Sex and Love and Law in the Workplace

Got your attention, eh?

Happy Valentine's Day!

To get in the mood, here are a few interesting sites:

• The Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN) has created a new Virtual Museum of Canada exhibit entitled Valentine's Day: Love and Romance Through the Ages. It is about the history of Valentine's Day, which has been celebrated throughout the ages across North America and in some regions of Europe.
• Artefacts Canada has an image selection of Valentine's Day objects from Canadian museums.
• The Australian Library and Information Association has declared Valentine's Day to also be Library Lovers Day: "Individual libraries will be offering special programs, ranging from blind dates with a good book, speed dating based on reading tastes, displays, films, treats and competitions."
• Resourceshelf has links to Valentine's Day facts from the U.S. as well as Valentine-related place names in the UK.
• And you can now enter a contest to choose the hottest law librarian! (OK, not exactly Valentine's Day-related, but who cares?): "It's not as strange as it might seem. Librarians get a bad rap; they're regarded as frumpy and, well, bookish. But we know there are lots of hot legal librarians out there just waiting to be discovered."

And since everything here is supposed to have some connection to the law, here are a few blawg items about the legal problems with romance in the workplace:

• More on Romance in the Workplace (Thoughts from a Management Lawyer, March 11, 2005): "Office romances are a risky proposition for the manager and can have broad and extensive negative ramiffications on the company. "
• Love Contracts and the Workplace Romance (same blog, February 15, 2006): "...a couple of interesting articles that are worth checking out. The first by Michael Best & Friedrich LLP is called 'Romance in the Workplace: Tips to Minimize the Legal and Practical Risks for Employers'. The second is by Nixon Peabody LLP called 'Valentine’s Day At Work: What’s Love Got To Do With It? Cautionary Tales From Workplace Relationships Gone Bad'. "
• Failed Workplace Romances Cost Employers (same blog, February 22, 2006): "Half of a random sample of 226 office workers in Toronto said they had been involved in a romantic relationship with someone at work that ended badly. Of those, about 43 per cent of women and 25 per cent of men said their work suffered in the aftermath."
• Cupid Loose in the Workplace (Workplace Prof Blog, February 12, 2007): "I was somewhat surprised to see the number of employers who still have not bothered to put into place some workplace dating policies. Lisa Takeuchi Cullen at Time's Work in Progress blog cites outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas for the proposition that 1/3 of all employers have no such policies."
• Sex in the Workplace (same blog, February 13, 2007): "So we are all aware of the urban legends about consensual sexual encounters in the workplace, but how often does such conduct actually take place?"
• Love Contracts (Contracts Prof Blog, February 14, 2007): "In order to protect themselves from sexual harassment suits in connection with such romances, companies are adopting so-called 'love contracts.' Love Contracts (also called Relationship Contracts) are apparently especially common in the entertainment industry. They permit employees to disclose their office romances while also shielding employers from liability."

And finally, Valentine's Day is not only the favourite day of the year of florists. Private investigators (and divorce lawyers) just love the annual day of love:

"It's the day most cheaters dread and the day many cheaters get caught. The spouse and the side dish both want attention, and, during the juggling act, the two-timer slips, right in front of a private detective's camera lens."