items would be most helpful to get us back to earth, or at least, away from Cleveland. 

I used to wonder whether it was really all that good an idea to get back to earth, if we were only going to have more dumb meetings like that. I salute Mr T and hope that on his first day back at the office, no one asked to stop off for a short one after work.