A Social Security Administration employee was formally reprimanded earlier this month for for excessive workplace flatulence, according to a Dec. 10 letter obtained by The Smoking Gun.
The 38-year-old, who worked out of a Baltimore office, was hit with a five-page letter detailing the dates and times of his noxious offenses. The letter informed the worker that his “uncontrollable flatulence” created an “intolerable” and “hostile” environment for coworkers -- many of which had lodged complaints.
The letter's log cited 17 dates, and 60 specific times, that the worker allegedly passed gas. The formal reprimand appears to have been a last resort for management, who they say addressed the embarrassing issue with the worker multiple times. (The employee allegedly submitted no evidence to indicate that he can't control the problem).
While the federal employee currently only has to deal with an embarrassing letter in his personnel file, there are others who have lost their jobs for less. In July, a receptionist in Minnesota claims she was fired from her job at the hospital's Cancer Center because she smelled of smoke at work. The receptionist was indeed a regular smoker, but she claims she never smoked while on the job or on break.
Likewise, the grounds for legal dismissal are becoming even more bizarre in some cases. On Dec, 21, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant he found attractive because he and his wife viewed his attraction to the woman as a threat to their marriage.
The court actually ruled that an employer may fire an employee they see as an "irresistible attraction," even if the employee has done nothing to encourage attraction, engage in flirtation, or otherwise done anything wrong.
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